Sarah Battye

• Supervised, organized, and scheduled crew of 8-11 people performing traditional hands-on wildlife assignments.
• Discussed daily work requirements with crew and assigned skills-based tasks to enable completion of work.
• Skilled in developing and executing sampling techniques and surveys for variety of wildlife related assignments.
• Skilled in resolving regular and recurring problems concerning wildlife project plans for habitat management.
• Skilled in collecting data for big game, raptors, small mammals, and threatened and endangered species.
• Led and scheduled Mexican Spotted Owl surveys to determine reproductive status for new and existing owl pairs.
• Trained new employees on all Mexican Spotted Owl survey protocols.
• Analyzed all Mexican Spotted Owl data collected during the year to develop 2023 report for the forest.
• Compiled and summarized data obtained from aerial and ground surveys to prepare maps and management plans.
• Conducted pollard walks for the federally endangered Sacramento Mountain Checkerspot Butterfly.
• Set up and monitored track plates for the federally endangered New Mexico Meadow Jumping Mouse.
• Skilled with working with a variety of project collaborators and stakeholders in order to ensure cooperation, research integrity, and the achievement of agency objectives.
• Supervised and executed the same assignments as the ones listed below for GS5 Biological Science Technician.

• Supervised a six-person crew performing wildlife-related assignments related to habitat restoration, small mammals, birds, carnivores, megafauna, fish, reptiles, amphibians, etc.
• Proper Functioning Condition (PFC) trained through BLM.
• Received training in seed collection protocols through the Institute for Applied Ecology.
• Watershed Improvement Tracking (WIT) trained through the Forest Service.
• Monitored and surveyed sensitive and threatened species by sight and sound, including Mexican Spotted Owl, Northern Goshawk, bats, and Checkerspot butterfly.
• Monitored sensitive, threatened, and endangered plant species including Gooding’s onion.
• Kuenzler hedgehog cactus, New Mexico Penstemon, and other endemic species.
• Used aquarium nets to collect samples and monitor number of Gammarus lacustris specimens that were infected with a parasite.
• Part of stream habitat restoration crew intending to release native Rio Grande Cutthroat Trout back into the watershed.
• This included installation of elk fences, beaver dam analogs, post-assisted log structures, one rock dams, and planting of native wetland species.
• Conducted fish population estimates using electrofishing and mark-and-recapture method.
• Performed general wildlife surveys of areas in the National Forest for pre-project assessments.
• Supervised environmental education days with students ranging from kindergarten to eighth grade.
• Collected and analyzed data using Excel, Microsoft Word, ArcMap, and ArcPro to develop reports on all surveys and projects completed during the fiscal year.
• Wrote report for Allium gooddingii that was sent to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service to assist in a species status assessment for federal listing consideration.

Collected field data on fish species in the Gila National Forest

• Used Smith and Root LR-24 electrofishing backpacking units to complete three pass depletions across 100-meter transects
• Set up block nets to create closed stream systems
• Identified all fish collected during electrofishing to species and measured total length
• Identified and measured the length of mesohabitats (pools, riffles, runs, and cascades)
• Collected water quality measurements, including visual clarity, temperature, dissolved oxygen, and pH using a Hach meter and turbidity tube
• Obtained, labeled, and stored water samples
• Collected aquatic macroinvertebrates using a kick net
• Stored and labeled these samples
• Measured water velocity using a Hach flow meter and top loading rod
• Measured bank angle and undercut depth
• Counted large woody debris within the wetted width of the stream
• Measured the stream wetted width
• Used modified line-point intercept methodology to record the presence/absence of aquatic vegetation.

• Collected field data on Sacramento Mountain Salamander species, location, and status.
• Surveyed multiple sites for the abundance of Sacramento Mountain Salamanders by flipping over cover items within an allotted time throughout the sampling plot
• Measured the length of all salamanders found during the survey.
• Used metal detector to find previously pit-tagged salamanders.
• Collected soil measurements, including temperature, moisture, layering, and embeddedness.
• Collected overstory density measurements using a spherical densiometer.

