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DR. JESSICA M. STITT

EDUCATION

UNIVERSITY of IDAHO, College of Graduate Studies, Moscow, Idaho                                2015 – 2022

Ph.D., Natural Resources

  • Dissertation on remote sensing of forest biodiversity & canopy structure – “Unlocking keystone structures: Opening the door to new uses of airborne and handheld lidar for remote characterization of standing dead trees and nest cavities in closed-canopy conifer forest

  • Doctoral committee: Drs. Kerri T. Vierling, Andrew T. Hudak, Tracey N. Johnson, Lee A. Vierling

 

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, New York, New York   2013 – 2015

M.A., Conservation Biology

  • Thesis on biodiversity & ecosystem functioning – “The role of species traits in Neotropical Scarabaeine dung beetle distributions within an Amazon Basin forest community

 

CORNELL UNIVERSITY, College of Agriculture & Life Sciences, Ithaca, New York       2006 – 2010

B.S., Natural Resources

  • Independent research in Applied Ecology & Conservation – “The use of woody material to enhance forest biodiversity: Does the removal of woody material affect ecological processes on the forest floor?

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

UNIVERSITY of IDAHO, College of Graduate Studies, Moscow, Idaho                        Fall 2015 – Spring 2022

Graduate Researcher & Doctoral Candidate

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AMERICAN MUSEUM of NATURAL HISTORY, New York, New York                            Summer 2014 – 2016

Research Intern, US Endangered Bird Recovery Plan Project

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ORANGUTAN TROPICAL PEATLAND PROJECT**, Palangkaraya, Indonesia           Summer – Fall 2012

Research Intern, Orangutan Behavior Project                  **Now the Borneo Nature Foundation

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CENTER FOR CONSERVATION BIOLOGY, University of Washington, Seattle, WA      Spring – Fall 2011

Lab Assistant, Wildlife Scat DNA & Glucocorticoid Analysis in Wasser Lab

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CORNELL ARNOT TEACHING & RESEARCH FOREST, Van Etten, NY                                    Summer 2009

Research Intern, Biofuels and Biodiversity Study

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CORNELL UNIVERSITY RESEARCH PONDS, Ithaca, NY                                                   Summer & Fall 2008

Research Assistant, Muskrat Behavior & Ranging Project

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REGENERON PHARMACEUTICALS, Tarrytown, NY                                                                           Summer 2007

Molecular Biology Intern, Protein Sciences Lab

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

UNIVERSITY OF IDAHO, College of Natural Resources, Moscow, Idaho

Adjunct Lecturer                                                                                                                                                                   Fall 2022 

Course taught: “Remote Sensing of the Environment”

 

Graduate Teaching Assistant                                                                                                               Fall 2018 – Spring 2019

Courses included: “Remote Sensing of the Environment”, “Ornithology”, “Principles of Ecology”, and “Society & Natural Resources”

 

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, New York, NY

Graduate Reading Assistant                                                                                                                       Fall 2013 – Fall 2014

Courses included: “Forest Ecology” and “The Human Species”

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CORNELL OUTDOOR EDUCATION, Ithaca, NY                                                    Winter 2007 – Spring 2010

Wilderness Guide & Field Site Coordinator, Outdoor Odyssey Pre-Orientation Program

Senior Instructor & Staff Member

Courses taught: "Basic Rock Climbing", "Women's Rock Climbing", "Tree Climbing", "Intro to Outdoor Rock Climbing", "Backpacking in the Finger Lakes", and "What the Wild Things Are"

PEER-REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS

Stitt, J.M. (2022). Unlocking keystone structures: Opening the door to new uses of airborne and handheld lidar for remote characterization of standing dead trees and nest cavities in closed-canopy conifer forest. University of Idaho, doctoral dissertation. [Link to dissertation ; link to presentation (~1hr)]

 

Stitt, J.M., Hudak, A.T., Silva, C.A., Vierling, L.A., & Vierling, K.T. (2022). Evaluating the use of lidar to discern snag characteristics important for wildlife. Remote Sensing, 14(3), 720. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14030720 

 

