Jeannie van Vianen
MS Student
Biography
I first visited the International Crane Foundation in high school. At the time, it was a turning point in my life- I learned that conservation was a real job that people had. I didn’t imagine that I would end up working with cranes! I did my undergraduate degree at Michigan Technological University. My primary undergraduate research focused on plant herbivory and fitness, but I was involved with many bird projects as well, including leading our university’s bird window collision project for two years. After graduating, I spent a year interning in the National Wildlife Refuge system, split between Mississippi Sandhill Crane NWR and St. Marks NWR. While these positions helped me to find a passion for herps, I was still primarily interested in working with birds. I especially enjoyed working with the nonmigratory Mississippi Sandhills. I began interning in the North America Program in the spring of 2018, and stayed on through fall of 2019. During this time, I mainly focused on the Whooping Cranes of the reintroduced Eastern Migratory Population. Perhaps because I started with nonmigratory cranes, all aspects of migration and wintering grounds fascinated me. This interest led me to my current project- analyzing videos of wintering Whooping Cranes in the EMP as well as the Aransas-Wood Buffalo Population to see how birds in these two populations use habitats available to them.
Contact Information
Email: vanvianen@wisc.edu
Education
BS in Biological Sciences with minors in Ecology, Spanish from Michigan Technological University (Fall 2016)
Publications
Malon, M., M. Hederman, C. Hinze, and V. van Vianen*. 2016. Apple Canyon Lake Watershed Based Management Plan. Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.
Professional Presentations and Posters
van Vianen, V.*, A. Lacy, and E. Smith. 2020. Video behavior analysis of two wintering populations of Whooping Crane using Program BORIS. 15th North American Crane Workshop.
van Vianen, V.*, and E. Hersch-Green. 2016. The Effects of Increased Anthropogenic Nitrogen on Plant Characteristics and Herbivory. Michigan Tech Undergraduate Research Expo poster session.
van Vianen, V.*, and E. Hersch-Green. 2016. The Effects of Increased Anthropogenic Nitrogen on Plant Characteristics and Herbivory. Michigan Tech Ecosystem Science Center Student Research Forum poster session.
Scholarships & fellowships
Michigan Technological University Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship, 2015
Michigan Technological University Phi Sigma Undergraduate Research Award, 2015
Project
Winter Behavior in Two Populations of Migratory Whooping Cranes