• Part of a six-person ecological restoration crew that worked with federal, local, state, and non- profit agencies throughout the state of Washington to complete wildlife habitat project work
• Restored riparian habitats using winches to move logs throughout streams and planted native species to create cover
• Removed invasive species both mechanically and with the use of backpack herbicide sprayers
• Gained experience using a back how and tractor to plant and remove tree species
• Implemented Firewise program throughout the state, entailing forest thinning and fuel reductions using chainsaws and woodchippers
• Restored historical fencing and constructed barded and wildlife fencing
• Assisted in various construction projects, including installing water faucets, painting, staining, building park benches, installing fire pits, building picnic benches, and installing park informational signs
• Maintained field equipment in good working condition and operated 4-wheel drive vehicles, including chainsaws, woodchippers, weed eaters, winches, 4-wheel drive vehicles, off-highway vehicle trailers, and basic power tools.

• Conducted Mexican Spotted Owl occupancy and reproductive surveys.

• Part of a three-person crew that conducted original research, specifically measuring forest structure, ground cover, post-disturbance tree regeneration by species, and taking tree ring samples using increment borers
• Created 0.1 ha circular plots for 113 sampling sites
• Collected aspect, slope, and UTM coordinates at all sampling sites
• Collected species status (alive, fire-killed, dead before fire, and died after surviving fire), top type, secondary top type, and broom volume ratio (BVR) data on all trees and snags greater than 25 cm in dbh within all sampling plots
• Measured dbh of all trees within sampling plots
• Measured large-end diameter and length of coarse woody debris greater than 7.5 cm in dbh
• Measured canopy closure, understory type, understory height, distance from the ground to lowest and highest foliage on the nearest tree, and seedling density along three 36-meter transects bisecting the sampling plots
• Readily familiar with tree species throughout Lincoln National Forest
• Worked long days with strenuous physical activity, hiking 5-10 miles daily and working in remote areas and rugged terrain
• Dispersed camped in remote locations of the National Forest for 10-18 days at a time
• Used GPS and topographical maps to orient our group to off-trail sites throughout the
• Lincoln National Forest
• Experience recording extensive amounts of field data in a legible manner
• Skilled in using DBH tapes, hypsometers, meter tapes, and compasses to create 100 m radius sampling areas.

• Worked with the Director of The NYBG Forest to improve the health of the forest and to provide educational experiences to patrons
• Conducted vegetation surveying of species throughout the forest
• Mechanically removed invasive species and planting native species
• Supervised and taught students of the Woodland Ecology Research Mentorship program how to conduct breeding bird surveys and data analytic techniques for comparing bird diversity with other variables collected
• Independently conducted breeding bird surveys throughout the NYBG
• Created and presented a timeline for when bird species were first and last seen breeding in the Gardens to help with future management plans for the NYBG.

• Research included studying changes in species composition, structure, and function of the Nanny Goat Forest after multiple concurrent disturbances in order to determine if these conditions changed the dynamics of the ecosystem
• Used GPS, DBH tapes, sampling plots, compass, and clinometer.

• Independently conducted interview-based field research and an extensive scientific literature review on the biosecurity of New Zealand
• Specifically focused on their Battle for Birds and Predator Free 2050 initiative and gained experience in interviewing locals and employees on their biosecurity policies.

• Assisted in creating a manuscript that physically, chemically, and biologically characterized the
• Cumberland Plateau’s headwater streams to form an ecological baseline
• Specifically, responsible for obtaining data for base flow, stormflow, light penetration, and temperature of streams
• Created 100-meter randomized segments along 8 different study streams using GPS
• Used HOBO Pendant Temperature/Light 8 k Data Loggers to obtain light and temperature data
• Used a modified version of the “midsection method” to measure baseflow and storm flow of the streams
• This entailed recording the travel time of a ping pong ball throughout the 100- meter segments during non-storm and storm events
• Independently responsible for synthesizing results from data collected and writing sections of the research manuscript
• Created a map of different stream types and watersheds on the Cumberland Plateau using GPS and GIS
• Presented research results at the 2019 Scholarship Sewanee Conference

• Tracked white-tail deer using data taken from installed game cameras on the Sewanee Domain to help control herd populations and determine numbers for doe harvest
• Conducted browsing surveys using vegetation sampling plots
• Installed wood duck boxes
• Conducted avian surveys using sight and sound to identify species and used this data to improve nesting sites and habitats for wildlife on the Sewanee Domain.