Carly Aulicky

J. Applegate Award for Outstanding Student in Wildlife 2011

I was raised in Annandale and I now reside in Gillette, New Jersey. As a homeschooled child, I was privileged to spend much of my youth outdoors and my parents encouraged my curiosity by actively partaking in my determination to learn about the natural world. At the age of sixteen, I entered Raritan Valley Community College, where I was introduced to ecology by Dr. Jay Kelly, a Rutgers Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources alumnus.

I was interested in wildlife biology, but I did not become interested in conservation until I began to volunteer in two conservation projects. I volunteered for the Eastern Bluebird Conservation Program as a nest box monitor at Round Valley State Park and I was as a roost tree monitor for a study on Indiana Bats for the Department of the Interior at the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge.

I was presented with the daunting choice of attending Cornell University or coming to Rutgers University. My mind was not made up until I decided to walk Cook Campus one last time. While on a tour of the ecology facility, I was fortunate to be introduced to Dr. David Ehrenfeld, who was kind enough to discuss my future perspectives. Dr. Ehrenfeld offered me candid advice and presented unique opportunities that helped me make my decision.

As a student of Rutgers, I wanted to pursue laboratory and field experience that would allow me to utilize my education and future research to the best of my ability. I began to look for a research position for pursuit of an honors thesis with the G. H. Cook Scholars Program. I found a position in the Sukhdeo laboratory with mentorship from Dr. Michael Sukhdeo who allowed me the great freedom to design and execute a research project on black flies (Simuliidae). It was my first endeavor as a scientist. The research I conducted on larval black fly ecology was presented at the 9th Annual North American Black Fly Association Meeting at the University of Georgia in part of the Mike Spironello Award student presentation competition.

In addition to my pursuit of a major in Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources, I am also pursuing a certificate in Environmental Geomatics through The Grant F. Walton Center for Remote Sensing and Spatial Analysis. In my pursuit of the Environmental Geomatics certificate, I was fortunate enough to meet Dr. Marci Meixler, the professor of my Intermediate Geomatics class. Dr. Meixler offered me the tremendous opportunity to become actively involved in a volunteer project through GISCorps to help develop a database infrastructure and base maps for Niassa Reserve in Mozambique Africa.

In the future, it is my intention to pursue graduate work with birds or mammals. I am currently in the process of applying to graduate programs that would allow me to explore the possibilities of combining spatial technologies with animal behavior to help in conservation efforts. I look forward to these future opportunities to expand my character and education as I aspire towards my PhD.