Members

I’m not currently in a position to accept graduate students, but I am able to serve on committees and mentor undergraduates. Please email me if you are interested in any of this research.

Current Folks

Principal Investigators

Letty Reichart (Professor, co-chair of Biology)

Originally from the green hills of Pennsylvania, Letty pursued her love of birds and biology across the continent, studying the breeding systems of Ruddy Ducks Oxyura jamaicensis in the prairie potholes of the Canadian prairies. After finishing her PhD, Letty came to the University of Nebraska at Kearney, where she enjoys teaching and working with undergraduate students, as well as being involved with the local community. Letty is also extremely involved in the Wilson Ornithological Society, through which she helps enable research on a transcontinental scale. Click here to learn more about Letty.

Jacob C. Cooper (Assistant Professor)

Growing up in western Colorado, Jacob was fascinated by the diversity of birds in the southwestern “sky islands” and the patchy, limited distributions of plants and animals in this rugged region. Jacob now studies the ecology and evolution of (mostly) birds worldwide, focusing specifically on the ecology and distribution of North American birds and on the ecology and biogeography of African birds. Jacob is an Assistant Professor at the University of Nebraska at Kearney since July 2023, and he is a Research Associate of the Field Museum. Jacob is a Citizen of the Cherokee Nation. Click here to learn more about Jacob or view his CV.

Nate Eidem (Lecturer)

A recent convert to collecting bird-related data, Nate is a geographer by trade. He is especially interested in the relationships between river basins and the people, flora, and fauna that inhabit them. Equally adept at ArcGIS and wrestling, Nate has had a varied career that leaves him uniquely capable to tackle biodiversity related research questions. Nate is a Lecturer at the University of Nebraska at Kearney. Click here to learn more about Nate.

Graduate Students

Eugene Huryn

Eugene is broadly interested in species ecology and diversification, especially as it relates to the evolution of diversity on earth. Eugene’s research will focus on disentangling the dynamics of contact zones between closely related species in Nebraska. Eugene is a native of both Alberta and Alabama, having completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Alabama. Advisor: Dr. Jacob C. Cooper

Cody McGregor

Cody is broadly interested in ornithology in general, having worked from Texas to North Carolina, but he has returned back to his home of Buffalo County to better understand how landscape changes (name afforestation) are affecting the prairie bird communities he holds near and dear. (Spoiler alert - Eastern Red Cedar Juniperus virginianus appears to be bad for prairie birds). Cody is originally from Gibbon, Nebraska, and completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Advisors: Dr. Jayne Jonas and Dr. Letty Reichart.

Undergrads

Students are listed alphabetically.

SB

From rural northeast Nebraska, SB loves to be outside and loves anything that can get him outside. Wanting to combine his love of learning with his desire to explore, SB is working to help us establish banding operations in the Kearney area. Advisor: Dr. Jacob C. Cooper.

Peggy Huss

Interested in genetics and understanding evolutionary relationships, Peggy will be working on an extensive database of East African bird genomes. Her work will help uncover the evolutionary relationships across the sky islands of the Lacustrine Rift, and help us better understand the diversity of the region. Advisor: Dr. Jacob C. Cooper.

Darcey Taylor

Darcey is an undergraduate who is interested in wildlife and ecology. She is working on studying the vocalizations of different populations of Green Hylia Hylia prasina across Africa. Advisor: Dr. Jacob C. Cooper.

Ajelina Mijak

Ajelina comes to us from the aviation program to help with our data digitization project. Working closely with the Professor Laurinda Weisse and others at the UNK Library, her work will help make available original notes on the birds of Nebraska - some of which are over a century old! Advisors: Laurinda Wiesse and Dr. Jacob C. Cooper.

Past Folks

Folks are listed in reverse order of graduation or finishing research.

Undergraduates

Hailey Fuqua

Born and raised in central Nebraska, Hailey’s love of waterfowl and prairies translated well into research about the rainwater basins of the central plains with Dr. Letty Reichart. She has pursued a career in education.

RH

Broadly interested in ornithology in general and experienced with studying everything from raptors to storks, RH’s research was focused on the dynamics of Eastern Screech-Owl Megascops asio populations in Kearney, Nebraska with Dr. Letty Reichart.

Mike Roffman

Mike worked on digitizing historical data from throughout the state of Nebraska, specifically focusing on the birds of Dakota County with Dr. Jacob C. Cooper.

Maddie Bengston

Maddie (UNK class of 2024) is known for her wide range of class and research experiences on her journey towards becoming a dermatologist. Using field surveys and computer modeling, Maddie worked towards improving our understanding of nocturnal bird distributions within the state of Nebraska. Maddie was a URF scholar at UNK working with Dr. Jacob C. Cooper & Dr. Letty Reichart.

Josh G. Bell

Josh blended his holistic views of nature with hands-on and theoretical research while studying North American meadowlarks Sturnella. Josh was awarded a K-INBRE Summer Scholar grant in 2023 to study the distribution of Chihuahuan Meadowlarks Sturnella lilianae in the grasslands of the southwestern United States. Josh attended Haskell Indian Nations University and was advised by Dr. Jacob C. Cooper.

Mélusine Velde

Mélusine is broadly interested in conservation and biodiversity. Equally at home in the US and France, Mélusine has worked on a variety of projects on three continents, and her undergraduate thesis focused on testing the predictions of ecological niche models in Costa Rica. Mélusine completed a Masters at Imperial College, Silwood Park, and currently works for the Cheshire Wildlife Trust in the United Kingdom. Mélusine was advised by Dr. John M. Bates and Jacob C. Cooper.

Sara Velásquez Restrepo

Sara is broadly interested in biodiversity and conservation, and enjoys birding and traveling. Her undergraduate thesis, advised by Jacob C. Cooper, was focused on studying ecological niche diversity in cotingas in South America. Sara is currently pursuing a Masters at the Universidad EAFIT in Medellín working on methods to use environmental DNA to detect rare taxa. She was recently awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to pursue a PhD at Louisiana State University in the United States.

Other Members

Gracie Lou Cooper

Gracie is particularly interested in the temporal ecology of rabbits, squirrels, and opossums in her yard. She also studies physics related to spherical objects, particularly when these objects are thrown at high speed.