Grazing bison are nature's lawn mowers, closely cropping the grasses and forbs in national parks such as Yellowstone, Grand Teton, and Wind Cave. Beyond gaining a meal, they also might inadvertently be improving songbird habitat, and Danielle Fagre hopes to be able to quantify that possibility.

Ms. Fagre is this year's recipient of the Boyd Evison Graduate Fellowship awarded by Grand Teton National Park and the Grand Teton Association. The fellowship will enable her to study the abundance of multiple grassland songbird species in relation to bison grazing intensity in Yellowstone.

Her study will ultimately measure bison grazing intensity in songbird habitat, record songbird abundances, and statistically relate the two variables. She will examine whether there is a positive, negative, or neutral association with bison grazing intensity. This will contribute to understanding the ecological interactions that result from current bison management.

Ms. Fagre is pursuing a master's degree in wildlife biology from the University of Montana in Missoula. She completed her bachelor's degree in biology in 2010 at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon. She grew up in West Glacier, Montana.

The young woman has a keen interest in wildlife-habitat relationships, ecology of biological communities, and wildlife and habitat conservation. She worked in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem as a wolf-tracking field technician. She also conducted avian and mammalian research for long-term monitoring projects and documented breeding efforts of avian species and pronghorn antelope, conducted avian point counts, surveyed for bighorn sheep, and assessed pika habitat quality. While completing her undergrad studies, she was a part of the Behavior Health Lab managing research activities and advancing the course of research while mentoring new lab members.

For her graduate work, Ms. Fagre played a key role in managing daily research activities for grassland songbird research in Yellowstone. She worked a field season in the Little America and Lamar Valley area of the park, which provided a valuable study location because bison have a long history on this landscape that allowed her to sample a wide spectrum of bison grazing intensities.

The fellowship was established in 2005 in memory of Boyd Evison after his death in 2002. The fellowship honors his extensive and dedicated service to both the National Park Service, where he worked for 42 years, and the Grand Teton Association, where he later served as executive director. The fellowship encourages scientific and conservation-related research in Grand Teton National Park and throughout the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.

Tuition assistance and a stipend to cover travel and field research costs are provided through the fellowship, and Grand Teton National Park may offer housing support for students during field sessions. To inquire about the Boyd Evison Graduate Fellowship or donate funds toward the program, contact Jan Lynch, executive director of the Grand Teton Association, at 307-739-3406 or by mail at P.O. Box 170, Moose, Wyoming, 83012.