The Details

The project that I worked on dealt with Greater-sage grouse in Southern Utah. Greater-sage grouse were once on the threatened species list but their populations have recovered, and now the goal is to keep them off the threatened list by maintaining proper habitat for them. The main purpose of the project was to gather data that would help land managers make decisions in Southern Utah for the sage grouse.

At the start of the project I was primarily tracking hens and observing them from a distance to see if they were on nests. Looking at satellite transmissions I determined if the hens had left the nest. Once they left the nest I needed to see them with chicks, or find eggshells in the nest to see if she had a successful brood. If the hen successfully hatched chicks I gathered vegetation data at and around the nest site. Each week I would go to where her last afternoon GPS coordinate was, and take vegetation data around that area. The purpose of gathering this data was to determine what sites the hens tend to raise their chicks and why. I gathered this weekly data until the chicks were now juveniles and would soon be leaving their mom. From the original 8 hens that were believed to be on nests that had transmitters 5 of them successfully hatched a brood and those were the hens I gathered data on. The project was very fun and hopefully will provide useful information.