I am a Master’s student in the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources at the University of Georgia. I earned my Bachelor’s degree in animal sciences from the University of Maryland in hopes of attending veterinary school. However, a research assistant position with Patuxent Wildlife Research Center’s Seaduck Colony helped me rapidly fall in love with research and waterfowl ecology. My Master’s project is focusing on quantifying the overwintering survival and wetland resource selection of female ring-necked ducks in the southern Atlantic Flyway, as well as characterizing female ring-necked duck spring migration routes and chronology. Ring-necked ducks are one of the most highly harvested but least studied North American diving ducks.This work seeks to inform local and continental management and regulation of ring-necked ducks and similar species.