Rostam Mirzadi

Rostam E. Mirzadi is a doctoral student working with the HRI Endowed Chair for Conservation and Biodiversity, Dr. Dale Gawlik. Rostam was raised in Northern California and much of his early adult life was spent fishing for trout, salmon, and steelhead throughout the Pacific Northwest. He earned a B.S. in Wildlife Conservation and Management from Humboldt State University in California in 2014. Since receiving his B.S., he has spent several years working on wildlife research projects spanning across the United States. These experiences have allowed him to work with a myriad of different wildlife species in distinct and contrasting ecosystems, ranging from the high plains of Eastern New Mexico to the Everglades of Southern Florida.

For his MS thesis research, he investigated the capabilities of small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS) to perform nesting surveys and record ancillary breeding measures of wading bird breeding colonies at Lake Okeechobee in southern Florida.