Maia Persche, PhD
she / her
Maia Persche is a field biologist studying the effectiveness of conservation strategies. Most of her research relates to avian ecology and she has been a bird bander (ringer) since 2016, working in the southern Appalachian Mountains, South America, and the Midwestern USA. In 2025, she completed her PhD in Wildlife Ecology in the SILVIS Lab at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her research was centered on the response of biodiversity to woodland habitat management. She has been exploring the Baraboo Hills since she could walk, and began studying songbirds in 2009. Check out her work on Research Gate.
Contact: maia.persche[at]gmail.com
Sathya Chandra Sagar, PhD
he / him
Sagara is a conservation scientist and a field biologist working on understanding the ecological impacts of hunting, and the effectiveness of conservation strategies to protect tropical forests. He uses a combination of traditional field-based methods and advances in technology such as soundscapes, econometrics, and policy research to provide evidence for conservation advocacy. He grew up in a coffee-growing family in the Western Ghats beside a Tiger Reserve and has been involved in conservation advocacy through WildCAT-C since high school. He recently finished his PhD in the Sound Forest Lab at UW-Madison. Website.
Contact: sathyachandrasagar[at]gmail.com
Jenn Schneidermann
she / her
Jenn Schneiderman specializes in raptor ecology and long-term population studies. Her Masters’ research focused on Bald Eagle and Osprey populations in the United States and how their habitat associations changed during their 40 year population increase.
Contact: jecschne[at]gmail.com
Dr. Laura Marie Berman
she / her
Laura is a wildlife conservation ecologist who uses bioacoustics, genomics, and satellite imagery to understand the biodiversity and ecological dynamics of tropical and temperate forests worldwide. She is currently a postdoctoral researcher working with the Sound Forest Lab and the Environmental Spectroscopy Lab at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. Read more about her research here.
Contact: lberman6[at]wisc.edu
Kristin Brunk, PhD
she / her
Kristin is an applied ecologist who is broadly interested in human impacts on wildlife and likes tackling questions using a combination of field and analytical techniques. Her favorite projects address basic ecological questions as well as having implications for improving species conservation. Kristin got her start in ecology through field work, and still loves spending time in the field whenever possible! She is currently a postdoc at the University of Oslo in Oslo, Norway. Check out her work on google scholar and on her website.
Contact: kristin.brunk[at]ibv.uio.no
Lisa Hartman
she / her
Lisa is a bird researcher and educator. She worked as an aviculturist to restore endangered populations of cranes and Guam Rails, and as a field researcher for Wisconsin’s Trumpeter Swan Recovery Program. Wing-tagging and monitoring Turkey Vultures was a favorite long-term project and for 30+ years she and her ambassador Turkey Vulture have helped people consider beauty and attunement. She participates in bird monitoring with emphasis on how bird populations can guide land management in Sauk Co. WI.
Contact: hartmli56[at]gmail.com
Ashley Olah, PhD
she / her
Ashley Olah is an applied ecologist, who is interested in research with applications for management and conservation of biodiversity with a particular focus on birds, especially those species which are imperiled or endangered. She started out monitoring beach nesting shorebirds and saltmarsh birds in New Jersey, forest birds and insects in northern Wisconsin, and Kirtland’s Warblers in central Wisconsin and the Bahamas. Ashley completed her Master’s (2019) and PhD (2025) in the SILVIS Lab at UW-Madison. In her Master’s research she studied Kirtland’s Warbler habitat use, reproductive success, and fledgling survival in a small population in non-traditional habitat in Adams County, Wisconsin. She continues to assist with Kirtland’s Warblers monitoring, banding, and research in Wisconsin in her free time. Her PhD research focused on utilizing eBird data and remotely sensed data to predict bird distributions in Argentina across spatial scales, and in relation to human influences. Ashley is now a postdoctoral researcher at University of Rhode Island in the Quest Lab and the McWilliams Lab utilizing camera trap, point count, acoustic, eBird, and GBIF data to model terrestrial mammal and bird occupancy and abundance across Rhode Island to inform conservation planning and prioritization. Ashley grew up in Sauk City, Wisconsin, exploring the natural areas of the driftless region in her youth, and fell in love with birds as an undergraduate student at UW-Baraboo and UW-Madison. Ashley lives in Madison and still enjoys spending time in nature in Southern Wisconsin. Check out Ashley’s research on Google Scholar.
Contact: ashley.olah@uri.edu
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