Susan Felege

• Biol 121: Introduction to Fisheries and Wildlife Biology Seminar
• Biol 397: Cooperative Education (internship experience)
• Biol 426: Birds and Mammals
• Biol 431: Wildlife Management
• Biol 432: Wildlife Techniques in Population Assessments

• Gamebird ecology and management
• Mesomammal population sampling techniques, population dynamics, and behavior
• Predator-prey community dynamics through simultaneous study of predators and prey
• Issues associated with predator management for game and imperiled species
• Avian nest predation and behavior, particularly through the use of 24-hour camera monitoring
• Human-wildlife conflict including minimizing wildlife damage, bird strike with aircraft mitigation, wildlife-vehicle collisions, wildlife management in agricultural systems, and management of wildlife with energy development
• Application of new techniques and technology in Wildlife Ecology
• Application of quantitative and spatial tools [GIS] to study wildlife conservation issues

Peer- Reviewed Publications

1. Voss, M.A., F.R. Reed, and S.N. Ellis-Felege. 2006. Use of a new model to quantify compromises between embryo development and parental self-maintenance in three species of intermittently incubating passerines.  Journal of Thermal Biology 31:453-460. Role: Collected, analyzed data, contributed text, approved and revised manuscript
2. Ellis-Felege, S.N., J.S. Burnam, W.E. Palmer, D.C. Sisson, S.D. Wellendorf, R.P. Thornton, and H.E. Stribling. 2008. Cameras identify white-tailed deer depredating northern bobwhite nests. Southeastern Naturalist 7:562-564. Role: Conceived, analyzed data, wrote manuscript
3. Etterson, M.A., S.N. Ellis-Felege, D. Evers, G. Gauthier, J.A. Grzybowski, B.J. Mattson, L.R. Nagy, B. J. Olsen, C.M. Pease, M. Post van der Burg, A. Potvien. 2011. Modeling fecundity in birds: conceptual overview, current models and considerations for future developments. Ecological Modelling 222: 2178-2190. Role:  Contributed text, approved and revised manuscript.
4. Ellis-Felege, S. N., M. J. Conroy, W. E. Palmer, and J. P. Carroll. 2012. Predation reduction results in compensatory shifts in losses of avian ground nests. Journal of Applied Ecology 49: 661-669. (Article featured in the “Science in Short” section of the Wildlife Professional (2012, vol. 6, pg 11)). Role: Conceived, conducted and collected data, analyzed, wrote manuscript.
5. Ellis-Felege, S. N., C. S. Dixon, S. D. Wilson. 2013. Impacts and management of invasive cool-season grasses in the Northern Great Plains: challenges and opportunities for wildlife. Wildlife Society Bulletin 37:510-516. Role: Conducted, analyzed, and wrote manuscript.
6. Ellis-Felege, S.N., J. S. Burnam, W. E. Palmer, D. C. Sisson, and J.P. Carroll. 2013. Fight or flight: parental decisions about predators at bobwhite nests. Auk. 130: 637-644. Role: Collected some of data and analyzed data, wrote manuscript
7. Desell, T., R. Bergman, K. Goehner, R. Marsh, R. Vanderclute, and S. N. Ellis-Felege. 2013. Wildlife@Home: combining crowd sourcing and volunteer computing to analyze avian nesting video. Pp. 107-115 in 2013 IEEE 9th International Conference on e-Science.  (http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/eScience.2013.50) Role: Conceived with T. Desell, conducted and collected data, contributed text, approved and revised manuscript.
8. Ellis-Felege, S. N., T. Desell, C. J. Felege. 2014. A bird’s eye view of …birds: combining technology and citizen science for conservation. Wildlife Professional 8: 27-30 (Peer-edited Article). Role: Conceived, conducted and collected data, and wrote manuscript.
9. Desell, T., K. Goehner, A. Andes, R. Eckroad, and S.N. Ellis-Felege. 2015.  On the effectiveness of crowd sourcing avian nesting video analysis at Wildlife@Home. International Conference on Computational Science. 51: 384-393. Role: Conceived with T. Desell, conducted and collected data, contributed text, approved and revised manuscript.
10. Goehner, K., T. Desell, R. Eckroad, L. Mohsenian, P. Burr, N. Caswell, A. Andes, and S. N. Ellis-Felege. 2015. A comparison of background subtraction algorithms for detecting avian nesting events in uncontrolled outdoor video. 11th IEEE International Conference on eScience. E-Science 11: 187-195. DOI: 10.1109/eScience.2015.10
