Students in my lab typically work on
projects in the broad fields of Conservation Biology, Landscape Ecology, and/or Wildlife Ecology, with birds and mammals as the taxa
of choice. Almost all of the projects have some field component and often
employ various GIS techniques. There are numerous areas available for
research, ranging from highly disturbed urban islands to more pristine natural
areas. The University of Akron has
>550 acres of land associated with
The UA Field Station.
We also have excellent working relationships with the
National Park Service, which manages the
nearby 33,000 acre Cuyahoga Valley National
Park, and Summit
MetroParks, responsible for ~9,000 acres of park land. I have listed below current and former
students with a brief description or title of their research project. If
you are interested in working on a research project in my
lab, please email me at gasmith@uakron.edu. For information
about research opportunities in Biology, please see our
Biology Department
webpage. For more general information about graduate work at The
University of Akron, please visit the
Graduate School.
Current/Recent Projects
David Kurz, Nick McGinty, and
Sarah Stankavich -- "Habitat quality of restored wetlands for mammal
communities in NE Ohio" (Poster)
Natassia Brown, Tho Huynh, Wes
Loudermilk, Holly Snyder, and Tim Trettel -- "Long-term small mammal
population dynamics within a highly managed grassland"
Courtney Canter and Lauren
Starkey -- "Values and attitudes regarding the Endangered Species Act:
the role of "upbringing""
Former Projects
Ross Davidenko -- "Space
use by meadow voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus) in a non-native
prairie"
Matt Farmer -- "Taxonomic
comparison of bird banding returns"
Josh Fatica -- "Population
abundance of meadow voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus) at Bath Nature
Preserve as a function of nutrient addition and litter removal"
Molly Humphries* -- "The effect of
small-scale habitat fragmentation on home range movements of Sigmodon
hispidus and Microtus ochrogaster"
Daniel Jirak -- "Long-term
changes in small mammal communities"
Bryan Maher* -- "Snake
community structure as a function of landscape heterogeneity at the Flint
Hills National Wildlife Refuge, Kansas"
Layne Knight -- "Long-term
changes in small mammal communities"
Clint Musgrove --
"Distribution of turkey in Kansas as a function of riparian zone vegetation"
Allison Oborn -- "Feeding
rates of cavity nesters as a function of nest box location"
Barry Smart* -- "Small mammal
response to within patch and landscape scale habitat at the Flint Hills
National Wildlife Refuge, Kansas"
Lennie Walters -- "Habitat
use by Red-tailed Hawks and American Kestrels in agricultural landscapes"
Josh Williams* -- "Waterfowl use
of agricultural fields as a function of waste corn volume"
Jacki Zevenbergen* --
"Creation of a geographic database for the Bath Nature Preserve"
* = graduate student (not necessarily
my advisee, but worked with me on this specific project)
Students in my lab typically work on
projects in the broad fields of Conservation Biology, Landscape Ecology, and/or Wildlife Ecology, with birds and mammals as the taxa
of choice. Almost all of the projects have some field component and often
employ various GIS techniques. There are numerous areas available for
research, ranging from highly disturbed urban islands to more pristine natural
areas. The University of Akron has
>550 acres of land associated with
The UA Field Station.
We also have excellent working relationships with the
National Park Service, which manages the
nearby 33,000 acre Cuyahoga Valley National
Park, and Summit
MetroParks, responsible for ~9,000 acres of park land. I have listed below current and former
students with a brief description or title of their research project. If
you are interested in working on a research project in my
lab, please email me at gasmith@uakron.edu. For information
about research opportunities in Biology, please see our
Biology Department
webpage. For more general information about graduate work at The
University of Akron, please visit the
Graduate School.