Sung-Ryong Kang
"Jackie"
Ph.D. Student
Degree Completion Date:
Fall 2011
Dissertation Title:
Whooping Crane Food Availability in Different Marsh Types
Biography:
I am from Busan, South Korea, and attended Dong-A University (Busan) for my B.S. and M.S. degrees, majoring in Biological Science (Undergraduate) / Evolution and Environmental Ecology (Graduate). Following graduation, I worked in the Natural Ecosystem Management Institute.
While working towards my B.S., I was in the South Korean military for 26 months at a front-line tank corps. After military service, I served as the chairman of the student council twice in my junior year during undergraduate and the second year in the graduate program. I also worked as a teaching assistant for two years, instructing sophomore students in experiments (Wildlife Research) and going out to the field with them during the graduate program.
For several years, I participated in research projects such as habitat selection, foraging strategy and energy intake of barn swallows (Hirundo rustica) in a breeding season, habitat use and foraging behavior by wintering bean geese (Anser fabalis), census on winter migratory birds around wetlands, and evaluating possible impacts of reclamation areas on birds, mammals, amphibians and reptiles.
Current Research Interests:
Louisiana historically supported both resident and wintering populations of Whooping Cranes (Grus americana). Migratory and resident Whooping Cranes favored different habitats. Migratory cranes wintered on the tallgrass prairies, brackish marshes, and salt marshes of the Chenier Plain, whereas a resident flock nested in the isolated freshwater marsh north of White Lake in Vermilion Parish. The current suitability of the White Lake, Rockefeller, Marsh Island, Rainey sanctuary marshes to support Whooping Cranes is unknown and necessitates an understanding of marsh characteristics and life history needs of Whooping Cranes. Whooping Crane chicks are flightless for several months and must be able to access ponds by walking. Similarly, Whooping Cranes undergo molt from April to June and are flightless during this period. Thus, food must be available in walking distance and across suitable terrain. An improved understanding of temporal and spatial food availability is needed to assess the suitability of these marshes for a potential Whooping Crane reintroduction.
