Meet Our Officers!

Meet the 2024-2025 NREM-GSO Officer team! We are very excited to serve the NREM graduate study body. Please feel free to contact any of us by clicking the email link!

President

Maria Bleitz

Maria is a Master's student studying how climate change affects wetland habitats for migrating shorebirds that stopover in the U.S. Great Plains. Maria grew up mainly in Saline, Michigan, but has been lucky to live in several places. She earned her B.S. in Biology from Calvin University in 2020. Maria enjoys reading, using iNaturalist, foraging, trying new recipes, traveling, and getting drinks and food with friends.

Vice President/Graduate Faculty Representative

Kyle Pfaffenberger

Kyle is a Master's student in Rangeland Ecology. His project studies the effects of Virtual Fencing on pollinators and wildlife habitats in sites in Oklahoma and Colorado. He is from Seymour, Indiana, and earned his Bachelor's in Environmental Science at Hanover College. Kyle enjoys hiking, biking, swimming, watching classic movies, and reading fantasy and science fiction. Kyle does not enjoy writing autobiographies.

Communication Chair

Jayci Grosso

Jayci is a Master's student in Wildlife Ecology and Management studying the capabilities of unmarked abundance estimation techniques. She grew up in Stuart, Florida, and earned her B.S. in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation from the University of Florida. Outside of school she enjoys playing sports, reading, and hanging out with her dog, Koda.

Treasurer

Danielle Brosend

Danielle is a Master's student studying the detection and occupancy of plain spotted skunks and other mesocarnivores in the Ouachita Mountains. She's originally from Rockford, Illinois, and completed her B.S. in Wildlife Ecology & Management at the University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point in 2021. She spends time outside school reading, birding, staying active, caring for her dog and plants, or making a mess in the kitchen.

Graduate and Professional Student Government Associate

Remy Sutherland

Remy is a Ph.D. student in Rangeland Ecology and Management. He is interested in the influence of disturbance-driven heterogeneity on the structure and function of grassland systems, especially the coupling of fire and grazing (aka pyric-herbivory). He is also interested in catching tiny fish (particularly in a kayak) and running slowly for long periods of time.

Want to learn more about the duties of the GSO officers?

Click below to access the NREM-GSO Constitution.

Learn More!