Headquarters Staff Member
Tess M. McConnell
Biologist
Email: tmcconnell@usgs.gov
Biography
As a Biologist/Data Scientist with the USGS's cooperative research units, I assist CRU scientists and students as they manage their fish and wildlife data. My professional goals center around using fact-based efforts to support natural resource conservation (through research, policy, and communication) while fostering inclusive and welcoming work environments.
My undergraduate degree comes from Southern Utah University and my Masters from the Pennsylvania Cooperative Unit at Pennsylvania State University. My research primarily involves ungulates and their population demographics.
For the Cooperative Research Units, I primarily handle data and software releases, maintaining several large databases containing Unit data, managing data collection strategies, and the internal Sharepoint website.
Areas of Expertise
GIS/Spatial Analysis, Movement Ecology, Physiology, Population Dynamics, Predator-Prey Dynamics, Species Management, Wildlife Management
Taxon Groups Studied
Ungulates
| Research Publications | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| Miller-Butterworth, C. M., D. R. Diefenbach, J. E. Edson, L. A. Hansen, J. D. Jordan, T. M. Gingery, and A. L. Russell. 2021. Demography and loss of genetic diversity in two insular populations of the bobcat (Lynx rufus). Global Ecology and Conservation 26:e01547. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2021.e01457 | Abstract | Download | January 2021 |
| Gingery, T. M., D. R. Diefenbach, C. E. Pritchard, D. C. Ensminger, B. D. Wallingford, and C. S. Rosenberry. 2020. Survival is negatively associated with glucocorticoids in a wild ungulate neonate. Integrative Zoology 16:214-225. https://doi.org/10.1111/1749-4877.12499 | Download | November 2020 |
| Gingery, T. M., D. R. Diefenbach, B. D. Wallingford, and C. S. Rosenberry. 2018. Landscape-level patterns in fawn survival across North America. 82:1003-1013 DOI: 10.1002/jwmg.21456. | Download | June 2018 |
| Ensminger, D.C., C. Pritchard, T. Langkilde, T. Gingery, J.E. Banfield, W.D. Walter. 2020. The influence of hunting pressure and ecological factors on fecal glucocorticoid metabolites in wild elk. Wildlife Biology 2020(2); https://doi.org/10.2981/wlb.00683. | Abstract | June 2020 |
| Buderman, F. E., T. M. Gingery, D. R. Diefenbach, L. C. Gigliotti, D. Begley-Miller, M. E. McDill, B. D. Wallingford, C. S. Rosenberry, and P. J. Drohan. 2021. Caution is warranted when using animal space-use and movement to infer behavioral states . Animal Movement 9:30. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40462-021-00264-8">https://doi.org/10.1186/s40462-021-00264-8 | Download | June 2021 |
| Project | Completion Date |
|---|---|
| Deer abundance and its relationship to factors that affect forest vegetation conditions | June 2026 |
| Developing An Adaptive Management Approach For Meeting Deer And Forest Management Objectives | September 2013 |
| Fawn survival and predator abundance in Pennsylvania | June 2020 |
| Presentations | Presentation Date |
|---|---|
| Trowbridge, J., D. R. Diefenbach, T. A. Marques, T. M. McConnell, A. Van Buskirk, C. S. Rosenberry, W. D. Walter, and K. Lamp. Accounting for animal density gradients in distance sampling surveys. Southeast Deer Study Group Meeting, February 2024, Shepherdstown, WV. | February 2024 |
| Trowbridge, J., D. R. Diefenbach, T. A. Marques, T. M. McConnell, A. Van Buskirk, C. S. Rosenberry, W. D. Walter, and K. Lamp. Accounting for animal density gradients in distance sampling surveys. Pennsylvania Chapter of The Wildlife Society, March 2024, State College, PA | March 2024 |
| The app page could be organized a bit more to make it clearer to the user how everything they’re looking at relates to each other. One suggestion might be to group related things into boxes and number them or label the boxes so that the user knows what order to step through things in. An alternative might be to put some very brief instructions and introductory text at the top of the app somewhere. A few sentences of intro and some bullet point instructions and a line pointing the user to the full user guide below for more detail. | January 2000 |
| Gingery, T.M., and Diefenbach, D.R. 2022. Fawn Survival Patterns: looking beyond predators.7-11 November 2022, The Wildlife Society Annual Meeting, Spokane, WA. | November 2022 |
| Gingery, T. M., D. R. Diefenbach, C. S. Rosenberry, B. D. Wallingford. Landscape-level Patterns in White-tailed deer Fawn Survival in North America. Southeast Deer Study Group Meeting, 21 February 2018, Nashville, TN. | February 2018 |
| Gingery, T. M., D. R. Diefenbach, B. D. Wallingford, and C. S. Rosenberry. Space Use of White-tailed Deer Neonates Using Micro-GPS Units. The Wildlife Society Annual Conference, 7-11 October 2018, Cleveland, OH, USA. | October 2018 |
| Gingery, T. M., D. R. Diefenbach, B. D. Wallingford, and C. S. Rosenberry. Landscape-level patterns in white-tailed deer fawn survival in North America. Annual meeting of The Wildlife Society, 27 September 2017, Albuquerque, NM. | September 2017 |
| Gingery, T. M., D. R. Diefenbach, B. D. Wallingford, C. S. Rosenberry. White-tailed deer fawn survival in North America. Pennsylvania Chapter of The Wildlife Society annual meeting, 1 April 2017, Raystown Lake, PA. | April 2017 |
| Gingery, T. M. and D. R. Diefenbach. 2021. Fawn survival patterns: looking beyond predators. Southeast Deer Study Group Meeting, 23 February 2021. | February 2021 |
| Diefenbach, D., Tess Gingery 2021. Glucocorticoid hormones associated with reduced White-tailed deer fawn survival. Friday Findings, USGS Ecosystems Mission Area. Virtual Webinar Series. 1 October, 2021.<br><br><b>USGS Friday’s Findings Webinar Approval Form</b><br><b> </b><br><i>Friday's Findings is a public webinar series hosted by the USGS Ecosystems Mission Area. Our webinars are typically the first Friday of each month at 2 p.m. eastern time. These half hour webinars are meant to provide listeners an overview of the science topic and chance to ask questions.</i><br><b> </b><br><b>Title:</b> Glucocorticoid hormones associated with reduced White-tailed deer fawn survival<br><br><b>USGS Presenter(s): Tess Gingery, PA Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Pennsylvania State University; Duane R. Diefenbach, U.S. Geological Survey, , PA Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Pennsylvania State University</b> | October 2020 |
| Diefenbach, D. R., T. A. Marques, J. L. Laake, T. M. Gingery, A. Van Buskirk, C. S. Rosenberry, W. D. Walter, and K. Lamp. Accounting for animal density gradients in distance sampling surveys. The Wildlife Society Annual Conference, 6-10 November 2022, Spokane, WA | November 2022 |
| Buderman, F. E., T. M. Gingery, D. R. Diefenbach, L. C. Gigliotti, D. Begley-Miller, M. E. McDill, B. D. Wallingford, C. S. Rosenberry, and P. D. Drohan. Guidance on inferring behavioral states from animal location data. 31 May - 11 June, 2021, EURING Technical Meeting, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. | June 2021 |
| Buderman, F. E., T. M. Gingery, D. R. Diefenbach, L. C. Gigliotti, D. Begley-Miller, B. D. Wallingford, C. S. Rosenberry. Using animal space-use and movement to infer behavioral states: A cautionary tale. Southeast Deer Study Group Meeting, 23 February 2021. | February 2021 |