For my senior capstone project I researched and wrote a 16-page thesis paper on the effect of a thirty percent retention harvest on bird species richness and abundance. In simpler terms, I was looking at how a timber harvest that left 30% of the trees behind was affecting the birds that lived there. I conducted my research at Pack Forest, collecting data before the timber harvest in late summer 2016 and after the harvest in early spring 2017. My results indicated that only one species was negatively impacted by the harvest: the brown creeper (Certhia americana), a small bird that forages in the bark of trees and is known to be especially sensitive to timber harvesting.
Collecting data, data analysis, and the actual writing of my thesis all proved to have its own joys and challenges. It was exciting to go out into the field alone to collect my data and, even though I never found stats especially exciting, then analyze data I had collected myself. Writing my thesis proved stressful mainly because I was constantly worried that I didn't have enough sources and it didn't sound professional enough, so I was constantly rewriting sections. Fortunately, I had plenty of time to work on my paper (even considering my habit for procrastination) and feel my hard work definitely paid off. I'm very happy with how my thesis turned out and excited to hopefully one day get the chance to conduct research like this again!
Below is my senior thesis, as well as graphics from my capstone poster presentation that sum up my results (if you understandably don't have the time/patience to read the whole thing):
Collecting data, data analysis, and the actual writing of my thesis all proved to have its own joys and challenges. It was exciting to go out into the field alone to collect my data and, even though I never found stats especially exciting, then analyze data I had collected myself. Writing my thesis proved stressful mainly because I was constantly worried that I didn't have enough sources and it didn't sound professional enough, so I was constantly rewriting sections. Fortunately, I had plenty of time to work on my paper (even considering my habit for procrastination) and feel my hard work definitely paid off. I'm very happy with how my thesis turned out and excited to hopefully one day get the chance to conduct research like this again!
Below is my senior thesis, as well as graphics from my capstone poster presentation that sum up my results (if you understandably don't have the time/patience to read the whole thing):