Megan M Skrip

• Doctor of Philosophy
• Freelance Writer, Editor, and Communications Strategist at Skrip SciComm Inc.

Impacts of sea level rise will last for centuries; therefore, flood risk modeling must transition from identifying risky locations to assessing how populations can best cope. We present the first spatially interactive (i.e., what happens at one location affects another) land change model (FUTURES 3.0) that can probabilistically predict urban growth...

Models that are both spatially and temporally dynamic are needed to forecast where and when non-native pests and pathogens are likely to spread, to provide advance information for natural resource managers. The potential US range of the invasive spotted lanternfly (SLF, Lycorma delicatula) has been modeled, but until now, when it could reach the We...

Animals dynamically adjust their physiology and behavior to survive in changing environments, and seasonal migration is one life stage that demonstrates these dynamic adjustments. As birds migrate between breeding and wintering areas, they incur physiological demands that challenge their antioxidant system. Migrating birds presumably respond to the...

Ecological forecasting has vast potential to support environmental decision making with repeated, testable predictions across management‐relevant timescales and locations. Yet resource managers rarely use co‐designed forecasting systems or embed them in decision making. Although prediction of planned management outcomes is particularly important fo...

Participatory research methods are increasingly used to collectively understand complex social-environmental problems and to design solutions through diverse and inclusive stakeholder engagement. But participatory research rarely engages stakeholders to co-develop and co-interpret models that conceptualize and quantify system dynamics for comparing...

Physiological challenges during one part of the annual cycle can carry over and affect performance at a subsequent phase, and antioxidants could be one mediator of trade-offs between phases.We performed a controlled experiment with zebra finches to examine how songbirds use nutrition to manage trade-offs in antioxidant allocation between endurance...

All air-breathing organisms must face the challenge of oxidative damage, and understanding how animals cope can lend insight into their ecology. Unlike other vertebrates, birds rely primarily on fats to fuel endurance exercise such as migration, and therefore face a greater potential for damage from the reactive by-products of their own metabolism....

Managing oxidative stress is an important physiological function for all aerobic organisms, particularly during periods of prolonged high metabolic activity, such as long-distance migration across ecological barriers. However, no previous study has investigated the oxidative status of birds at different stages of migration and whether that oxidativ...

To secure research funding from grant-awarding agencies such as the US National Science Foundation, scientists - despite not typically being trained in non-technical communication or public engagement - must competitively formulate so-called Broader Impacts activities. Dissemination activities are often proposed as Broader Impacts of research, but...

During migration, many songbirds encounter large ecological barriers, like deserts and seas that require substantial fuel to cross and can lead to dehydration during passage. If muscle is not catabolized to generate metabolic water, birds must seek free water on a subsequent stopover to replenish the water lost. Yet, no work has examined if birds c...

Background/Question/Methods For migratory songbirds, the term territory is usually defined as the area an individual or breeding pair defends against conspecifics, while home range refers to the total area that an individual uses, but does not defend, during the breeding season. Since one of the primary functions of passerine song is territory def...

In New York, Bonasa umbellus (Ruffed Grouse) abundance has declined since the 1960s, presumably due to forest maturation. Wildlife managers expressed concern that hunting may contribute to the population decline as habitat quality decreases. We monitored fall-winter survival of 169 radio-marked Ruffed Grouse at 2 study areas in New York differing i...