Alumni
Postdoctoral researchers, scientists, and research associates who formerly worked with our team.
Previous Postdoctoral Researchers
Dr. Jesse Barber
Dr. Barber was a post doctoral research associate in our group from 2007 to 2010. He has since moved on as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Boise State University. Visit my website.
Dr. Rachel Buxton
Dr. Buxton was a post doctoral research associate in our group from 2015 to 2018. She has since moved on to Carleton University as a Research Associate in the Department of Biology. Visit my website.
Dr. Alexander Keyel
Dr. Keyel studied the impacts of noise on wildlife, examining noise from different sources, such as from recreational activities, traffic and nearby energy development and simulating how noise spreads through a landscape using computer models.
Dr. Brett Seymoure
Dr. Seymoure examined how artificial light at night affects wildlife behaviorally, physiologically, and ecologically. He explored these effects using spectroradiometry, electrophysiology, survival analysis, behavioral assays, and mesocosm experiments. Visit my website.
Dr. Graeme Shannon
Dr. Shannon worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Colorado State University from 2012 to 2014 investigating the impacts of noise on wildlife ecology and behavior. Prairie dogs provided the primary study system for his research, leading him to explore their behavioural responses to road noise exposure using acoustic playback experiments. Dr. Shannon has since moved on to a faculty position at Bangor University in Wales, directing his reseach interests to the fields of animal behaviour, ecology and conservation, with particular focus on the effects of human activities on wildlife. Visit my website.
Previous Scientists and Research Associates
Chris Garsha
Chris was a research engineer providing instrumentation design, project management, and field support to the team.
Scott McFarland
Scott was a Research Associate with our team from 2012 to 2014 and assisted with the development of acoustic monitoring technology and equipment. He also conducted baseline acoustic monitoring and research in numerous National Park units. Scott currently works for the National Park Service Natural Sounds and Night Skies Division as a Biologist and Regional Resource Specialist.
Dr. Megan McKenna
Megan was an acoustic biologist with the Natural Sounds and Night Skies Division. She worked with a diversity of partners to understand the effects of noise on the natural world- both to assist parks with management of acoustic resources and advance our scientific understanding. She also used novel acoustic techniques to understand ecological processes in both terrestrial and aquatic systems.
Dr. Dan Mennitt
Scott was a research scientist in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Colorado State University. He worked to provide outstanding opportunities for people to experience the restorative quality, extraordinary sounds, and simply remarkable nature of wilderness. My research focus included spatiotemporal patterns of sound on landscape scales, acoustic scattering, and data analytics.
Misty Nelson
Misty worked as a Research Technician from 2012 to 2015, conducting acoustic and night sky monitoring at nearly two dozen national parks throughout the United States. She is currently working for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife as a Senior Environmental Scientist in the Non-game Wildlife Program, where she coordinates a large-scale biodiversity monitoring effort to evaluate the impacts of drought on California wildlife.
Julie West
Julie worked as a communications specialist with the National Park Service Natural Sounds and Night Skies Division. She created and curated web stories, video, photographs, publications and other media content that profile the value of dark, starry nights and spectrum of sounds unique to NPS units, and the work of NPS and CSU in protecting these resources from the impacts of light pollution and noise. She also assisted with strategic planning for communications messaging and products.
Cecilia White, M.S.
Cecilia worked as a Research Associate with the CSU/NPS team from 2010-2015. She conducted acoustic inventory, monitoring, and analysis for parks across the country. She also worked on numerous outreach and communications projects for the Natural Sounds and Night Skies Division, including their website. Cecilia managed the Listening Lab from 2013-2015 and helped to mentor several student workers as they completed their honors theses.
Dr. Jacob Job
Dr. Job's work with the research group was quite diverse. He was the Director of the Listening Lab and helped students design, conduct, and write up their honors research projects. He was largely focused on science communication and outreach, and worked with several national parks to do this. Finally, he was a field recordist and often traveled to wilderness areas to gather high quality audio recordings of vocalizing animals and soundscapes. Visit his website.
Previous Graduate Students
Casey Brown, M.S.
Casey was a M.S. student in the Graduate Degree Program in Ecology from 2007-2010. Her research examined the effects of anthropogenic noise on ungulate behavior in Grand Teton National Park. She is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the Alaska SeaLife Center in Seward, Alaska, examining wildlife movement behavior and human dimensions of wildlife management.
Emma Brown, M.S.
Emma was a M.S. student in the Graduate Degree Program in Ecology at Colorado State University from 2011 to 2013. She has stayed on with our team as an Acoustical Resource Specialist at the Natural Sounds and Night Skies Division.
Jarrod Zacher
Jarrod's main role with the team was assisting with the development of hardware and software for custom microcontroller and FPGA based systems.
Vladimir Yaremenko, M.S.
Vladimir was a M.S. student in the engineering program and graduated in 2016. His research focused on embedded systems, firmware design, digital signal processing, multiple platform target detection, and digital image processing. He worked on implementing and testing algorithms for detecting and classifying noise sources (like planes and helicopters) on custom FPGA based systems, as well as implementing and testing an algorithm to track the trajectory of those sources in order to gain a better understanding of air and ground vehicle traffic in national parks.
