Texas Tech University

Michael Whitson, Ph.D.

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Biography

I received a BS in Wildlife Management from Texas Tech University. I have worked as a technician on several research projects including fire ant depredation on quail nest, genetics and nesting success of snowy plovers in the high plains of Texas, playa lake functionality study, and study identifying wetland associated vegetation species throughout the playa lakes region.  I have previously worked as a biological science technician for the USFWS McFaddin National Wildlife Refuge on the upper Texas Coast, as a Biological Science Technician and Fire Effects Monitor at Big Thicket National Preserve Fire Office, and as a seasonal intern With TPWD at White-Oak Creek WMA. I have had the good fortune to gain a vast amount of field experience and hands–on knowledge including banding waterfowl and shorebirds, collecting biological tissue samples and animal morphometrics, while working in a variety of habitat types from many volunteer opportunities. I started working on my Master of Science at Stephen F. Austin University and have recently transferred to Texas Tech to complete my Research quantifying vegetation, soil nutrients, invertebrates and avian responses to temporal and hydrologic variations of moist-soil management on the upper Texas coast. In the future I would like to get my doctorate and continue performing research looking at local, regional and landscape level issues that impact wetland and wetland associated species.