11. Darby B.J., S.F. Erickson, S.D. Hervey, S. N. Ellis-Felege. 2016. Digital Fragment Analysis of Short Tandem Repeats. Ecology and Evolution. doi: 10.1002/ece3.2221 Role: Conceived with B. Darby, conducted and collected data, contributed text, approved and revised manuscript.
12. Bowley, C., A. Andes, S. N. Ellis-Felege, and T. Desell. 2016. Detecting wildlife in uncontrolled outdoor video using convolutional neural networks. IEEE 12th International Conference on e-Science. DOI: 10.1109/eScience.2016.7870906
13. Mattingly III, M., A. Barnas, S. N. Ellis-Felege, R. Newman, D. Iles, and T. Desell. 2016. Developing a citizen science web portal for manual and automated ecological image detection. IEEE 12th International Conference on e-Science. E-Science 12:251-259. DOI: 10.1109/eScience.2016.7870903
14. Burr, P.C., A. C. Robinson, R. T. Larsen, R.A. Newman, S. N. Ellis-Felege. 2017. Sharp-tailed grouse nest survival and nest predator habitat use in North Dakota’s Bakken oil field. PLoS One. http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0170177
15. X. Yu, S. N. Ellis-Felege, and J. P. Carroll. 2017. Risk taking by incubating northern bobwhites: effects of predator type and investment. Avian Biology Research 10(2): 69-75.
16. Ellis-Felege, S. N, S. E. Albeke, N. P. Nibbleink, M. J. Conroy, W. E. Palmer, D.C. Sisson, and J. P. Carroll. 2017. Landscape features affecting northern bobwhite predator-specific nest failures in the southeastern United States. Proceedings of the Eighth National Quail Symposium 8:344-354.
17. Gormezano, L. J., S. N. Ellis-Felege. D. T. Iles, A. Barnas, and R.F. Rockwell. 2017. Polar bear foraging behavior during the ice-free period in western Hudson Bay: observations, origins, and potential significance. American Museum Novitiates 3885: 1-28. https://doi.org/10.1206/3885.1
18. Gross, R., S. Tucker, B. J. Darby, and S. N. Ellis-Felege. 2017. Trapping efficiency and incidental take of waterbirds using covered and uncovered floating muskrat sets. Wildlife Research. https://doi.org/10.2981/wlb.00308
19. Bowley, C, M. Mattingly III, A. Barnas, S. N. Ellis-Felege, and T. Desell. 2017. Toward Using Citizen Scientists to Drive Automated Ecological Object Detection in Aerial Imagery. E-Science 13: 99-108. DOI:10.1109/eScience.2017.22
20. Barnas, A., R. A. Newman, C. J. Felege, M. P. Corcoran, S. D. Hervey, T. D. Stechmann, R.F. Rockwell, and S. N. Ellis-Felege. 2018. Evaluating Behavioral Responses of Nesting Lesser Snow Geese to Unmanned Aircraft Surveys. Ecology and Evolution.8 (2):1328 – 1338. DOI: 10.1002/ece3.3731
21. Ellis-Felege, S. N., C. Skaggs, and G. A. Knutsen. 2018. Increased Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola) Breeding Activity in Minnesota. Canadian Field Naturalist 131(4): 338-343. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.22621/cfn.v131i4.1963
22. Barnas, A., C.J. Felege, R.F. Rockwell, and S.N. Ellis-Felege. 2018. A pilot(less) study on the use of an unmanned aircraft vehicle for studying polar bears. Polar Biology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-018-2270-0 .
23. Felege, C. J., C. Hunter, J. Hunter, and S. N. Ellis-Felege. 2018. Pedagogy and practice in STEM field experience: intersections of student and mentor identity and impacts upon student outcomes. Journal of Education for Teaching. https://doi.org/10.1080/02607476.2018.1450818
24. Bowley, C., M. Mattingly III, A. Barnas, S. N. Ellis-Felege, and T. Desell. 2018. Detecting wildlife in unmanned aerial systems imagery using convolutional neural networks trained with an automated feedback loop. International Conference on Computer Science 10860: 69-82. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-93698-7_6
25. Andes, A. K., T.L. Shaffer, M.H. Sherfy, C. M. Huber, C. Dovichin, and S.N. Ellis-Felege. 2019. Accuracy of Nest Fate Classification and Predator Identification from Evidence at Nests of Least Terns and Piping Plovers. IBIS 161: 286-300. https://doi.org/10.1111/ibi.12629
