DR. JESSICA M. STITT
EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY of IDAHO, College of Graduate Studies, Moscow, Idaho 2015 – 2022
Ph.D., Natural Resources
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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”
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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
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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
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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