Lay Abstract of Theses and Dissertation
Contact(s)
- Lay Abstracts Coordinator -
Robert Zink,
rzink2@unl.edu,
W504 NH CC 0338,
Phone: 612-590-4215
- Graduate Committee Chair -
Christopher Chizinski,
cchizinski2@unl.edu,
910 South HARH EC 0989,
Phone: 402-472-8718
- SNR Graduate Program Coordinator -
Brooke Mott,
bmott2@unl.edu,
911 South HARH EC 0989,
Phone: 402-472-5355
Let's be honest. Research in SNR is varied, so much so that people in some fields are not able (or willing) to learn about research in other fields because they lack the technical expertise and understanding of the jargon. The SNR Graduate Committee has approved a voluntary effort by graduate students to include lay abstracts in theses and dissertations. In most career paths, graduate students will be tasked with communicating what they do to the general public, and lay abstracts provide an excellent introduction on how to write for the non-specialist. Lay abstracts will be included on the SNR website, and viewed by donors, alumni, prospective students, and any other people interested in seeing the great research done by our graduate students.
Dr. Bob Zink (rzink2@unl.edu) will serve as Lay Abstracts Coordinator. Any interested student can send a draft to Bob and he will work with you (if needed) to bring it to a point where someone outside the field can understand the work and its significance. Only graduate students who submit their thesis or dissertation during the calendar year are eligible. Lay abstracts are due to the Coordinator via email by the date established by the University for Fall semesters. The Lay Abstracts Coordinator will appoint a committee of three faculty who do not have a student in the competition, and they will declare a "Best Lay Abstract". The winner will receive $500.
Previous Winners
Guidelines
Select an interesting (non-technical) title because it often determines whether people will read your abstract. Keep it around 300-700 words. The first sentence (and title) often determines whether people keep reading, so make it count. Explain what your research aims to achieve, then how you’re going to do it and why it’s relevant. Know your audience: discuss the value of your research in a way that a middle school student will grasp. Provide examples. Write in the active voice and use the first person where necessary. Keep sentences short, clear, and focused. No jargon or technical terms. Ask someone outside your field to read it over.
Example of Lay Abstract. Brittaney Buchanan’s M.S. on wild turkey
The Wild Turkey brings to many people’s mind the main course at a family feast on a day in late November. But, other than the grocery story, what is the history of this bird in North America? We think of the images of early settlers and their encounters with this majestic bird, but few know that the turkey was hunted almost to extinction, and they were gone from the Nebraska landscape. They are common today, so what happened? Through stricter regulations, captive breeding and reintroductions, the wild turkey has once again become a common sight in the wild, even in cities. Before the near extinction, turkeys in different parts of the range looked different, that is, their feather patterns and coloration were something of a bar code of where they lived. These different turkeys were called Eastern, Rio Grande, Merriam’s, Ocellated, and Gould’s, and today an example of each is often much sought-after by hunters. Several differently appearing birds were reintroduced to Nebraska (including hybrids with domestic birds). My study asked what the genetic consequences have been from the numerous reintroductions and translocations - has all of the mixing of wild turkeys eroded their original genetic “signatures”? I used genetic techniques that allowed me to estimate the portion of each turkey’s genetics was represented by different subspecies. Given the mixing of birds across the range we expected, and found, that the original genetic signatures of birds from different regions are more-or-less homogenized. There are birds of seeming pure ancestry, but the majority are hybrids (some of which look like one or another subspecies). Thus, if the goal of wildlife management was to have more turkeys in the landscape, the reintroductions and translocations, have been extremely successful. If the goal was to maintain the historical pattern of genetic distinctiveness, well, that ship has sailed.
2025 Winner: Jake Harvey
Jake graduated with MS in Natural Resource Sciences with specialization in Applied Ecology on December 20, 2025.
Perfect Pairing? How Mountain Lions and Humans Share the Landscape in California’s Wine Country
Most people in California’s San Francisco North Bay will never lock eyes with a mountain lion. Yet every night, just beyond the glow of porch lights, passing cars, and rows of some of the most valuable wine grapes in the world, these big cats are making careful choices about when and where to move and hunt in a landscape shared with people. By tracking mountain lions across the region, we discovered that males and females navigate this landscape in different ways. Males typically roamed over much larger areas than females, but in the most developed places their ranges actually shrank, likely because towns and roads limited freedom of movement. Females, however, were better able to meet their needs without being squeezed into smaller spaces. Despite living so close to people, both males and females mostly ate deer, much like mountain lions in more remote areas. Together, these findings provide the first full picture of how mountain lions make a living in the North Bay and the challenges they face in doing so.
We then took a closer look at how mountain lions hunted along the edge of towns and neighborhoods, questioning if human disturbance could change the rules of the game. By identifying nearly 500 locations where they killed and consumed black-tailed deer, we found that the cats favored places where deer were easiest to catch over areas where they were most abundant. However, when they could have it both ways – they did, in that mountain lions most strongly preferred areas that offered both ample hiding cover and plenty of prey, where hunting success should be highest. Occasionally, mountain lions even used fences to corner deer, showing that while human structures often negatively impact wildlife, they may occasionally give predators a hunting advantage. Lions often fed close to neighborhoods but did not consistently avoid or seek out human development. Together, these findings reveal how mountain lions balance stealth, strategy, and opportunity in landscapes shared with people.
Finally, we explored how mountain lions navigate finding food and avoiding people from their decisions about where to settle across the landscape, to the moment-by-moment choices that shape each day. At the landscape level (big scales), mountain lions persisted in places with differing levels of human disturbance, with some settling near people and others in more natural areas. Once inside their home ranges (small scales), however, they adjusted their movements to avoid people when needed. Lions that avoided human activity when choosing a home range could move more freely within it day-to-day. Conversely, those that chose home ranges shared with people had to be more cautious within their territory. All mountain lions chose home ranges that supported plenty of deer, while their day-to-day movements focused on areas with dense cover where prey were easiest to catch. This flexibility helps explain how mountain lions persist alongside people and maintain their presence in human-dominated landscapes. Despite growing scientific interest in how large carnivores live near people, most knowledge about predator-prey relationships still comes from relatively natural places. Our work contributes to filling this knowledge gap and highlights the remarkable overlap between humans and mountain lions in the North Bay, showing that these elusive cats are highly adaptable as they move and choose space amongst people - while remaining consistent in their need to hunt wild prey and survive.