Jill Shaffer

Jill Shaffer is an Ecologist with the Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center of the U.S. Geological Survey in Jamestown, North Dakota.  She received a B.S. degree in Biology from the University of Wisconsin and a M.S. degree in Zoology from the University of Arkansas.  She has been actively involved in wildlife research for nearly 30 years. Her research focus broadly encompasses grassland bird ecology and conservation.  In recent years, she has evaluated the behavioral impacts of wind facilities on grassland birds and devised a method to quantify that impact for the purposes of offsetting the impact.  She has supervised numerous field crews throughout the northern Great Plains in the process of investigating the impact of land use change and landscape composition on grassland and wetland birds. She has spearheaded a twenty-year effort to compile, synthesize, and publish information on the effects of rangeland practices and energy-extraction activities on grassland birds.

Education

• M.S. (1996) Zoology, University of Arkansas
• B.S. (1993) Biology, University of Wisconsin

Professional Experience 

• 1999-present; Ecologist, US Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center, Jamestown, ND        
• 1996-1999; Biological Science Technician, US Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center, Jamestown, ND
• 1997; Lecturer, Biology Department, University of Jamestown, Jamestown, ND
• 1993-1996; Laboratory Instructor, Biology Department, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR