Employment

Owner / Founder / Chief Operating Officer
Gritstone Climbing & Fitness, Morgantown, WV, 11/2016 - 12/2020

Along a partner, planned and executed a $3+ million indoor rock climbing gym, which opened August 2020. Areas of experience include market research, business incorporation, business planning and financial forecasting, fundraising, facility design, employee recruitment and management, insurance and occupational compliance.

Senior Environmental Specialist
GAI Consultants, 10/2017 - 01/2020

Lead stream and wetland assessments for natural gas and transmission infrastructure projects. Assist companies in compliance with Clean Water Act, include the preparation of internal reports and agency correspondence. Responsible for multiple interacting aspects of field work, including coordinating logistics, land access, equipment maintenance, communications between clients and GAI, and mentoring of assistants. Participated in a variety of projects, including stream and wetland baseline assessments, pipeline inspections, and characterization of the impacts of construction projects upon wetlands. Coordinated with a large number of different project managers working within the energy sector and worked for a large number of industrial clients.

Botanical and Technical Assistant
Wetlands Functional Assessment, 12/2016 - 08/2017

Assisted in writing and provided statistical consultation for the development of a wetlands functional assessment method for the state of West Virginia. Responsible for independent conduct of wetland functional assessments, including leading teams of assistants, plant species identification in the field and lab, wetland soils assessment, mapping, and data preparation.

Assistant Botanist

National Wetlands Conditions Assessment, 07/2016 - 08/2016

Assisted in the conduct of vegetation surveys in wetlands across West Virginia.

Contract Botanist

Pennsylvania Soil & Rock, 05/2016 - 06/2016

Participated in botanical surveys for rare, threatened, and endangered species in the right-of-way of Corridor H near Parsons, WV.

Graduate Research Assistant

Department of Geology & Geography, WVU, 08/2012 - 05/2013

Statistician and researcher for Dr. Eungul Lee. Developed statistical models that predict annual malaria incidence in India based upon regional-scale and large-scale climatic variables. Resulted in publication.

Statistical Consulting Assistant

Department of Statistics, WVU, 08/2010 - 06/2012

Statistical consulting assistant to Dr. Phil Turk of WVU. Assisted graduate students in design and analysis of experiments.

Graduate Research Assistant

Division of Forestry & Natural Resources, WVU, 05/2009 - 08/2010

Conducted research addressing the ecology of the federally endangered plant, Trifolium stoloniferum, at the Fernow Experimental Forest. Research resulted in peer-reviewed publication.

Field Biologist

Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Inventory for Conservation Planning project, State of Alabama, 01/2008 - 07/2008

Employed as a biological technician. Conducted herpetological surveys on Alabama state lands. Traveled by 4x4 vehicle, foot, and canoe. Employed snorkeling, surveying at night, and diurnal plot-based surveys to locate reptiles and amphibians.

Survey Technician

Engineering Development Service, Daphne, AL, 08/2007 - 11/2007

Survey Technician

Precision Surveying, Auburn, AL, 08/2005 - 12/2005

Organic Farming Intern

Let It Grow Organic Gardens, Hot Springs, NC, 05/2005 - 08/2005

Research Technician

Vertebrate survey of prospective parkland in Mecklenburg County, NC, 9/2003 - 5/2004

Employed by Davidson College and Mecklenburg County Parks and Recreation to conduct wildlife surveys of potential parkland and present results to county officials.

Research Assistant

Lab of Dr. Chris Paradise, Biology, Davidson College, 8/2003 - 5/2005

Research Experience for Undergraduates Participant

Davidson College, 5/2003 - 8/2003

Worked with Dr. Chris Paradise to design and implement studies of the community ecology of water-filled treeholes in the Piedmont of North Carolina.

Teaching

Graduate Teaching Assistant

Introduction to Physical Geography, Department of Geology & Geography, WVU, 08/2014 - 05/2016

Taught three laboratory sections per semester and contributed to development of new lab modules and revision of lab manual.

Instructor

Physical Geography, Department of Geology & Geography, WVU, 05/2015 - 06/2015

Taught the lecture component of a physical geography class in a summer session.

REU Mentor

Department of Geology & Geography, WVU, 06/2012 - 07/2012

Mentored REU student in the lab of Dr. Amy Hessl.  Participated in and supervised the study of tree rings including their statistical analysis.

Graduate Teaching Assistant

Introductory Biology, Department of Biology, West Virginia University 08/2008 - 05/2009

Taught laboratory section.

Graduate Teaching Assistant

Department of Biology, University of South Alabama, Mobile, AL, 09/06 - 05/07

Taught introductory laboratory courses in cell biology, microbiology, and ecology.

Publications

Lee E, Burkhart JQ, Olson S, Billings AB, Patz JA, Harner EJ (2016) Relationships of climate and irrigation factors with malaria parasite incidences in two climatically dissimilar regions in India.  Journal of Arid Environments 124:241-224.