26. Palmer, W.E., J. P. Carroll, D. C. Sisson, S.D. Wellendorf, T. M. Therhune, S. N. Ellis-Felege, and J. A. Martin. 2019. Reduction in meso-mammal nest predators improves northern bobwhite demographics. Journal of Wildlife Management 83(3): 646 – 656 https://doi.org/10.1002/jwmg.21627
27. Bowley, C., A. Barnas, M. Mattingly, S. N. Ellis-Felege, and T. Desell. 2019. An Analysis of Altitude, Citizen Science and a Convolutional Neural Network Feedback Loop on Object Detection in Unmanned Aerial Systems. Journal of Computational Science 34: 102-116. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jocs.2019.04.010
28. Barnas, A., B. J. Darby, G. Vandeberg, R. F. Rockwell, and S. N. Ellis-Felege. 2019 Assessment of lesser snow goose (Anser caerulescens caerulescens) habitat degradation in La Perouse Bay using unmanned aircraft. PLOS ONE. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0217049
29. Felege, C., R. Romsdahl, J. Hunter, C. Hunter, and S. N. Ellis-Felege. 2019. Immersive field experiences lead to higher level of learning and more translational impacts on students. Journal of Environmental Studies and Science 9. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13412-019-00555-y
30. Hervey, S.D, A. F. Barnas, T.J. Stechmann, R.F. Rockwell, S.N. Ellis-Felege, and B.J. Darby. 2019. Kin grouping is insufficient to explain the inclusive fitness gains of conspecific brood parasitism in the common eider. Molecular Ecology. https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.15258
31. Svedarsky, D. W., R. Grosshans, H. Venema, S. N. Ellis-Felege, J. Bruggman, A. Ostlund, and J. Lewis. 2019. Integrated management of invasive cattails for wetland habitat and biofuel in the Northern Great Plains of the United States and Canada: A review. Mires and Peat 25:1-14. DOI: 10.19189/MaP.2018.APG.367
32. Barnas, A. F., D. Chabot, A. Hodgson, D. Johnston, D. M. Bird, and S. N. Ellis-Felege. 2020. Standardized protocol for reporting methods when using drones for wildlife research. Journal of Unmanned Vehicles. DOI: 10.1139/juvs-2019-0011.
33. Miller, S., A. Derenne, S. Ellis-Felege, and T. Rhen. 2020. Incubation temperature and satiety influence general locomotor and exploratory behaviors in the common snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentine). Physiology and Behavior. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physbeh.2020.112875
34. Barnas, A. F., D. T. Iles, T. J. Stechmann, E. M. Wampole, D. N. Koons, R. F. Rockwell, S. N. Ellis-Felege. 2020. A Phenological comparison of grizzly (Ursus arctos) and polar bears (Ursus maritimus) as waterfowl nest predators in Wapusk National Park. Polar Biology 43(5): DOI:10.1007/s00300-020-02647-w
35. Andes, A. K., M. H. Sherfy. T. L. Shaffer, and S. N. Ellis-Felege. 2020. Plasticity of Least Tern and Piping Plover Nesting Behaviors to Sand Temperature. Journal of Thermal Biology
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtherbio.2020.102579
36. Helvey, M., M. Ryckman, S. N. Ellis-Felege, J.V. Aardt, and C. Salvagio. 2020. Duck nest detection through remote sensing. 2020 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium. IGARSS -2020: 6321-6324. DOI: 10.1109/IGARSS39084.2020.9323500
37. Ellis-Felege, S.N., C. Riley, and S. Cavanah. 2020. Science Communication for Natural Resource Outreach. Pp. 140-141 in L. Knuffman (editor). Proceedings of the Fifth Biennial Conference on the Conservation of America’s Grasslands, National Wildlife Federation, Washington, DC. https://www.nwf.org/-/media/Documents/PDFs/Our-Lands/2019-America-Grasslands-Conference-Proceedings.ashx?la=en&hash=6D643148A4A44E46DAC1239AE0A80D6A5D5514A0
38. Romsdahl, R., C. J. Felege, J. Hunter, C. Hunter, and S. N. Ellis-Felege. 2021. Americans’ support for renewable energy is disconnected from their understanding of powerline infrastructure as a mechanism to mitigate climate change. Energy and Environment Research 11: 10.5539/eer.v11n1p12.
39. Felege, C. J., C. Hunter, and S. N. Ellis-Felege. 2022. Personal Impacts of the Undergraduate Teaching Assistant Experience. Journal of Scholarship of Teaching and Learning 22: https://doi.org/10.14434/josotl.v22i2.31306
