Than J. Boves, Ph.D.

I was born and raised in the suburbs of Chicago and I became fascinated with birds and nature at an early age. I have since formalized my broad interests into a diverse research program that covers many topics within ornithology, ecology, evolution, and conservation. I love my job and also love travel, music, sports, beer, forests, mountains, and rivers. I have a wife, son, and daughter that also love travel, music, sports, and nature.
Graduate Students
Joseph Youtz

joseph.youtz@smail.astate.edu

I was born and raised in the sunny Southwest in the mountains of Arizona and New Mexico. My love for the outdoors started from an early age due to my experiences exploring America's vast public lands. I have always been extremely interested in animals, but my passion for birds came from my experiences managing the avian collection in a natural history museum. Once I got a taste of the diversity and beauty of birds I was hooked. I earned my B.S. in Wildlife Conservation and Management from New Mexico State University where I researched Dusky Grouse (Dendragapus obscurus) and its conservation status in the American Southwest. I have worked in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California and the forests of Arizona and New Mexico on several bird, mammal, and habitat restoration projects.  I love hiking, fishing, sports, photography, and climbing high mountain peaks. My Master's project will focus on Prothonotary Warblers (Protonotaria citrea) and the restoration of Mississippi alluvial forests.


Kevin Krajcir

kevin.krajcir@smail.astate.edu

Although I was born and raised in the Natural State (Hot Springs, AR specifically), my interest in the natural world did not begin until college when I started exploring the outdoors through bird watching. My curiosity of the natural world is part of my overall intrigue with life which includes nature and human cultures. To begin to satiate my desire to understand our world, I earned my BA in Biology and in Spanish from Hendrix College. I became involved with various bird-related research projects on campus throughout my years, but my passion for ornithology was solidified by birding trips across the state, country, and internationally and by developing field skills such as banding and mist netting. I’ve joined the Boves Lab to earn my Master’s in Biological Sciences while researching feather mite and host warbler ecology. I otherwise enjoy cooking, playing video games and trivia, and traveling.
Jacob Wessels

jacoblwessels@gmail.com
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A longstanding interest in the environment has led me to pursue a career in ecology. I am originally from Illinois but have spent most of my life in Tennessee, and earned my bachelor of science in biological sciences from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. My first fieldwork experience, and my undergraduate thesis, focused on reptiles, but I became very interested in birds after I took a course in avian ecology. My master's thesis research is focused on habitat selection, breeding biology, survival, and movements of Cerulean Warblers in the Ozarks. In my spare time, I enjoy outdoor recreation like birding, hiking, and canoeing, as well as photography and live music.








Alix Matthews

alix.matthews@smail.astate.edu

I'm from North Little Rock, Arkansas and have always been intrigued by how species coexist and how ecosystems function. I earned my BSc in Environmental Sciences from Rhodes College in 2014 and my MSc in Biological Sciences from Arkansas State University in 2017. My interest in symbioses has primarily focused on exploring birds and their "endos-and-ectos" (passerine haemoparasites, feather mites), but I also dabbled in the fungus-farming ant world (an incredibly interesting symbiosis) at the University of Texas at Tyler as a research lab manager from 2017-2019. Now I've migrated back to the Boves Lab, blazing the trail as a Molecular Biosciences PhD student, where I'm building off of my master's research to test ecological and evolutionary hypotheses regarding the fascinating symbiosis between feather mites and warblers.
Emily Donahue

emilyrdonahue@gmail.com

Growing up exploring Pennsylvania State Game Lands with my dad, our yellow lab blazing the trail, I developed a fascination for the organisms around me. While earning my bachelor’s degree at Penn State University, I dove into my first nature job as a guide for an outdoor orientation program, using backpacking to connect incoming freshmen with each other and the natural world. My love of ornithology sprouted while volunteering at the local bird banding station and led to a summer position as a technician for an avian research project at a remote field camp in Arizona. It was an honor to forgo many showers, chase many fledglings, and process many samples with the fellow nature-enthusiasts of Bird Camp! I am now pursuing my master’s degree while studying the winter ecology of the endearingly fierce Loggerhead Shrike (Lanius ludovicianus), a declining predatory songbird, and possible effects of agricultural practices across the Mississippi Alluvial Valley. Wherever my career may take me, I know my true home will always be waiting in the great outdoors.
Undergraduate Students
Tryniti Garrad (Fall 2019-Present) - Feather mites and avian color
Brett Harken (Spring 2019-Present) - Various projects
Cody Barnett (Fall 2017-Present) - Feather mite biology and ecology
Callie Wilson (Fall 2017-Spring 2019) - Using raptors as pest control in the Mississippi Delta
Rhett Raibley (Fall 2015-Present) - Jack of all trades
Alumni
Graduate Students
Lee Bryant (M.S. Spring 2018; Studied the impact of the decline of eastern hemlock on Lousiana Waterthrush) - Currently working for the city of Flagstaff, AZ Sustainability Sector as the Climate Education Coordinator and teaching biology at Coconino Community College.
Alex Worm (M.S. Fall 2017; Studied range expansion and hybridization of Scissor-tailed Flycatchers and Western Kingbirds) - Currently living in Wilmington, NC and working for North Carolina Wildlife Resources Agency.
Jennifer Wilcox (M.S. Fall 2017; Studied forest management in the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley) - Currently working for WEST, Inc. doing avian fieldwork in the western United States.
Morgan Slevin (M.S. Summer 2017; Studied Prothonotary Warblers in bottomland forests) - Currently PhD student in Neurobiology at Florida Atlantic University.
Alix Matthews (M.S. Spring 2017; Studied avian-feather mite co-ecology and evolution) - Currently PhD student in Molecular Biosciences at Arkansas State University.
Doug Raybuck (M.S. Fall 2016; Studied post-fledging habitat selection by Cerulean Warblers) - Currently PhD student in Wildlife Ecology at the University of Tennessee.
Undergraduate Students
Emily Orfanos - Loggerhead Shrikes in agricultural landscapes (2016-17)
Kara Oliver - Loggerhead Shrikes in agricultural landscapes (2016-17)
Kassidy Richardson - Mites and warblers; Bird-window collisions (2015-16)
Sarah Wilcox - Mites and birds; Scissor-tailed Flycatchers and Western Kingbird Hybridization (Fall 2014 - Fall 2015)
Courtney Francois - Mites and birds; Physiology of biliverdin; Window collisions (Fall 2015 - Spring 2016)
Mitchell Curtis - Nest behavior of Prothonotary Warblers (Spring 2015 - Spring 2016)
Breaunna Jackson - Provisioning of Prothonotary Warblers in natural cavities and nest boxes (Fall 2014 - Spring 2015)
Luke Methvin - Effects of forest management on nest behavior (Fall 2014 - Spring 2015)
Peter Hasik - Range expansion of Western Kingbirds and Scissor-tailed Flycatchers (Summer 2014)
Arin Vann - Factors driving Bird-Window Collisions (Fall 2014)
Brent Wagner - Factors driving Bird-Window Collisions (Fall 2014)
Erica Olney - Factors driving Bird-Window Collisions (Fall 2014)
LeeVi Haas - Comparative Study of Biliverdin and Prothonotary Warbler Nest Box Project (Spring 2014)
Jennifer Reed - CORT as a mediator of carry-over effects in Cerulean Warblers (Fall 2013)