Join us to hear from 2025 AEES 3rd Place Student poster Award winner, Alexa Ouellette, about a tool to guide waterfowl habitat conservation! Alexa will discuss her efforts to prioritize where coastal impoundments are built by weighing an area's benefits for waterfowl against how vulnerable it is to damage from flooding. Coastal impoundments improve freshwater habitat for wintering waterfowl, but are increasingly damaged by storms and sea level rise. Tools like these are crucial for planning our long-term habitat conservation.
 

See the full abstract when you RSVP!

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Alexa Ouellette recently completed her M.S. in Forestry and Natural Resources from the University of Georgia’s Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources and the Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems. She earned a B.S. in Zoology from North Carolina State University with a focus in wildlife management and ecology. Before joining the UGA-Ducks Unlimited Fellowship, she gained valuable experience working with non-profits, state and federal natural resource departments, and the Department of Defense. Her research aimed to create a conservation prioritization tool for coastal freshwater impoundments based on waterfowl habitat value and vulnerability to flooding damages to help guide long-term planning decisions. Her research areas of interest focus on coastal systems, wetlands, conservation prioritization and decision-making, and changing wildlife communities and ecosystems in response to climate change.