Rylie Strasbaugh

RESEARCH

My broad interests in herpetology and ornithology have taken me from studying turtles in central Pennsylvania, to frogs and toads in Memphis, TN, and across the marshes, dunes, and swamps of the East Coast to study birds. Through such experiences, I’ve learned that my specific interests involve applied conservation methods for threatened and endangered species, population dynamics, and wildlife conservation in the face of anthropogenic climate change.

My research at UW-Madison will involve developing cost-effective and widely applicable methods for detecting endangered marbled murrelets (MAMU) using Autonomous Recording Units (ARUs). MAMU are small seabirds that nest high in the branches of old-growth coastal PNW forests, making them difficult to detect through classic man-on-the-ground-type surveys. I am excited to utilize ARUs in developing methods that will aid public land managers and private landowners alike in preserving crucial habitat that MAMU need for survival.

When I’m not hard at work, you’ll find me doing crafts like crochet, sewing, linocut…and many others, taking horrible/blurry pictures of wildlife, wandering around an antique or thrift store, or geeking out over my latest tv/music/movie hyper-fixation!