Our People
Ashley holding a wood turtle
Ashley with an indigo snake found during an offsite gopher tortoise survey during her Ichauway days in 2012
Ashley Ballou – Alumni Spotlight
Where are you now and what are you doing?
I am a Zoologist with the New York Natural Heritage Program (NYNHP). The mission of NYNHP is to facilitate the conservation of New York’s biodiversity by providing comprehensive information and scientific expertise on rare species and natural ecosystems to resource managers and other conservation partners. I work on a variety of projects, and the focus of my work can change from year to year and takes me all around the state. Currently I am the Zoology Coordinator for our partnership with New York State Parks for our rare animal surveys and provide guidance on wildlife concerns or questions. I am also working on various rare turtle projects, including wood and spotted turtle inventories at a military base, and am part of the effort to test a new method to survey for bog turtles at new and historic locations in New York. Additionally, I am the lead for NYNHP rare bat surveys.
What is one way your work is having a positive impact on natural resources and conservation?
As a program, we gather rigorous, standardized information and maintain data in a variety of databases. This statewide data is considered a primary source of information on threatened and endangered species in the state. This information is used by the state for their environmental permit review process. It is very important to know where the state’s important biodiversity is so that we can conserve it! We also use this data to determine the conservation status of rare species, which is used to inform New York’s Species of Greatest Conservation Need and list of Endangered, Threatened and Special Concern Fish and Wildlife Species.
How did your time at Ichauway help prepare you for your current job or career?
I was at Ichauway working on my MS in the Herpetology Lab for three field seasons. I learned a lot about field planning and working in difficult conditions (those summer temperatures!), which really prepared me for future field jobs. The exposure to the variety of people, ideas, and field techniques was invaluable as I was starting off. Helping with different projects and in other labs was a great learning opportunity.
What is one fond memory you have of your time at Ichauway?
I have so many fond memories of my time at Ichauway. I loved spending time with the other graduate students and technicians around bonfires, at weekly potluck dinners, playing games, and floating the river. I have field stories of wildlife encounters and funny situations that I accumulated during my three seasons at Ichauway that I still talk about over ten years later. One of my favorite wildlife encounters was with an indigo snake. I was in the field with my techs (at a survey site not at Ichauway) the week of my birthday, and I kept saying that all I wanted for my birthday was to find an indigo snake while surveying for gopher tortoises. Well, first off, my wonderful technicians surprised me with a set of birthday cupcakes decorated to look like an indigo snake. Later that week we actually managed to find two while doing surveys!
Ashley Ballou
Where are you now and what are you doing?
I am a Zoologist with the New York Natural Heritage Program (NYNHP). The mission of NYNHP is to facilitate the conservation of New York’s biodiversity by providing comprehensive information and scientific expertise on rare species and natural ecosystems to resource managers and other conservation partners. I work on a variety of projects, and the focus of my work can change from year to year and takes me all around the state. Currently I am the Zoology Coordinator for our partnership with New York State Parks for our rare animal surveys and provide guidance on wildlife concerns or questions. I am also working on various rare turtle projects, including wood and spotted turtle inventories at a military base, and am part of the effort to test a new method to survey for bog turtles at new and historic locations in New York. Additionally, I am the lead for NYNHP rare bat surveys.
What is one way your work is having a positive impact on natural resources and conservation?
As a program, we gather rigorous, standardized information and maintain data in a variety of databases. This statewide data is considered a primary source of information on threatened and endangered species in the state. This information is used by the state for their environmental permit review process. It is very important to know where the state’s important biodiversity is so that we can conserve it! We also use this data to determine the conservation status of rare species, which is used to inform New York’s Species of Greatest Conservation Need and list of Endangered, Threatened and Special Concern Fish and Wildlife Species.
How did your time at Ichauway help prepare you for your current job or career?
I was at Ichauway working on my MS in the Herpetology Lab for three field seasons. I learned a lot about field planning and working in difficult conditions (those summer temperatures!), which really prepared me for future field jobs. The exposure to the variety of people, ideas, and field techniques was invaluable as I was starting off. Helping with different projects and in other labs was a great learning opportunity.
What is one fond memory you have of your time at Ichauway?
I have so many fond memories of my time at Ichauway. I loved spending time with the other graduate students and technicians around bonfires, at weekly potluck dinners, playing games, and floating the river. I have field stories of wildlife encounters and funny situations that I accumulated during my three seasons at Ichauway that I still talk about over ten years later. One of my favorite wildlife encounters was with an indigo snake. I was in the field with my techs (at a survey site not at Ichauway) the week of my birthday, and I kept saying that all I wanted for my birthday was to find an indigo snake while surveying for gopher tortoises. Well, first off, my wonderful technicians surprised me with a set of birthday cupcakes decorated to look like an indigo snake. Later that week we actually managed to find two while doing surveys!
