Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology master’s student, Emily Nastase, has been awarded a North Carolina ArcGIS Users Group (NCAUG) Graduate Scholarship! The $1,500 award supports full-time students enrolled in GIS-related courses/activities at an accredited North Carolina Community College or University with an emphasis in GIS, Geography, Geomatics or related field. Recipients also are able to register to the NCAUG Annual Conference for free and have the opportunity to present their work at the conference.

“I am helping to develop a management plan for the Henslow’s Sparrow in North Carolina with the NC Wildlife Resources Commission and assess their populations in the state,” says Nastase. “My field research involves surveying Henslow’s at their breeding site in Beaufort county, studying their response to fire management at the site, comparing DNA samples to Henslow’s in other areas in their habitat range, and searching for Henslow’s at other sites.”

Emily is advised by Jaime Collazo, the Assistant Leader for the NC Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit.

Congratulations, Emily!