Amanda Anderson joined Gulf South Research Corporation in 2024. Amanda is an Ornithologist with 12 years of expertise in waterbird science and conservation in coastal ecosystems across the Gulf of Mexico and beyond. Amanda develops rigorous bird monitoring and reporting to inform bird recovery and management for threatened and endangered species like red knot and piping plover and state listed priority species. She has been instrumental in implementing bird projects related to non-breeding and breeding shore/seabird priority species, shorebird tagging and tracking, colonial wading birds, baseline species inventories, state-wide prescribed annual surveys, and critical habitat assessments.

Amanda has studied waterbirds in Texas, Louisiana, Florida, and Interior Great Plains for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), U.S. Geological Survey, Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA), Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program, Gulf Coast Bird Observatory, and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. More recently, she led biological monitoring for several projects in Louisiana, including U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service red knot recovery planning, seasonal use of dredge material islands by coastal waterbirds for the USACE New Orlean’s District, and understanding shore/seabird response to barrier island restoration for CPRA.

Amanda holds an A.S. in environmental science, B.S. in wildlife ecology from the University of Wisconsin-Steven’s Point, and M.S. in environmental science from the University of Houston-Clear Lake. Her graduate thesis is titled “The Factors Affecting Productivity and Parental Behavior of American Oystercatchers in Texas.”