Education
B.S. in Biology at Indiana University of Pennsylvania (1992)
M.A. in Biology, College of William and Mary (2003)

Professional Experience
My career and research have been the conduits for my abiding interest in the ecology and conservation of biological communities and populations. Over the past decade, I have had the opportunity to conduct research projects and produce management guidelines for some of the most critical avian conservation issues on the mid-Atlantic and Gulf Coastal plains. These projects have addressed a broad spectrum of practical management resolutions needed to reduce economic, biological, and abiotic stressors that limit bird species and their populations.

I began work at the Center in 1995 while simultaneously pursuing a graduate degree in biology at the College of William and Mary. During a short hiatus away from the Center from 1999 to August 2004, I worked as a biological scientist for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and as the Bird Conservation Coordinator for the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. My current responsibilities at the Center are to help drive novel research and conservation ideas, manage field projects, data collection, and to produce academic and technical reports on bird communities and focal threatened species. I also coordinate the United States Nightjar Survey Network.

Research Experience

Examples of Existing and Completed Research Projects

Status of the Black Rail in Virginia

Landscape dynamics of the Virginia Barrier Islands on the habitat
availability for disturbance-prone bird species.

Improving survey design for broad scale, long-term Nightjar surveys

The effects of landscape composition on the distribution of Whip-poor-wills

The effects of southern pine management on distribution and abundance of the Chuck-will's Widow.

Monitoring Virginia's Red-cockaded Woodpecker population

Remote-sensing of limiting factors that influence the capacity for landscapes to support bird populations

The effects of pine and hardwood silviculture on bird communities

Implications of prescribed fire and silviculture on snag recruitment and survival for
cavity-nesting species on Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plains.

The role of habitat variation on avian energy budgets during migration and investigation of migration phenology and abundance patterns along the Atlantic
Coast.

Habitat requirements of early successional bird communities and their implications for management in the mid-Atlantic region.

The implications of prescribed fire and road management on the distribution and abundance of amphibian communities and Pine Barrens Treefrog among ephemeral ponds in the Western Florida Panhandle

Population monitoring and translocation of Red-cockaded Woodpeckers in Western Florida Panhandle.

Publications

Wilson, M. D. 2008 (in prep). The influence of southern pine management on the Chuck-will's Widow.

Wilson, M. D. and B. D. Watts. 2008. Landscape configuration effects on distribution and abundance of Whip-poor-wills. Wilson Journal of Ornithology 120:778-783.

Watts, B. D., M. D. Wilson, F. M. Smith, B. J. Paxton, and J. B. Williams.
2008.  Breeding range extension of the Coastal Plain Swamp Sparrow.  Wilson
Journal of Ornithology 120: 393-395.

Wilson, M. D., B. D. Watts, and D. F. Brinker. 2007. Status review of Chesapeake Bay marsh lands and breeding marsh birds. Waterbirds 30: special publication no. 1.

Wilson, M.D. and B. D. Watts. 2006. Influence of moonlight on detectability of Whip-poor-wills: Implications for long-term monitoring. Journal of Field Ornithology 77:206-211.

Watts B. D.and Wilson, M. D. 2005. Distribution of the Worm-eating Warbler in pine plantations on the Mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain. Southeastern Naturalist 4:177-187.

Melchiors, M. A., B. R. Chapman, J. A. Gerwin, W. C. Hunter, R. A. Lancia, P. A. Tappe, R. E. Thill, T. B. Wigley, M. D. Wilson. 2000. Managing habitat for priority landbirds in loblolly, shortleaf, and slash pine forests of the southeast. In press for PIF symposium volume.

Wilson, M. D. and B. D. Watts. 2000. Breeding bird communities within pine plantations of coastal North Carolina. Chat 65: 1-14.

Wilson, M. D. and B. D. Watts. 1999. Response of Brown-headed Nuthatches to the thinning of pine plantations. Wilson Bulletin 111:56-60

Watts, B. D., M. D. Wilson, D. S. Bradshaw and A. S. Allen. 1998. A survey of the Bachman’s Sparrow in southeastern Virginia. Raven 69:9-14.

Wilson, M. D. and B. D. Watts. 1997. Autumn Migration of Gray-Cheeked and Bicknell’s Thrush at Kiptopeke, Virginia. Journal of Field Ornithology 68:519-525.

Whalen, D. M., B. D. Watts, M. D. Wilson and D. B. Bradshaw. 1997. Magnitude and timing of the fall migration of Northern Saw-whet Owls through the Eastern shore of Virginia. Raven 68:89-92.

Wilson, M. D. and B. D. Watts. 1997. Differential fall passage times in two subspecies of the Palm Warbler through the Eastern shore of Virginia. Raven 69:28-31

Recent Scientific Reports

Wilson, M. D. 2008. The Nightjar Survey Network: Program Construction and 2007 Southeastern Survey Results. Center for Conservation Biology Technical Report Series, CCBTR-08-01.

Wilson, M. D., B. D. Watts, C. J. Lotts, B. J. Paxton, and F. M. Smith. 2008. Investigation of Red-cockaded Woodpeckers in Virginia: 2007 Report. Center for Conservation Biology Technical Report Series, CCBTR-08-04

Wilson, M. D., B. D. Watts, and M. Smith. 2007. Status and distribution of Golden-winged Warblers and Bewick’s Wrens in Virginia. Center for Conservation Biology Technical Report Series, CCBTR- 07-03. College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA. 37 pp.

Wilson, M. D., B. D. Watts, and J. LeClerc. 2007. Assessing habitat stability for disturbance-prone species by examining landscape dynamics of the Virginia Barrier Islands. Center for Conservation Biology Technical Report Series, CCBTR-07-06. College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA. 48 pp.

Watts, B. D., M. D. Wilson., B. J. Paxton, F. M. Smith, and C. Lotts. 2006. Investigation of Red-cockaded Woodpeckers in Virginia: Year 2006 report. Center for Conservation Biology Technical Report Series, CCBTR-06- 03. College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA. 18 pp.

Paxton, B. J., Wilson, M. D., B. D. Watts, and 2004. Relationship Between Standing Dead Wood Dynamics and Bird Communities within North Carolina Pine Plantations. Center for Conservation Biology Technical Report Series, CCBTR-04-08. College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA. 35 pp.

Wilson, M. D., B. D. Watts, and B. J. Paxton. 2000. Breeding bird communities of the Parker Tract Hardwood Forest Swamps: Year 2000 report. Center for Conservation Biology Technical Report CCBTR-00-11, College of William and Mary: 65 pp. 

Wilson, M. D. and B. D. Watts. 2000. The Chuck-will’s-widow and the Whip-poor-will in a managed forest landscape: The effect of matrix habitats on distribution and abundance. Center for Conservation Biology Technical Report CCBTR-00-05, College of William and Mary: 38 pp.