Working on the final parts of the project

Black Throated Sparrow

Phainopepla

Now that the semester and my project are coming to a close I am getting my report put together and building data tables and graphs and most importantly trying to make sense of the data that I gathered. Looking back, I have already identified some mistakes I made in the way I designed my study that I'm looking forward to correcting on future projects. One of my biggest issues was that I wish I had narrowed the scope of my research and really focused my question more than I had. The sites I studied were great and gave some great data to look at but I think if I had come up with a more focused question I could have made more intentional and meaningful site selections. That being said, this study gave me a great overview of different types of environments and I think it may have lead me to a new research focus within my field of study. My data collection at Tres Rios wetlands made me very curious if we could create more areas like Tres Rios to help sustain biodiversity. It is a part of the waste water treatment plant in west phoenix and now it is one of the most important sites for bird biodiversity in the state. I am hoping to learn more about how we can integrate these types of environments into our needs as humans, especially in urban environments where biodiversity is most negatively effected by our actions.