Author Profile

Avian Internship

Lead Researcher: Robin Corcoran, USFWS Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge

Internship Description

volunteers will have the opportunity to work on a variety of projects including at-sea surveys of marine birds and Arctic and Aleutian Tern colony monitoring. Monitoring tasks will include: recording observations of birds at sea from a small skiff; monitoring tern nests using digital game cameras; and mist netting and banding landbirds. Much of the field work is conducted from the 48-foot refuge research vessel, the Ursa Major II.

Nature of the Research Project

Applied Research, Field Research

Student Learning Outcomes

Compare the strengths and limitations of various study designs.
Describe how biologists answer research questions using databases; large data sets; and data science tools.
Describe how quantitative reasoning helps biologists understand the natural world.
Describe sources of error and uncertainty in data.
Describe the iterative nature of science and how new evidence can lead to the revision of scientific knowledge
Develop research questions based on your own or others' observations.
Execute protocols and accurately record measurements and observations.
Explain how scientists use inference and evidence-based reasoning to generate knowledge
Interpret and manipulate mathematical relationships (e.g. scale; ratios; units) to make quantitative comparisons.
Perform basic calculations (e.g. percentages; frequencies; rates; means).
Recognize gaps in our current understanding of a biological system or process and identify what specific information is missing.
Record; organize; and annotate simple data sets.
Use rough estimates informed by biological knowledge to check quantitative work.

Research Location

Kodiak NWR, 1390 Buskin River Road, Kodiak, AK

Remote Option? no

Preferred Timing

Start Date: 2021-05-10
End Date: 2021-09-03

Summer Application»