Research Staff

Jason Lauritsen, Science Coordinator (email)

Jason received is B.S. in Animal Ecology from Iowa State University (Ames, IA) and his M.A.T. in Science Education from the University of Iowa (Iowa City, IA).

He has been the Natural Resource Manager at National Audubon Society's Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary since August, 2001. For the past four seasons, Jason has been the principal monitor of the largest wood stork nesting colony in the United States. He conducts routine aerial surveys to assess nesting productivity over the course of the season. His participation on the Wood Stork Recovery Team involves him with current efforts to develop strategies aimed at driving restoration efforts in South Florida, which include the recovery of the wood stork.

While participating on numerous policy teams in Southwest Florida, Jason identifies science needs and restoration priorities for the region. He also reviews permit applications to determine their potential negative or positive impacts on the Corkscrew Marsh system.

As part of the Regional Restoration Coordination Team (RRCT), Jason is connected to a network of individuals throughout Southwest Florida who represent a broad knowledge base working towards restoration and protection of the Greater Everglades and Big Cypress systems.

Shawn Liston, Ph.D., Senior Biologist (email)

Shawn received her B.S. from Eckerd College (St. Petersburg, FL), majoring in Marine Science (Biology) and Mathematics and minoring in Chemistry. She completed her Ph.D. in Biology at Florida International University (Miami, FL), receiving a STAR Fellowship from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Her dissertation focused on the role of floating periphyton mats and their associated macroinvertebrate community in the Everglades food web, and the impacts of eutrophication and hydrology on this system.

Prior to graduate school, Shawn completed an internship with the Student Conservation Association where she assisted with various fisheries projects at Yellowstone National Park. Her post-doctoral research with the U.S. Geological Survey (Everglades National Park) focused on the impact of non-indigenous fishes on native Everglades fish communities.

Shawn's primary research interest is in the structure and function of aquatic communities, taking a special interest in national parks and other protected areas.

Recent publications:

  • Liston, SE, WF Loftus, JC Trexler & JJ Lorenz. 2007. Importance of cypress forests to Everglades fish and macroinvertebrate communities. 2nd National Conference on Ecosystem Restoration (NCER), April 23-27, 2007, Kansas City, MO. (PDF)
  • Rehage, JS, SE Liston, JJ Lorenz, WF Loftus & JC Trexler. 2007. A comparison of consumer dynamics and the influence of hydrology across multiple Everglades habitats. Florida Coastal Everglades Long-Term Ecological Research (FCE-LTER) All-Scientists Meeting, March 19-20, 2007, Coral Gables, FL. (PDF)
  • Liston, SE, KJ Dunker, JS Rechage & WF Loftus (in prep) Relative impact of non-indigenous African jewelfish (Hemichromis letourneuxi Cichlidae) on native Everglades fishes in subterranean dry-season refuges.
  • Liston, SE, AD Hernandez & JC Trexler (in prep) Variation in aquatic animal community structure along a hydrologic gradient in an oligotrophic freshwater wetland.
  • Liston, SE, JC Trexler, & S Newman (in review) Macroinvertebrate community response to eutrophication in an oligotrophic wetland: an in situ mesocosm experiment.
  • Liston, SE. 2006. Interactions between nutrient availability and hydroperiod shape macroinvertebrate communities in Florida Everglades marshes. Hydrobiologia 569:343-357 (PDF)
  • Liston, SE & JC Trexler. 2005. Spatiotemporal patterns in community structure of macroinvertebrates inhabiting calcareous periphyton mats. Journal of the North American Benthological Society 24(4):832-844 (PDF)

David Green, Biologist (email)

David earned his B.S. from the University of Miami (Coral Gables, FL) with a dual degree in Marine Science and Biology, including a minor in Chemistry. After spending two years living in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, David returned to Florida and worked with Mote Marine Laboratory's Fisheries Enhancement Department in Sarasota. David began working for Audubon of Florida at the Tavernier Science Center in 1999, moving to Corkscrew in 2007.

David is also currently working toward the completion of his M.S. in Biology at Florida International University (Miami, FL). His research explores fish community structure and aquatic food webs along salinity gradients in two Everglades sloughs.

His Audubon fieldwork occurs in the forested wetlands of Big Cypress National Preserve and in the mangrove zone of Shark River Slough (Everglades National Park). He uses stable isotope analyses to investigate changes in energetic inputs and relative trophic positions of aquatic flora and fauna.

Recent publications:

  • Green D, JC Trexler, J Lorenz, C McIvor & T Philippi. 2006. Spatial patterns of fish communities along two estuarine gradients in southern Florida. Hydrobiologia 569:387-399 (PDF)

Nicole Katin, Biologist (email)

Nicole received her B.A. in Biology from the University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA) and her M.S. in Environmental Studies from Florida International University (Miami, FL).

Nicole is essentially a Florida native, having lived in South Florida since the age of 5. Before joining Audubon, she worked as a naturalist in the environmental education department for the Conservancy of Southwest Florida, teaching a variety of grade levels from kindergarten through high school, both in and out of the classroom. The pursuit of a Master's degree led her to the east coast where she continued to teach, but this time at the university level as a lab instructor for Ecology of South Florida classes. Her thesis research focused on women's cultivation and utilization of plants in the Mayan villages of southern Belize.

Nicole is excited to be part of the research efforts at Corkscrew and throughout the Big Cypress region.