40. Clark, D., A.F. Barnas, R. Brook, S.N. Ellis-Felege, S., Fishback, L.-A., Higdon, J. W., Manning, K., Rivet, D., Roth, J. D., Trim, V., Webb, M., Rockwell, R. 2022. The state of knowledge about grizzly bears in Northern Manitoba. Arctic. 75:105-120. https://doi.org/10.14430/arctic74922
41. Blomberg, E. J., B.E. Ross, C. J. Cardinal, S. N. Ellis-Felege, D. Gibson, A. P. Monroe, P. K. Schwalenberg. 2021. Galliform exclusion from the Migratory Bird Treaty Act has produced an alternative conservation path, but no evidence for differences in population status. Ornithological Applications 124: 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1093/ornithapp/duab051
42. Ellis-Felege, S. N., T. Stechmann, S. Hervey, C. Felege, R.F. Rockwell, and A. Barnas. 2022. Nesting common eiders (Somateria mollisima) show little behavioral response to fixed-wing drone surveys. Drone Systems and Applications (Special Issue on Arctic/Polar Applications for Drones) 10: 1-14.  https://doi.org/10.1139/juvs-2021-0012
43. Barnas, A., B. Darby, B., D.T. Iles, D. Koons, C, Semeniuk, and S.N, Ellis-Felege, S. 2022. Bear presence attracts avian predators but does not impact lesser snow goose nest attendance. Journal of Avian Biology. https://doi.org/10.1111/jav.02840
44. Ryckman, M. D., K. Kemink, C. J. Felege, B. Darby, G. S. Vandeberg, and S. N. Ellis-Felege. 2022. Behavioral responses of blue-winged teal and northern shoveler to unmanned aerial vehicle surveys. PLOS ONE 17: e0262393 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0262393
45. Lenzi, J., C.J. Felege, R.A. Newman, B. McCann, and S. N. Ellis-Felege. 2022. Feral Horses and Bison at Theodore Roosevelt National Park Exhibit Shifts in Behavior during Drone Flights. Drones 6:1-12 https://doi.org/10.3390/drones6060136
46. Kemink, K., K. J. Kuechle, M. L. Sieges, S. Krohn, C.D. Isaacson, J. Palarksi, N. Conrad, A. Nelson, B. Liu, T. K. Buhl, and S.N. Ellis-Felege. 2023. Nest remains are insufficient to identify predators of waterfowl nests. Wildlife Research 50(3): 182-189. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1071/WR22042
47. Lenzi, J., A.F. Barnas, A. A. ElSaid, T. Desell, R.F. Rockwell, and S.N. Ellis-Felege. 2023. Artificial intelligence for automated detection of large mammals creates path to upscale drone surveys. Scientific Reports 13: 947. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-28240-9  
48. Cavanah, S., S. Owens, K. Kemink, C. Riley, S. Kim, J. Lee, and S.N. Ellis-Felege. 2023. Birds of a feather flock together: a longitudinal study of a social media outreach effort shows audience similar to project team. Biological Conservation 281: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2023.109999
49. Yannuzzi, S., C. Beach, K. Kemink, A.M.V. Fournier, and S.N. Ellis-Felege. 2023. Fowl Women: the unsung multifaceted contributions of women to the success of waterfowl conservation. The Wildlife Professional. 17:40-43.
50. Linder, T., S.N. Ellis-Felege, and C. J. Felege. 2023. Ten tips Taylored for Successful Talks with Landowners in Ranching and Range Management Landscapes. Ecology and Conservation Science: Open Access 3(1): DOI: 10.19080/ECOA.2023.03.555603.
51. Kemink, K., S. Cavanah, S. N. Ellis-Felege, and C. J. Felege.2023. You come for the cause and stay for the people: a grounded theory case study of mission internalization through a Ducks Unlimited event. Journal of Leadership, Accountability, and Ethics 20(4): 2023
52. Jørgensen, A. V., C. D. Isaacson, J. Kolar, and S. N. Ellis-Felege. 2023. The Mixing Pot: Observations of Hybridization between Sharp-tailed Grouse and Greater Prairie-Chickens in North Dakota. Prairie Naturalist 55:152-160.
53. Burton, A. C. …S. N. Ellis-Felege… R. Kays. 2024. Mammal response to global changes in human activity vary by trophic group and landscape. Nature Ecology and Evolution: 8: 924-935. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-024-02363-2

2023: UND Founder’s Day Faculty Scholar Award 

2019 and 2017: The Wildlife Society’s Student Chapter Advisor of the Year

2017: UND Foundation/McDermott Faculty Award for Individual Excellence in Teaching

PhD: University of Georgia

BS: Penn State University