Diann J. Prosser

USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center
c/o BARC-East BLDG 308 RM 224
10300 Baltimore Avenue

Beltsville, MD 20705

Telephone: 301-497-5914

Fax: 301-497-5624

Email: dprosser@usgs.gov 

USGS PWRC (SCEP) and University of Maryland

Primary Responsibilities: 
Research duties include investigating the role of migratory waterbirds in the avian influenza threat, assessing potential effects of sea-level rise on coastal wetlands and bird habitats, and evaluating the ecological effects of marsh management techniques on federal refuges.

Education/Training: 

Ph.D., University of Maryland, Marine-Estuarine-Environmental Sciences, expected 2010

M.S., Pennsylvania State University, Interdisciplinary Ecology Program, 1998

B.S., Pennsylvania State University, Wildlife and Fisheries Science, 1995

Accomplishments/Awards/Achievements: 

NSF SGER Grant, 2007

NSF East Asia and Pacific Summer Institutes, 2005

University of Maryland Nagel Travel Grant, 2005

USGS, Patuxent Wildlife Research Center Star Award 2000

Active Projects: 

Wild birds and emerging diseases: Modeling avian influenza transmission risk between domestic and wild birds in China

Evaluating the effects of open marsh water management on Region 5 refuges

Sea level rise, marsh inundation, and wildlife habitat implications

Selected Publications/Products: 

Prosser, D.J., Takekawa, J.Y., Newman, S.H., Yan, B., Douglas, D.C., Hou, Y., Xing, Z., Li, T., Li., Y., Zhao, D., Perry, W., Palm., E.C. and Zhang, D. 2009. Satellite-marked waterfowl reveal migratory route between H5N1 outbreak areas in China and Mongolia. Ibis.  In press. DOI: 10.1111/j.1474-919X.2009.00932.x

Newman, S H., Iverson, S.A, Takekawa, J.Y., Gilbert, M., Prosser, D.J., Batbayar, N.,  Natsagdorjiin, T., and Douglas, D. 2009. Migration of Whooper Swans and Outbreaks of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza H5N1 Virus in Eastern Asia. PloS ONE 4(5):e5729. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0005729.

Muzaffar, S.B., Takekawa, J.Y., Prosser, D.J., Newman, S., and Xiao, X.  2009. Rice production systems and avian influenza: interactions between rice, poultry and wild birds. Waterbirds.  In press.

Erwin, RM, GM Sanders, D.J. Prosser, and DR Cahoon. 2006. High tides and rising seas: potential effects on estuarine waterbirds. Pages 214-228 in: Terrestrial Vertebrates of Tidal Marshes: Evolution, Ecology, and Conservation (R. Greenberg, J. Maldonado, S. Droege, and M.V. McDonald, eds.). Studies in Avian Biology No. 32, Cooper Ornithological Society.

Erwin, RM, DR Cahoon, D.J. Prosser, GM Sanders, and P Hensel. 2006. Surface elevation dynamics in vegetated Spartina marshes versus unvegetated tidal ponds along the mid-Atlantic coast, USA, with implications to waterbirds. Estuaries and Coasts 29: 96-106.

Erwin, RM, GM Sanders, and D.J. Prosser. 2004. Changes in lagoonal marsh morphology at selected northeastern Atlantic coast sites of significance to migratory waterbirds. Wetlands 24: 891-903.

James-Pirri, M.J., R.M. Erwin, D.J. Prosser, and J. Taylor.  2004.  Monitoring salt-marsh responses to open marsh water management at U.S. Fish and Wildlife coastal refuges.  Ecological Restoration 22:55-56.

Prosser, D.J. and R.P. Brooks. 1998. A verified habitat suitability index model for the Louisiana waterthrush (Seiurus motacilla). Journal of Field Ornithology 69:288-298.