Alyssa grew up in an oak grove near Minneapolis, Minnesota. Between nearby ponds and the Mighty Mississippi River, nature kept her quite busy during her childhood. Alyssa was four years old when she observed her spark bird: a male American Redstart shining in the springtime sun. Her bird fascination followed her to college, when Alyssa obtained a BSc in Wildlife Ecology from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point in 2013. Here she was active in multiple student organizations and led two research projects. Then in 2019, Alyssa completed her MSc in Ecology at the University of Arkansas. She studied the nesting success of Dickcissel (Spiza americana) and non-breeding bird use of remnant and restored tallgrass prairies. Alyssa also spearheaded the ecology education and outreach program for The Wildlife Society. She received multiple awards during both her undergraduate and graduate programs.
For the past 16 years, Alyssa has held numerous field gigs from Alaska to Belize, her niches being grassland bird surveys and nest-searching/monitoring. She has also been assisting at banding stations across North America for the past 14 years, written seasonal reports for Minnesota's and Wisconsin's ornithological societies, delivered many bird presentations for podcasts and local organizations, and has several local naturalist articles under her belt. Nothing gets Alyssa quite as excited as showing others her passion for wildlife, although a few things come close: watercolor painting, nature photography, dancing, cooking, and a good sense of humor. Alyssa's current home base is Montreal, Quebec.
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