Michelle Ritzert joined WEST in 2008 and has worked as a Technician and Wildlife Biologist for our Bloomington, Indiana office. Michelle has been primarily involved with the potential impacts of wind power developments on wildlife. This work has involved project management, coordination and setup, performing songbird and raptor point counts, sensitive bird species surveys, acoustic bat surveys, habitat mapping, carcass searching, carcass removal trials, searcher efficiency trials, site visits, field supervision and writing a variety of reports.
Michelle received a Bachelor of Science in Wildlife and Fisheries from Frostburg State University, Frostburg, Maryland in 2003 and a Master of Science degree in Biology from Eastern Kentucky University, Richmond, Kentucky in 2009. Michelle’s M.S. thesis was an investigation of the tail-wagging behavior of eastern phoebes where she examined a variety of hypotheses to determine the function of the behavior. Prior to joining WEST, Michelle worked on a variety of wildlife research projects including a small mammal inventory project for the National Park Service in Richmond, VA and a project examining the effects of white-tailed deer on nitrogen redistribution in Baltimore, MD with the University of Maryland’s Appalachian Laboratory. She also has a variety of avian research experience including mist netting and banding songbirds and saw-whet owls, eastern phoebe and chimney swift nest monitoring, and behavioral studies. Michelle was also employed as a Teaching Assistant and Part-time Faculty member for Eastern Kentucky University where she taught several sections of Human Anatomy, Human Physiology and General Biology laboratory as well as Human Anatomy and General Biology Lecture.
Michelle lives in Bloomington, Indiana with her husband Jason Ritzert and dogs Cooper and Cleo, where she enjoys hiking, camping, bird watching and gardening.
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