Welcoming Two New Team Members to the ORI

April 2024

Say hello to Lauren Tate, our 2024 Field Technician!

She's recently joined our small research team. She's going to be helping with early breeding season surveys, nest searching, placing and moving ARU recorders, and hiking all over in the front and back country.

About Lauren:

Having grown up in Idaho, Lauren discovered her interest in the natural world through her proximity to endless miles of beautiful foothills and rivers.

Lauren graduated from the University of Portland with a degree in Environmental Science and Biology, and since then has worked with breeding and migratory songbirds in Oregon, Colorado, Idaho and Wyoming. Her most recent position as a part time owl bander at the Intermountain Bird Observatory affirmed her passion for owls and she is looking forward to learning more about what the state and birds of Montana have to offer.

In her free time, Lauren enjoys fly fishing, silversmithing, climbing, knitting, and birding.

Meet Troy Gruetzmacher, Applied Technology Specialist!

He's recently joined our research team part time helping us with setting up the software for the ARU's and cameras for nest predation in Short-eared Owl studies.

About Troy:

Troy has always been interested in birding and spending time outdoors learning about the world. Through a chance encounter with a Pygmy owl years ago, he became captivated by them.

Troy’s educational background is unique for ORI, since he has a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and extensive experience with software development and applying technology to enhance processes.

Troy started as a volunteer with ORI a few years ago to help with Great Gray night surveys and shortly thereafter decided to look for technology based solutions to supplement night surveys with recording devices. Since then he’s become enthralled with learning more about Great Gray vocalization behavior and trying to decipher its meaning.

When not out looking for owls, Troy enjoys hiking, biking, camping and spending time with his wife Julia and son, Oliver.

We're glad to have both of them on our team and look forward to having their assistance!