Bryan Watts : Prospective Students

I am interested in students who have a passion for discovery and who are committed to making a contribution to the field of avian ecology.

Field research is a specialized craft that requires an intimate understanding of the system under study, creative approaches to problem solving, and a strong background in relevant scientific and statistical theory. Good research proceeds through a series of interrelated phases from an emerging question to the writing of findings. The most successful researchers are strong in all of these phases. For beginning students, learning how to design and manage field studies to answer specific questions is just as important as learning the field techniques to be used in data collection. The Center for Conservation Biology has a broad range of ongoing research. I encourage all of my students to become involved in as many different projects as feasible. There is no substitute for being directly involved in the day-to-day decisions that guide all research.