Rate My Professor Deborah Beutler

Deborah K. Beutler is Professor of Biology at West Virginia University Institute of Technology, a position she has held since 2014 after serving as Associate Professor from 2006 to 2014 and Assistant Professor from 2000 to 2006. Her academic career is complemented by extensive teaching experience as a teaching assistant at Washington State University from 1994 to 2000, where she instructed lab sections in General Biology, Parasitology, Ornithology, and General Zoology, and at Kansas State University from 1991 to 1993 in General Biology and Ornithology. Prior professional roles include Wildlife Biologist with the U.S. Forest Service's Republic Ranger District in 2000, conducting goshawk surveys and loon monitoring, and various research assistant positions involving bird surveys, nest searches, and plant surveys at Eastern Washington University, Kansas State University, and EG&G at Idaho National Engineering Laboratory. Beutler earned her Ph.D. in Zoology (Avian Ecology) from Washington State University in May 2000, M.S. in Biology (Avian Ecology) from Kansas State University in August 1993, and B.A. in Zoology from Idaho State University in May 1989.

Beutler's research focuses on avian ecology and the treatment of acid mine drainage, particularly in the Morris Creek watershed in West Virginia. Notable publications include her Ph.D. dissertation, 'The local and landscape factors affecting the distribution of the Brown-headed Cowbird in northeastern Washington' (Washington State University, 2000); M.S. thesis, 'The effects of burning tallgrass prairie on the breeding bird community' (Kansas State University, 1992); 'Annotated Checklist of Birds on Tech Mountain, Fayette County, West Virginia' (Redstart, April 2006); and 'Use of Limestone Sand to Treat Acid Mine Drainage' (Water Net Resources Newsletter, Fall 2013, pages 6-7). She has presented at scientific meetings, including the Association of Southeastern Biologists (2013) on limestone treatment effects on Morris Creek invertebrates and the Ecological Society of America (1999) on Brown-headed Cowbird distribution. Beutler has given invited lectures such as 'Acid Mine Drainage: the Effects and Treatment Efforts in the Morris Creek Watershed' to West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection representatives (2013), and talks on bats and birds, as well as cowbirds to local clubs and WVU Tech events. She teaches courses including General Biology (BIOL-111/112), Anatomy and Physiology (BIOL-231/233/442), Parasitology (BIOL-347), Systematic Zoology (BIOL-343), Organismal Zoology, Ecology (BIOL-466), and Behavioral Ecology (BIOL-338). She maintains memberships in the American Ornithological Union, Cooper Ornithological Society (life member), Wilson Ornithological Society (life member), Brooks Bird Club, Western Field Ornithologists, West Virginia Academy of Sciences (life member), and Association of Southeastern Biologists.