D.

Max Smith

Portland, OR 97219
oregonmax@gmail.com

Education
M.S. Zoology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, 73019 (2005)
B.S. Wildlife Biology, University of Montana, Missoula, MT, 59812 (2000)

Employment
USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station and Oklahoma Biological Survey
111 E Chesapeake Norman, OK 73019
Research associate (12/05-present)
Salary: $2500/month
40 hrs/week
Supervisor: Deborah M. Finch (505) 724-3671
As part of several multi-agency studies of riparian ecology, I am monitoring survival, density, and
recruitment of riparian plants and animals in New Mexico and Oregon. Duties include construction of
habitat use and population projection models using ARCGIS; preparing manuscripts for publication in
peer-reviewed journals; conducting data entry and analysis using Excel, SAS, and Program MARK; and
making habitat management recommendations to numerous agencies.

Oklahoma Biological Survey

111 E Chesapeake Norman, OK 73019
Graduate research assistant (3/03-12/05)
Salary: $1500/month
40 hrs/week
Supervisor: Jeff Kelly (405) 243-2440
As part of my research assistantship, I organized a three-year study of breeding bird habitat in burned
riparian forests of central New Mexico. Research activities included monitoring the nests of songbirds;
measuring the structure, health, and composition of riparian trees and shrubs; sampling arthropods using
insect nets, pitfall traps, and cicada emergence traps; data entry and analysis using Excel, SAS, and
Sigma Plot software; development of information-theoretic model selection framework; supervision of
field assistants; preparation of reports for state and federal agencies; and budget management. This work
has resulted in three peer-reviewed publications.

University of Montana Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit

Natural Science Room 205 Missoula, MT 59812
Nest searcher field assistant and laboratory assistant (3/02-10/02)
Salary: $1000/month
40 hrs/weel
Supervisor: Ron Bassar (949)-680-0207
Duties included searching for open and cavity nesting birds in a Venezuela montane forest, videotaping
birds at nests, target-netting breeding birds, territory mapping, measurement of eggs and nestlings,
vegetation measurement, data entry and analysis, and assisting and training student interns in the lab.

USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

8711 37th Street SE, Jamestown, North Dakota 58401
Sandhill Crane study field assistant (1/02-3/02)

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Salary: $1800/month
30 hrs/week
Supervisor: David Brandt (701)-253-5500
Duties included leading an independent trapping team to capture sandhill cranes at migration staging areas
along the Platte River in south central Nebraska; banding, measuring, bleeding and attaching radio and
satellite transmitters to captured birds; and surveying agricultural practices at study sites.

University of Montana Department of Wildlife Biology

University of Montana College of Forestry, Missoula, Montana 59812
Sage grouse study field assistant (3/01-1/02)
Salary: $1500/month
50 hrs/week
Supervisor: Brendan Moynahan (Brendan_Moynahan@co.blm.gov)
Duties included working on independent trapping teams to capture breeding sage grouse, censusing display
sites, locating positions, nests, and broods of radio-collared hens using radio telemetry, resighting banded
birds, mixed-grass prairie vegetation measurement, and assistance with the development of protocols on
this first-year project in a very remote area of eastern Montana.

USGS Midcontinent Ecological Science Center

Arizona grassland bird study field assistant (1/01-3/01)
Salary: $500/month
20 hrs/week
Supervisor: Janet Ruth (505)-346-2870
Duties included identifying and counting birds flushed along desert and grassland transects using distance-
sampling protocols, mist-netting grassland birds, and desert grassland vegetation measurement.

University of Montana Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit

Field and lab assistant (5/99-12/00)
Salary: $1000/month
40 hrs/week
Duties included searching for and monitoring open and cavity nesting birds in an Arizona temperate
forest, operating a MAPS banding station, territory mapping, independent research, pine-riparian forest
vegetation measurement, and data entry using Paradox BBASE database.

Montana Power Company (now known as PPL Montana) Ryan Dam, Great Falls, MT (406)-
533-3400
Gardener and maintenance worker (1998)
Salary: $1500/month
40 hrs/week
Duties included mowing and maintenance of public parks and maintenance of hydroelectric generation
equipment at Ryan Dam

Montana Power Company (now known as Northwest Energy) Butte, MT 59701 Maintenance
helper (1997)
Salary: $1000/month
40 hrs/week
Supervisor: Greg Payne 406-497-2488
Duties included maintenance of several office buildings at MC headquarters in Butte, MT, mowing and
other gardening work, and moving office equipment

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Volunteer Activities
Reviewer, Journal of Wildlife Management, The Condor, and Forest Ecology and Management
(2006-present)

COASST Beached Bird Surveys (2006-present)

Duties include surveying beached birds along a stretch of central Oregon beach, taking measurements of
carcasses, and entering data.

Portland Metro Wildlife Monitoring (2006-present)

Duties included conducting avian point counts in a restored wetland and entering point count data.

Oklahoma Winter Bird Atlas (2003-2004)

I counted wintering birds within atlas plots located in rural areas.

Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks

Road-killed deer removal project (1998-1999)
Rock Creek Bull trout recovery project (1998-1999)
I assisted the electroshocking and radio implanting of bull trout and conducted redd surveys.

