College of Agriculture & Natural Resources Department of Fisheries and Wildlife

Major Advisor:

Jen Owen 

Background:

Nick is originally from Ontario, Canada. He obtained his BS in 2016 from Bishops’ University in Quebec, Canada.  After this he accepted an internship at Thunder Cape Bird Observatory where he was formally trained in migration monitoring and bird banding.  Long nights banding Northern Saw-whet owls launched Nick’s interest in working with raptors.

Over the past five years Nick has worked throughout the United States and Canada on various projects relating to movement ecology. Some of these projects include banding of migratory owls in Northern Michigan, Eastern Whip-poor-will GPS and VHF tagging in Illinois, passerine and owl banding in the boreal forest of Northern Ontario and diurnal raptor trapping and banding in Idaho.

 Nick's research focuses on the movement ecology of Red-tailed Hawks migrating through the Straits region of Michigan. This project is a collaboration between MSU, Mackinac Straits Raptor Watch and The Red-tailed Hawk project. When he’s not calling out every Red-tail he sees on the roadside he enjoys birding, hiking, cross country skiing, and being decent at cooking.