Burkhart JQ, Rentch JR & Schuler TS (2012). Effects of forest management on running buffalo clover (Trifolium stoloniferum) distribution and abundance in the Fernow Experimental Forest.  Natural Areas Journal 33:156-162.

Paradise CJ, Blue JD, Burkhart JQ, Goldberg J, Harshaw L, Hawkins K, Kegan B, Krentz T, Smith L, & S Villalpando (2008). Local and regional factors influence the structure of treehole metacommunities.  BMC Ecology 8(22). 

CJ Paradise, JQ Burkhart, C Chrisawn, L Harshaw B Kittinger, & L Smith (2007)

Prior occupation by scirtid beetles does not affect mosquito and midge populations in treehole.  Journal of Negative Results, 4(1):15-22. 

Burkhart JQ, B Kegan, L Smith, S Villalpando, & CJ Paradise (2007) Effects of scirtid beetles and leaf litter on colonization and development of treehole communities: Is there evidence of facilitation in the field? Southeastern Naturalist 6(4):597-614.

Presentations

October 2014

Presentation to collaborators at Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, NJ.

“The five snouts, vegetation, and climate: Investigating the past and present terrestrial ecosystem dynamics of central Mongolia using lake sediment records.”

April 2013

Contributed oral presentation at 2013 American Association of Geographer’s conference, Los Angeles, CA.

“Climate and environment impacts upon malaria prevalence in two regions of India.”

March 2010

Poster given to 2010 Central Hardwoods Conference, Lexington, KY.

“Stand-level management effects upon abundance of Trifolium stoloniferum at the Fernow Experimental Forest, WV”

January 2010

Oral presentation given to Fernow Experimental Forest Cooperator’s Meeting, Elkins, WV.

“Effects of forest management on running buffalo clover (Trifolium stoloniferum) in the Fernow Experimental Forest.”

August 2005

Contributed oral presentation at 2005 Ecological Society of America meeting, Montreal, Quebec.

“Scirtid beetles, resource levels, and insect assemblages:  Investigating processing chains and community structure in treeholes.” 

Additional
Educational
Experiences

Wetland Plants of the Southern Appalachians

Workshop at Highlands Biological Station in Highlands, NC, 08/07/2017 - 08/12/2017

Basic Wetland Delineation

Completed Course, The Swamp School online. 06/2017 - 09/2017

Palynology Short Course

University of Maine, Orono, ME, Participated in a short course to learn fundamentals of pollen analysis. 06/2014

Mongolian Research Expedition

Participant in a conference addressing human-environment relationships in Mongolia. Participated in research expedition to central Mongolia to core lake sediments. 07/2013 - 08/2013

Mongolian Language Study

Intensive language study at the Bridge School in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. 06/2013 - 07/2013

Outdoor Emergency Care & National Ski Patrol

Became a National Ski Patroller after studying Outdoor Emergency Care and passing medical written, practical and skiing examinations. Training 08/2012 - 03/2013. NSP participation as patroller, winters 2012 - 2016.

Mongolian Research Expedition

Participated in research expedition to reconnoiter for appropriate lakes for coring and to gather tree-ring samples from ancient lava flows. 07/2012 - 08/2012. 

National Outdoor Leadership School

Patagonia Chile. Participant in a 40-day mountaineering expedition in Chilean Patagonia. 01/2006 - 02/2006.

Research Assistant

Traveled to Bocas del Toro, Panama to assist Geoffrey Sorrell, then a graduate student at Auburn University, in his studies of eyelash pit vipers. 05/2004 - 06/2004.

Spanish Language Study

Antigua, Guatemala. 05/2002 - 07/2002

Awards & Fellowships

NASA WV Space Grant Fellowship, 2014 - 2015

WVU Provost Fellow for 2013 - 2014

2004 Davidson College Current Student Music Competition, Second place.

2003 Davidson College Current Student Music Competition, Winner and Scholarship Recipient.

National Merit Scholar, 2001-2005 Davidson College

Guest Lectures

Lecture given to Physical Geography class, “Climatic variability at multiple time scales,” March 5, 2015

Lecture given to Paleoecology class, “Reconstructing past vegetation, climate, and disturbance from pollen and spores,” February 16, 2015

Lecture given to Global Environmental Change class, “Atmospheric Composition and Climate Variability,” January 14, 2014

Lecture given to Global Forest Resources class, “Forests and Biomes of the World,” January 17, 2013

Software &
Analytical Tools

Proficient programmer in the R statistical software language.

Proficient in spatial analysis and mapping with ESRI software, Google Earth, and open-source mapping software QGIS.

Experience with total stations and surveying software and field use of GPS including uploading and downloading of maps and waypoints collected in the field and generated within a GIS.