Jerome P. Brewster

North Carolina State University                         Box 7617, Zoology Annex-Flex Building          

Department of Zoology                         Raleigh, NC 27695-7617

(919) 513-2471                                               jpbrewst@unity.ncsu.edu

(919) 854-9594 home

EDUCATION:

B.S. – Magna Cum Laude - Botany

Received December 1992

North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695

GPA: 3.6

GRE scores: 1340 (640 Verbal: 700 Quantitative)

M.S. – Zoology

Expected May 2006

North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695

Thesis:

The documentation and analysis of the spatial and temporal variation in the singing rates of three breeding forest songbirds: The Ovenbird, the Black-throated Blue Warbler, and the Hooded Warbler.  The impact of variable singing rates in counts on making estimations of bird abundance, and the use of singing rate as a factor in the estimation of bird habitat quality.

Advisors:

            Dr. Theodore R. Simons, Dr. Jaime Collazo, and Dr. Kenneth H. Pollock

EXPERIENCE:

Technical Assistant, 2004-present, Bird Radio Project, Zoology Department, North Carolina State University, Raleigh North Carolina.

• Assisted in the development of experimental methods to quantify the effects of factors influencing detection probability on bird abundance estimates made using point count data. 
• Assisted in the field testing of the Bird Radio system.
• Participated in numerous experiments using the Bird Radio system.       

Teaching Assistant, fall 2004, Animal Diversity Lab, Zoology Department, North Carolina State University, Raleigh North Carolina.

• Prepared all laboratory presentations, demonstrations, and dissections prior to every lab class.
• Presented laboratory material and instructed students in laboratory procedures.
• Wrote laboratory quizzes and evaluated students on laboratory projects and tests. 

Project Manager, April to July 2004, Forest Songbird Singing Rate Variability Study, Pisgah National Forest, North Carolina.

• Researched and designed the Singing Rate Variability Study.
• Hired field personnel to work on the project and coordinated their daily schedules during the field season.
• Designed, tested, and implemented new experimental methods to measure singing rate variability in forest songbirds over the breeding season and breeding cycle.
• Recorded singing rate data on two species of forest songbirds, searched for nests of those species and monitored the nests found until they succeeded or failed.

Volunteer Field Technician, 2 weeks May 2003, NCSU Ovenbird Reproductivity Study, Pisgah National Forest, North Carolina.

• Searched for and monitored Ovenbird nests over the breeding season to quantify nest survival rate and productivity for Ovenbirds in the Pisgah National Forest.
• Initiated Ovenbird food supplementation experiments at nests and documented parental foraging behavior daily.

Laboratory Research Technician III, May 2002 to December 2003, Environmental Analysis Laboratory, Biological and Agricultural Engineering Department, North Carolina State University, Raleigh North Carolina

• Performed animal waste nutrients analysis, including nitrate/nitrite, chloride, total kjeldahl nitrogen, total organic carbon, total phosphorus, orthophosphate, trace metals, and chemical oxygen demand.
• Maintained and operated laboratory equipment for analysis, including the Bran Luebbe Auto Analyzer III and TRAACS 2000 systems, and the Perkin Elmer Atomic Absorption Spectrometer.
• Supervised lab assistant personnel.

Laboratory Research Technician II, March 2000 to April 2002, Center For Applied Aquatic Ecology, Botany Department, North Carolina State University, Raleigh North Carolina

• Performed fresh and salt waters nutrients analysis, including total suspended solids, pigments, ammonia, nitrate/nitrite, urea, total kjeldahl nitrogen, total organic carbon, total phosphorus, orthophosphate, and silica analysis.
• Maintained and operated laboratory equipment for analysis, including the Turner Designs 10-AU fluorometer, Spectronic Genesys 2 spectrophotometer, Tekmar Dohrman Apollo 9000 TOC analyzer, Technicon TRAACS 800 and Lachat QuikChem IC+FIA 8000 Series autoanalyzers, and Waters modular HPLC.
• Developed and tested analytical methods, coordinated and scheduled analytical projects, and supervised lab assistant personnel.

Volunteer Curator’s Assistant, 1999-2000, The Naturalist Center, NC Museum of Natural Sciences, Raleigh NC

• Mounted and cataloged dried botanical herbarium samples for use in center collections.
• Cataloged prepared bird skins for use in center collections.
• Collected and prepared fungi samples for use in center collections.

Field Biologist   , June 1997 to October 1997, Robert J. Goldstein and Associates Inc. Raleigh, North Carolina.

• Delineated wetlands and performed habitat mapping.

• Conducted endangered species searches including searches for Red-Cockaded woodpecker colonies and habitat.
• Operated a GPS data collector unit as well as associated software to pinpoint wetlands, endangered species, or other significant features of properties throughout Piedmont and Coastal Plain areas of North Carolina.

Volunteer Field Technician, 2 Weeks May 1997, National Park Service, Ocracoke Is. North Carolina

• Searched for and monitored nesting success of a small population of the Federally Endangered Piping Plover.
• Constructed protective exclosures around active nests to prevent nest predation.

REFERENCES:

Dr. Theodore R. Simons

Professor of Zoology and Forestry.  USGS Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit

Department of Zoology
Box 7617 North Carolina State University
Raleigh, NC 27695-7617
919-515-2689

Greg Melia, Research Associate

Center for Applied Aquatic Ecology, Botany Department

North Carolina State University

620 Hutton St., Suite 104

Raleigh, North Carolina 27606

919-513-3626