Division of Biological Sciences
226 Tucker Hall
University of Missouri
Columbia, MO 65211
email: diane_kuschel<at>yahoo.com
Research Interests
A former sociologist, I returned to MU as a post-baccalaureate student in Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences. I am enamored with field research and particularly interested in tropical ecology and conservation of endangered species. I am devoted to the empowerment of local/native peoples in the conservation and sustainability of their human and ecological communities.
Internationally, I studied Amazon ecology and Macaw geophagy at Tambopata Research Center in Peru. In Talamanca, Costa Rica, I banded birds for a monitoring study and implemented a poison dart frog survey at Kekoldi Scientific Center. This next year I hope to travel to Viet Nam and New Zealand and participate in wildlife field studies.
Back at home, I prepare specimens and catalog the collection at the University of Missouri Bird and Mammal Museum. I began raccoon parasitological field and lab work for Ryan Monello in Dr. Matthew Gompper’s lab in Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences this year. On weekends this summer, I conducted pilot field research on Henslow’s Sparrows as part of Dr. Ahlering’s work on extra-pair copulations.