Internship amid falcons takes Mary Carson’s research to new heights

By Haley Tenore

Living a nature lover's dream, Mary Carson is making this summer a season of field research. The rising senior at Virginia Commonwealth University is interning with Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, a raptor conservation organization in Eastern Pennsylvania, as she blends her undergraduate studies into an accelerated master's program.

Carson grew up in Chesterfield County and spent much of her childhood exploring Rockwood Park and kayaking or hiking with her family. Her interests expanded to biology by high school, and at VCU, she is double-majoring in biology and environmental studies. As a sophomore, she joined the Avian Ecology Lab and began researching American kestrels, the continent's smallest falcon.

"The research that I'm doing here is both contributing to Hawk Mountain's broader goals and to my work as a student researcher from VCU," Carson said. "My research this summer focuses on American kestrel parental behavior and reproductive dynamics. So, I'm spending a lot of time out in the field monitoring the nests of these birds, checking in on their progress throughout the season, seeing when they have their eggs, when their chicks have hatched, watching their chicks develop, and then watching the chicks eventually fledge the nest."

Carson noted that kestrels, as a predator, eat insects, rodents and smaller birds and help control pest populations in agricultural landscapes. Her research involves setting up camera systems designed by VCU HyperLabs to record footage of the kestrels in their nests, so she can assess whether the male or female parent feeds their chicks more often and what specific prey items the parents provide. Investigating the dynamics of parental care helps researchers understand what is needed for chicks to successfully develop into adults, which can help inform conservation efforts.

Last summer, Carson also focused on kestrels. She completed the Summer@Rice program, which invites student interns to study at the VCU Rice Rivers Center along the James River in Charles City County, where she conducted surveys of kestrel habitats in Virginia.

As part of Summer@Rice, her cohort visited Hawk Mountain, and Carson met the sanctuary researchers and learned about the internship. She developed her project methods with support from her Avian Ecology Lab mentors, Catherine Viverette, Ph.D., assistant professor and director of student engagement at the VCU Rice Rivers Center, and Dan Albrecht-Mallinger, an assistant professor with the School of Life Sciences and Sustainability in the College of Humanities and Sciences, who taught Carson during her freshman year and is her primary mentor within the Avian Ecology Lab.

"I feel fortunate to make the connections that I have. I wouldn't be here if I hadn't just talked to random people," Carson said.

Her research and data collection are powering both her internship and her thesis, which focuses on parental behavior. Carson, who will earn her undergraduate degree in December, is enrolled in the accelerated master's program in environmental studies, which will take an additional year to complete. She hopes to continue working in academia and become a professor to mentor the next generation of students.

For now, Carson is enjoying her time at Hawk Mountain and exploring the sanctuary on her days off.

"I'm surrounded by all these bird lovers and all these outdoorsy people, and it's a great community," she said. "Also, I'm in the middle of rural Pennsylvania. I get to go hiking on my days off. I get to go birdwatching. It's been fun."

Carson's work with the Avian Ecology Lab had piqued an interest in birdwatching, and she even serves as co-president of the student group Birders at VCU.

"I genuinely do enjoy birds," she said. "Birdwatching is a great hobby. I get a lot of enjoyment from just seeing these little guys everywhere."

Carson received financial support from VCU's Internship Funding Program, which is funded by a combination of VCU funds from the Strategic Enrollment Management and Student Success and the School of Business, donor funds from the Student Life and Learning Fund, and grant funds from the State Council for Higher Education of Virginia.