People | lsurnr

Current Lab Members

Dr. Ashley M. Long

Dr. Ashley M. Long is an Associate Professor of Wildlife Ecology at Louisiana State University's School of Renewable Natural Resources. Dr. Long completed her undergraduate education at Northland College (Ashland, WI), where she received her B.S. in Biology. She earned her M.S. in Biological Sciences from Emporia State University (Emporia, KS), where she examined the influence of prescribed burning on birds in shrub-encroached shortgrass prairie with Dr. William E. Jensen. For her Ph.D. in Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences, she examined avian responses to variation in vegetation structure and composition with Dr. Michael L. Morrison at Texas A&M University (College Station, TX).

Prior to joining RNR, Dr. Long was a Research Scientist at the Texas A&M Natural Resources Institute, where she worked on issues related to T&E, at-risk, and nuisance wildlife. Outside work, Dr. Long and her husband love trying out new recipes and spending time outdoors with their daughter, Ada, and dog, Pip – if you see them out and about, be sure to say “hi”!

Jane Kunberger

Jane Kunberger is a Research Associate using remotely sensed data and GIS to identify coastal prairie remnants in southwestern Louisiana, examine historic and projected land cover change in the Florida parishes, and study golden-cheeked warbler habitat loss in Texas. Jane is also working on apps that incorporate spatial data to help wildlife managers identify habitat patches for conservation and management. Prior to her current position, Jane received her B.S. in Environmental Science from the University of Alabama and her M.S. in Renewable Natural Resources with a concentration in Wildlife from LSU, where she also worked in the Long Lab! For her M.S. thesis, Jane investigated the influence of forest management practices on bat habitat use in central Louisiana.

John Macey

John Macey is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries at Texas A&M University and is co-advised by Dr. Roel Lopez at TAMU and Dr. Ashley Long at LSU. He has been wildlife biologists with the U.S. Army since 2004 working with indigo snakes, red-cockaded woodpeckers, gopher tortoises, and many more! Prior to his current position at the Fort Hood Military Reservation where he conducts research on golden-cheeked warblers, he earned is B.S. and M.S. from Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas. For his dissertation research, John is examining migratory connectivity for warblers and studying the potential effects of geolocator deployment on the demography and behavior of the species.

Allison (Alee) Vestal-Laborde

Alee Vestal-Laborde is a Ph.D. student in Renewable Natural Resources with a concentration in Wildlife and is the Lab Manager for Anatomy Lab at the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine. Alee earned her M.S. in Biochemistry from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia and her four B.S. degrees from NC State University in Raleigh, North Carolina. Alee is interested in wildlife disease ecology, especially in migratory waterfowl. Her PhD project is examining the disease ecology of avian coronaviruses in migratory waterfowl in Louisiana. You can find her at https://www.thewaterbirds.com/.

Michael Gamble

Michael Gamble is an M.S. student in Renewable Natural Resources with a concentration in Wildlife. He earned his B.A. in Biology from the College of Charleston, then worked as a bird bander at stations ranging from Texas to New York. Before beginning his M.S. program, he also spent several seasons tagging golden-cheeked warblers and conducting point counts in Texas and Louisiana for the Long Lab. For his thesis, Michael is using radio transmitters and automated telemetry to examine the movement ecology of golden-cheeked warblers, an endangered songbird in central Texas.

Chloe Crawford

Chloe Crawford is an M.S. student in the School of Renewable Natural Resources. She earned her B.S. in Natural Resource Ecology and Management with a concentration in Wildlife Habitat Management from Louisiana State University. Chloe began in the Long Lab as an undergraduate student worker where her work focused on extension and education. For her thesis, Chloe is examining private landowner perceptions of prescribed fire in timberlands, grasslands, and marshes in Louisiana. She hopes that her work can connect private landowners with the information they need to confidently and appropriately use prescribed fire.

Kevin Perozeni

Kevin Perozeni is an M.S. student in Renewable Natural Resources with a concentration in Wildlife. He earned his B.S. in Forestry, Fisheries, and Wildlife from Ohio State University, and graduated with an honors thesis studying the survival of wintering sparrows. Before joining the lab, Kevin worked wildlife technician jobs ranging from Grasshopper Sparrow surveys within the Kansas prairies to running MAPS stations across Grand Teton National Park. Kevin also enjoys photography and meteorology, with a special interest on severe weather. For his thesis, Kevin is currently studying Wilson’s snipe movement ecology across their full annual cycle.