Congratulations to Lauren Eckert for being named the CUSE (Center for Undergraduate Scholarly Engagement) Student of the Week!
"As a current environmental science major with minors in both anthropology and Portuguese at the University of Notre Dame, I have been granted a versatile and wonderful undergraduate experience. My exciting field research experiences are vast and include work to further Kit Fox Conservation in the deserts of Colorado, independent analysis of Forest Deer Mouse foraging in the Upper Peninsula, and demographic data collection of the Muriqui Monkeys of Southeastern Brazil. My academic and adventurous pursuits have been largely afforded by the generosity of CUSE, who most recently awarded me funding to present my independent Forest Deer Mouse research at the 20th Annual Wildlife Society Conference in Milwaukee, Wisc. CUSE has also been instrumental in my acquisition of the environmentally-based U’dall Scholarship and application to be an international Fulbright Scholar. My future goals include attaining a doctorate in Wildlife Ecology and integrating ecological information with more traditional knowledge patterns of indigenous cultures to further conservation attempts and preserve the dignity of ecosystems and diverse human cultures," said Lauren Eckert.
Michael Cramer is an assistant teaching professor of biological sciences and assistant director of the University of Notre Dame Environmental Center (UNDERC) East location. His research interests are based in community ecology and behavioral ecology. He is studying the non-consumptive effects of predators on prey behavior. He is currently investigating how mice respond to odors produced by a specialist predator, the mink, and a generalist predator, the coyote. He is also researching how mice alter their foraging behavior in the presence of signals of avian predators, and conducting experiments investigating how porcupines and snowshoe hares alter their foraging behavior in the presence of fisher and coyote scent.