[MAIPC] board member intro

[Heather Kostick]

 Hello! As Norris (MAIPC President) mentioned last week, MAIPC board
members are introducing themselves. So, Hello! I'm Heather Kostick, and I'm
the current MAIPC Treasurer. I also served as MAIPC Secretary from
2015-2017.

I first became aware of invasive species as an undergraduate at Juniata
College - I may or may not have been a student of Norris's. Then once I
graduated, I interacted with them during field work for various
universities (I was mostly chasing birds, so I wasn't actively managing
them). While going for my masters, invasive plants managed to work their
way into my thesis. Bioblitzes (bioblitzes are 24-hour intensive surveys of
fauna and/or flora) were the main method of collecting data for my thesis.
My field site (Rushton Woods Preserve, Willistown, PA) had a healthy mix of
natives and non-natives, and for my thesis (among other things) I
classified the plants by their native or non-native status for land
management use. I've also worked with Doug Tallamy on his newer Cool Beans
Research initiative which aims to raise funding for studying the native
plant diversity of coffee farms in South America. Many coffee farms use
non-natives between coffee plants to maximize profits, but initial research
shows that this is not great for the native wildlife and ecosystems.

Currently, I'm at Drexel University as a PhD student working with
terrestrial snails of Jamaica - specifically interested in their ecology
and evolutionary patterns. Not a lot is known or documented about these
snails, including their diets. A lot of native plants in Jamaica have
become overwhelm by non-natives due to development, mining, and
agriculture, and I hope to be able to document what resources the snails
are using and if native plants make a difference in their ability to
survive or not. So my interests have turned tropical, but I like to
participate in MAIPC in order to keep up to date on what's going on in the
Mid-Atlantic region, and help where I can. My latest project, other than
working on my doctoral research and prepping for field season this summer,
is launching a research-based science education podcast called Coast to
Coast Science with my friend who is also a PhD Student at Oregon State
University. She's working on the sociological issues connected with the
logging industry in Oregon, but previous worked on the emerald ash borer
issues in Maine. We plan to talk about invasive non-native species, and
native plants at some point.

Thanks for taking the time to read, and contribute to the listserve. Let me
know if you have any questions!

Best,
Heather


Heather Kostick
MAIPC Treasurer
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