This letter was written by me, to Dr. Jonathan Hall, who accepted me into his graduate lab at WVU and changed my life for the better in a million different ways. I’ll share more about him and his work down the road, but for now, this is what was going on before I entered (and later left) West Virginia University in 2016.

My inquisitiveness and curiosity, which has driven many of my life’s decisions, has given me much fodder for casual and intellectual conversations. Over coffee, I can contribute to a riveting conversation about lionfish gonads, and will likely argue with you about how the majority of research on this charismatic fish has been focused on biology, rather than anthropological factors influencing their success as an invasive species. We can discuss the pickle business, and why pickle sales at farmers markets in Miami vary so drastically from those in New York City. I can speak volumes about my conservation idol, a scientist in India who has taught the trade of venom extraction to a tribe of traditional snake-hunters. In 29 years, I have accumulated a wide (and sometimes humorous) variety of skills, interests, and experiences. Through it all, the most persistent questions in my mind have circled around the dynamic relationship between humans and the world around them. 

As a biologist and ranger in the National Park Service, I am frequently able to explore these interactions. In the 1990’s, White Sands National Monument (my current employer) built a 76-mile fence to exclude oryx, a non-native ungulate imported from South Africa to stimulate the hunting and tourism economy of 1950’s New Mexico. As I stretch barbed wire and pound replacement fence posts into the ground, I ponder the impacts that this man-made boundary has on the population and behavior of the giant antelope. Is satellite imagery able to tell me whether oryx are, both inside and outside of the fence, traveling along boundary lines, or do they cross undisturbed land as well? Can wildlife cameras elucidate their ethology and interactions across the spatial divide? For that matter, how do fences and non-natural barriers impact species across the country? How do public land management decisions, in an ever-divided world, inform the success of wildlife populations across the globe? 

At Biscayne National Park in Miami, Florida, I assisted with research, roll-out, and implementation of a General Management Plan, where the park angered hundreds of third generation Miami anglers with the proposed development of a marine reserve zone. Though the long-term benefits of a (tiny!) no-fishing zone are strongly supported with peer-reviewed science, the backlash was astonishing. With most my daily duties (invasive fish removal) occurring underwater, I was able to witness firsthand the impacts of coastal development and resource depletion. Can a city with a significant cultural and economic dependence on marine resources sustainably support a booming population? Employment as a biologist with the National Park Service has been a great venue for exploring the relationships between humans and the natural world. 

In the United States, we constantly strive towards a balance between the complex and sometimes conflicting concepts of conservation, development, recreation, resource extraction, and preservation. World travel has afforded me the ability to look at these same issues in a variety of environments and cultures. In Armenia, a country with rapid deforestation, lesser kestrels seek out nesting habitat in decaying Soviet-Union era TV towers. In India, declining wildlife populations spurred the Indian government to ban the hunting of all wildlife, which left a tribe of subsistence snake-hunters out of a livelihood. The tribe now extracts venom, which funds a herpetological conservation park and a traditional plant knowledge cooperative. Two members of the now-prosperous group are currently across the globe in Miami, Florida using their traditional knowledge to capture invasive pythons. Researching situations like these, both within the United States and around the world, can lead to great understanding of the intertwining needs supporting human prosperity while protecting natural places and species.  

My interest at WVU is to work with Dr. Jonathan Hall, focusing on Environmental Geography. His interests of studying human impacts on wildlife would be a great place to explore the factors connecting wildlife conservation, traditional knowledge, sustainability, and the interactions between humans and the natural world. We have discussed several potential research projects which may best utilize my skills and experience, and his expertise and resources. I seek to further my education in understanding these issues and utilize creative and applied research to become an expert in addressing modern world problems through a conservation lens.