{"id":6104,"date":"2019-04-10T14:52:34","date_gmt":"2019-04-10T18:52:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cnr.ncsu.edu\/news\/?p=6104"},"modified":"2019-11-11T15:02:46","modified_gmt":"2019-11-11T20:02:46","slug":"alumni-profile-michael-biggerstaff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cnr.ncsu.edu\/news\/2019\/04\/alumni-profile-michael-biggerstaff\/","title":{"rendered":"Alumni Profile: Michael Biggerstaff"},"content":{"rendered":"

Michael Biggerstaff \u201814 uses the experience he learned while an active participant in various clubs on campus to develop and implement management programs as a biological scientist for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Some of his many duties includes monitoring and managing a red-cockaded woodpecker population; implementing a controlled burning program and a multi-tiered hunting program on the property as well as administering an eradication program for exotic plant and animal species for the Babcock Ranch Preserve in Punta Gorda, FL.<\/span><\/p>\n

What do you find most challenging about your current position?<\/h3>\n

The sheer size of the property. The property is over 67,000 acres.<\/p>\n

What is your best memory of CNR or NC State?<\/h3>\n

My undergraduate research<\/p>\n

What was your favorite CNR class?<\/h3>\n

Forest Wildlife Management<\/p>\n

Did you complete any hands-on experiences like internships, study abroad, co-ops or undergraduate research? If so, what did do you and how did it impact you?<\/h3>\n

I did an internship at the Willow Oaks Plantation in NC, where I did some invasive species control and prepped for controlled burning (plowing fire lines, etc.). I also did an internship at the Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge in Florida, where I took part in controlled burning, impoundment management, and even got to design my own little project. I studied abroad in Namibia, where we studied animals in Etosha National Park, the Namib Desert, and on a private reserve. My undergraduate research focused on factors influencing white-tailed deer vigilance. I presented this research at several meetings and earned two publications.<\/p>\n

Were you involved in any clubs, hobbies or on-campus activities? Any stories you would like to share about your experiences?<\/h3>\n

I was both the Vice-President and President of both the QDMA club and the Leopold Wildlife Club.<\/p>\n

Any advice for incoming CNR students?<\/h3>\n

Get involved in clubs! It makes your college experience much more fulfilling. CNR offers a variety of ways to make yourself stand out among your peers, so go for it.<\/p>\n","protected":false,"raw":"Michael Biggerstaff \u201814 uses the experience he learned while an active participant in various clubs on campus to develop and implement management programs as a biological scientist for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Some of his many duties includes monitoring and managing a red-cockaded woodpecker population; implementing a controlled burning program and a multi-tiered hunting program on the property as well as administering an eradication program for exotic plant and animal species for the Babcock Ranch Preserve in Punta Gorda, FL.<\/span>\r\n

What do you find most challenging about your current position?<\/h3>\r\nThe sheer size of the property. The property is over 67,000 acres.\r\n

What is your best memory of CNR or NC State?<\/h3>\r\nMy undergraduate research\r\n

What was your favorite CNR class?<\/h3>\r\nForest Wildlife Management\r\n

Did you complete any hands-on experiences like internships, study abroad, co-ops or undergraduate research? If so, what did do you and how did it impact you?<\/h3>\r\nI did an internship at the Willow Oaks Plantation in NC, where I did some invasive species control and prepped for controlled burning (plowing fire lines, etc.). I also did an internship at the Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge in Florida, where I took part in controlled burning, impoundment management, and even got to design my own little project. I studied abroad in Namibia, where we studied animals in Etosha National Park, the Namib Desert, and on a private reserve. My undergraduate research focused on factors influencing white-tailed deer vigilance. I presented this research at several meetings and earned two publications.\r\n

Were you involved in any clubs, hobbies or on-campus activities? Any stories you would like to share about your experiences?<\/h3>\r\nI was both the Vice-President and President of both the QDMA club and the Leopold Wildlife Club.\r\n

Any advice for incoming CNR students?<\/h3>\r\nGet involved in clubs! It makes your college experience much more fulfilling. CNR offers a variety of ways to make yourself stand out among your peers, so go for it."},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Michael blends the experience he learned in various on-campus clubs to the many duties he performs as a biological scientist for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":6106,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"source":"","ncst_custom_author":"","ncst_show_custom_author":false,"ncst_dynamicHeaderBlockName":"","ncst_dynamicHeaderData":"","ncst_content_audit_freq":"","ncst_content_audit_date":"","ncst_content_audit_display":false,"ncst_backToTopFlag":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[173],"tags":[98,30],"_ncst_magazine_issue":[],"class_list":["post-6104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni-and-friends","tag-alumni-profile","tag-fisheries-wildlife-and-conservation-biology"],"displayCategory":null,"acf":{"ncst_posts_meta_modified_date":null},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnr.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnr.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnr.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnr.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/136"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnr.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6104"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/cnr.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6104\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7847,"href":"https:\/\/cnr.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6104\/revisions\/7847"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnr.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6106"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnr.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnr.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnr.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6104"},{"taxonomy":"_ncst_magazine_issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnr.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/_ncst_magazine_issue?post=6104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}