Awards/ Grants Received

2009 Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board Monitoring Grant

2005 George Miksch Sutton Scholarship in Ornithology presented by the Sam Noble Oklahoma
Museum of Natural History

2004 George Miksch Sutton Scholarship in Ornithology presented by the Sam Noble Oklahoma
Museum of Natural History

2004 University of Oklahoma Graduate Student Senate Conference and Creative Activity Grant

2003 University of Oklahoma Graduate Student Senate Research and Creative Activity Grant

2003 George Miksch Sutton Scholarship in Ornithology presented by the Sam Noble Oklahoma
Museum of Natural History

2000 Phillip L. Wright Research Grant Award presented by the Missoula Five Valleys Chapter
of the Audubon Society

Student Groups / Committee Memberships

University of Oklahoma Students’ Association Graduate Student Senator (2003-Present)
UOSA Graduate Student Senate Ways and Means Committee vice Chair (2004-2005)
As Vice Chair, I oversaw the awarding of research and conference grants to University of Oklahoma
graduate students.

Publications

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Smith, D.M., D.M. Finch, and D.L. Hawksworth. 2009. Black-chinned hummingbird nest site
selection and nest survival in response to fuel reduction in a southwestern riparian forest.
Condor 113 (4) in press.

Smith, D.M., D.M. Finch, C. Gunning, R. Jemison, and J.F. Kelly. 2009. Post-wildfire recovery
of riparian vegetation during a period of water scarcity in the southwestern U.S. Fire
Ecology 5: 85-102.

Smith, D.M., J.F. Kelly, and D.M. Finch. 2007. Avian nest box selection and nest success in
burned and unburned southwestern riparian forest. Journal of Wildlife Management 71:
411-421.

Smith, D.M., J.F. Kelly, and D.M. Finch. 2006. Cicada emergence in southwestern riparian
forest: influences of wildfire and vegetation composition. Ecological Applications 16(4):
1608-1618.

Smith, D.M., J.F. Kelly, and D.M. Finch. 2006. Influences of disturbance and vegetation on
abundance of native and exotic detritivores in a southwestern riparian forest.
Environmental Entomology 35(6): 1525-1531.

Smith, D.M., J.F. Kelly, and D.M. Finch. 2006. Wildfire, exotic vegetation, and breeding bird
habitat in the Rio Grande bosque. In: Aguirre-Bravo, C.; Pellicane, Patrick J.; Burns,
Denver P.; and Draggan, Sidney, Eds. 2006. Monitoring Science and Technology
Symposium: Unifying Knowledge for Sustainability in the Western Hemisphere. 2004
September 20-24; Denver, CO. Proceedings RMRS-P-42CD. Fort Collins, CO: U.S.
Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 990 p.

Oral Presentations
Smith, D.M., J.F. Kelly and D.M. Finch. 2009. Response of riparian-nesting birds to wildfire in
the southwestern U.S. 2009 Cooper Society annual meeting. Tucson, AZ.

Smith, D.M. and D.M. Finch. 2009. Climate change and southwestern riparian-nesting birds:
lessons from the Middle Rio Grande. 2009 Cooper Society annual meeting. Tucson, AZ.

Smith, D.M., J.F. Kelly and D.M. Finch. 2006. Effects of wildfire on nest selection and nest
success of cavity nesting birds along the Middle Rio Grande, New Mexico. 2006 North
American Ornithological Conference. Veracruz, Mexico.

Smith, D.M., J.F. Kelly and D.M. Finch. 2004. Short-term responses by plants, arthropods, and
birds to wildfire in a tamarisk-invaded ecosystem. 2004 Monitoring Science and
Technology Symposium. Denver, CO.

Smith, D.M., J.F. Kelly and D.M. Finch. 2004. Response of annual cicadas to wildfire in a
Southwestern riparian forest. 2004 Ecological Society of America annual meeting.
Portland, OR.

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Smith, D.M., J.F. Kelly and D.M. Finch. 2004. Effects of wildfire on birds in a southwestern
riparian ecosystem: preliminary results. 2004 Southwestern Association of Naturalists
annual meeting. San Antonio, TX.

Smith, D.M. 2004. Effects of wildfire on a southwestern riparian system: A preliminary

investigation. 2004 Student Research Symposium in Conservation, Ecology, and
Evolutionary Biology. College Station, TX.

Smith, D.M., J.F. Kelly and D.M Finch. 2003. Wildfire, cicadas, and birds in the Middle Rio
Grande Bosque, New Mexico. 2003 Oklahoma Ornithological Society annual meeting.
Sherman, TX.

Poster Presentations
Smith, D.M., D.M. Finch, and D.L. Hawksworth. 2009. Response of Black-chinned
Hummingbirds to fuel reduction and wildfire along the Middle Rio Grande, New Mexico.
2009 Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting. Albuquerque, NM.

Smith, D.M., J.F. Kelly and D.M. Finch. 2008. Biology of cottonwood and saltcedar in wildfire
sites along the Middle Rio Grande, New Mexico. 2008 Association of Fire Ecology
annual meeting. Tucson, AZ.

Smith, D.M., D.F. Finch, and D.L. Hawksworth. 2008. Nest site selection and nest survival in a
large-scale fuel reduction experiment. 2008 American Ornithologists Union annual
meeting. Portland, OR.

Smith, D.M., J.F. Kelly and D.M. Finch. 2004. Effects of wildfire on vegetation, arthropods, and
birds along the Middle Rio Grande, New Mexico. 2004 Festival of the Cranes Research
Exhibit. Bosque Del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, NM.