Fellowship Leads to Continued Position with Audubon Vermont
Cassie Wolfanger served as a conservation research fellow in a partnership between Audubon Vermont and Lake Champlain Sea Grant from 2021 to 2023. Cassie helped to improve bird habitat and water quality in Vermont and will expand the work over the next year or more.
As my fellowship comes to a close, I find myself reflecting on all that I’ve learned, all we’ve accomplished together, and how humbled and grateful I feel. There is significant overlap between what birds need and what keeps our waterways healthy, so with Audubon Vermont’s focus on bird habitat conservation and Lake Champlain Sea Grant’s specialty in watershed and lake health, it made sense to join forces and work together on sustainable land management practices that would mutually benefit both goals. A healthy watershed is one in which natural land cover supports natural hydrologic and biogeochemical processes and habitat of sufficient size and connectivity for native aquatic and terrestrial species. This jointly funded fellowship was designed as a training opportunity for a young scientist and also to meaningfully advance each organization’s missions through on-the-ground conservation and evaluation of techniques.
In the field
Over the past two years in the field, I focused on assessing habitats and implementing conservation projects in riparian areas or agricultural settings, where there is the most opportunity for aligned bird habitat and water quality improvement goals. I helped with habitat management or monitoring on over 50 properties across Vermont, including private land, agricultural working farms, town parks and forests, and state Wildlife Management Areas. After we analyzed local and landscape features to determine birds’ needs, general biodiversity, and water quality, we recommended methods for landowners to enhance habitat and overall ecosystem function. We also provided guidance for appropriate cost-sharing programs and technical assistance during project implementation.
Projects included planting native shrubs and trees, controlling exotic and invasive vegetation, altering mowing regimes to better support native birds and pollinators, resetting overgrown shrubby areas to earlier successional stages, installing bird boxes or other wildlife structures, and adding live stakes or in-stream woody debris for erosion control and bank stabilization. In 2021 and 2022, I was involved in the planting of approximately 14 acres with 5,000 stems of native trees and shrubs.
However, I must admit that conducting bird surveys has been my favorite thing to do. We collected data for grassland, shrubland, and forest birds and species listed as special conservation concern in Vermont (including bald eagle, peregrine falcon, and common tern) to gather information on population size, habitat health, and reproductive activity. In just this past year, we observed 399 breeding bobolink pairs and an estimated 1,113 chicks fledged on 16 Vermont farms consisting of 803 acres enrolled in the Bobolink Project. Additionally, 190 nesting common tern pairs fledged 105 chicks, 43 peregrine falcon sites produced at least 65 young, and 31 of 40 bald eagle sites monitored had nests, with at least 24 pairs fledging 42 young.
In the office
In the office, I developed hard-copy and online fact sheets, brochures, and resource lists for the public. I wrote technical reports and grant proposals and produced educational materials. Much of my “research” consisted of reviewing and summarizing literature from peer-reviewed journals, academic reports, and other scientific articles to support more than five grant proposals, four of which were successfully funded. This was my first real experience with grant writing, and I benefited greatly from this exposure, which also will improve my CV.
I co-authored several habitat management recommendation reports, primarily for agricultural producers interested in sustainable food systems that support biodiversity and ecosystem resilience by enhancing habitat for native birds and pollinators. Less formally, I wrote six articles for the Audubon website; Vermont Woodlands Association magazine; Lake Champlain Sea Grant's Watershed Forestry Partnership newsletter; and the Woods, Wildlife, and Warblers e-newsletter. A valuable update to my GIS mapping skills resulted in my work on a habitat parcel prioritization project using the newest version of ArcGIS Pro Desktop, Pro Online, and the free training courses offered by the National Audubon Society.
I had plenty of opportunities to practice verbal communication skills with presentations on multiple forums, including for the Watershed Forestry Partnership, the Vermont Land Trust, Vermont Coverts, the Lake Champlain Basin Program Research Conference, a University of Vermont (UVM) conservation Biology course, and the Lake Education and Action Program. I presented on topics such as restoring riparian buffers with birds in mind, winter birds' adaptations for survival, and community science opportunities with the Christmas Bird Count. I also participated with UVM Extension in demonstrations and workshops on integrated pest management and pollinator and bird considerations on farms.
Conservation partners
Although Vermont is a small state, the environmental conservation community is made up of many organizations that have niche roles or specialized expertise in moving Vermont toward common conservation goals. During my fellowship, I met partners and collaborators from the Vermont Land Trust, USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service, local watershed non-profits, county Natural Resource Conservation Districts, Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department, University of Vermont Extension and Gund Institute for Environment, US Fish and Wildlife, Vermont Center for Ecostudies, and others. We shared knowledge, jointly applied for funding, and implemented several conservation practices and habitat restoration projects together.
Not only does this cross-agency collaboration accelerate and bolster restoration scope and success in Vermont, it also has been particularly valuable for me and my personal career path. It allowed me to network with potential future employers and make a more informed decision about what type of organization in the conservation field I might want to work for and where I think I fit professionally.
This partnered fellowship has allowed Audubon Vermont and Lake Champlain Sea Grant to share resources, collaborate on grants, and work towards common goals. I learned a great deal from conservation biologists, restoration practitioners, policy leaders, and academics. I learned how to form relationships with landowners and forge collaborations with partners, and I practiced how to better communicate to colleagues and the general public. I even gained leadership skills by advising and serving as a mentor to the seasonal conservation interns employed by Audubon each summer.
Cheers to two years! Here’s to many more!
All of these experiences have been instrumental in my development as a conservation professional, and they have resulted in real-world, tangible, and positive change through on-the-ground conservation action. The work has been deeply gratifying and energizing, and I am grateful to everyone who mentored me on my journey, fiercely encouraged me, gave me the room to grow, and wove me into teams without hesitation.
With the opportunity to demonstrate my work ethic in service to conservation through this fellowship, I’m excited to share that Audubon Vermont has offered me an extension of my position through at least June 2024. Sometimes seeing a student or employee move on to other opportunities can be seen as a sign of success, but I think the real success is having the freedom to choose to stay right where you feel like you belong and can have the most impact doing work that inspires you. I learned a lot in the short time of my fellowship, but the most ardent lesson I took from this experience is that there is great power in the things we can accomplish when we work together towards ambitious goals.