Stitt, J. M., Hudak, A. T., Silva, C. A., Vierling, L. A., & Vierling, K. T. (2021). Characterizing individual tree-level snags using airborne lidar-derived forest canopy gaps within closed-canopy conifer forests. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 13, 473–484. https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.13752 

 

Asbeck, T., Basile, M., Stitt, J.M., Bauhus, J., Storch, I., & Vierling, K.T. (2020). Tree-related microhabitats are similar in mountain forests of Europe and North America and their occurrence may be explained by tree functional groups. Trees, 34(6): 1453-1466. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-020-02017-3

 

Stitt, J.M., Svancara, L.K., Vierling, L.A., & Vierling, K.T. (2019). Smartphone LIDAR can measure tree cavity dimensions for wildlife studies. Wildlife Society Bulletin, 43(1), 159–166. https://doi.org/10.1002/wsb.949  

 

Morrogh-Bernard, H.C.*, Stitt, J.M.*, Yeen, Z., Nekaris, K.A.I., & Cheyne, S.M. (2014). Interactions between a wild Bornean orang-utan and a Philippine slow loris in a peat-swamp forest. Primates, 1-4. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10329-014-0422-6  *Joint first authors

POSTERS & PRESENTATIONS

Stitt, J.M., Hudak, A.T., Silva, C.A., Vierling, L.A., & Vierling, K.T. (2021). Gaps & ghosts: How dead space & dead trees complement each other for a fuller picture of forest structure. IGNITE talk given at: Idaho Chapter of the Wildlife Society Annual Meeting 2021. Feb 22-25, 2021; virtual.

 

Stitt, J. M., Hudak, A. T., Vierling, L. A., & Vierling, K. T. (2020). Seeing the forest without the trees: How lidar-derived canopy gaps can inform snag modeling and provide value to wildlife. Poster presentation. 2020 Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting. Aug 3-6, 2022; virtual.

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Stitt, J.M., Svancara, L.K., Vierling, L.A., & Vierling, K.T. (2018). Using smartphone lidar to measure keystone habitat structures for wildlife studies. Oral ‘IGNITE!’ presentation. Idaho Chapter of the Wildlife Conservation Society Annual Meeting. Fort Hall, ID.

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Stitt, J.M., Svancara, L.K., Vierling, L.A., & Vierling, K.T. (2018). Using smartphone lidar to measure keystone habitat structures for wildlife studies. Oral presentation. Northwest Scientific Association Annual Meeting. Olympia, WA.

 

Vierling, K.T., Hudak, A.T., Jarolimek, J., Jusino, M.A., Lorenz, T.J., Silva, C.A., Stitt, J.M., Swift, C., & Vierling, L.A. (2018). Perspectives on Piciformes: impacts on biodiversity from holes to whole landscapes. In ECCB2018: 5th European Congress of Conservation Biology. 12th-15th of June 2018, Jyväskylä, Finland. Open Science Centre, University of Jyväskylä.

GRANTS & AWARDS

NASA IDAHO EPSCoR, Moscow, ID                                                                                                                    2017 – 2018

Graduate Research Fellowship, Idaho Space Grant Consortium

 

NSF IDAHO EPSCoR, Moscow, ID                                                                                                                        2015 – 2017

Graduate Research Assistantship, Managing Idaho’s Landscapes for Ecosystem Services (MILES)

SCIENCE COMMUNICATION, MENTORING, & COMMUNITY OUTREACH

NSF IDAHO EPSCOR, Moscow, ID                                                                                 Fall 2015 – Spring 2017

Research Assistant, Managing Idaho’s Landscapes for Ecosystem Services (MILES)           

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UW SCIENTIFIC ILLUSTRATION PROGRAM, University of Washington, Seattle, WA         Spring 2011

Professional Certificate in Natural Science Illustration

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UNIVERSITY of IDAHO CLUB SPORTS, Moscow, ID                                            Fall 2015 – Spring 2020

Head Coach, Women’s Ultimate Frisbee Team

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COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY CLUB SPORTS, New York, NY                                    Fall 2013 – Spring 2015

Assistant Coach, Women’s Ultimate Frisbee Team

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