Regional Conservation

Florida International University (FIU) – Miami, FL, U.S.A.
M.S. (Biological Sciences) – May 2001
Thesis: Variation in vocalizations of male Dendrobates pumilio from La Selva, Costa Rica. (MA Donnelly, Advisor)

Earlham College – Richmond, IN, U.S.A.
B.A. (Biology) – May 1997
Awards: Phi Beta Kappa; College Honors; Departmental Honors; Lucy Moore Grave Marine Biology Award; Most Improved Athletic Trainer; Most Valuable Athletic Trainer

IUCN – Iguana Specialist Group: Member
International Reptile Conservation Foundation: Member
Society for Ecological Restoration: Member
Tropical Audubon Society: Board Member

BIOLOGIST – Institute for Regional Conservation (IRC)
  • Manage fieldwork, data collection, data analyses and reports for existing IRC projects.
  • Spearhead wildlife program by creating and securing funds for relevant projects.
  • Expand “Natives for Your Neighborhood” program.
  • Editorial and grant management.

ENGLISH TEACHER – Huma County Senior School, Heilongjiang Province, China
  • Served as the first foreign teacher in this school district.
  • Created lesson plans to improve listening and speaking skills of students at all English levels in this school district. Weekly classes included 20 regular lessons at the high school (~50 students/class) and 1-2 lectures at the middle school or one of the three primary schools (80-100 students/lecture).
  • Coached local English teachers in alternate teaching techniques and clarified grammatical and vocabulary issues for them as they arose.

FIELD COORDINATOR – Institute for Regional Conservation (IRC)
  • Organized equipment and scheduling for fieldwork, grant proposals and project reports.
  • Entered data into the main Microsoft Access databank.
  • Collected field data in mangrove, hammock and wetland communities.
  • Conducted literature searches and reviews for “Natives for your Neighborhood” project.

OFFICE MANAGER – American Society of Ichthyologists & Herpetologists (ASIH)
• Maintained the business office by organizing files and responding to correspondence.
• Assisted in compilation and production of the abstract book for the 2002 ASIH-SSAR (Society for the Study of Amphibians & Reptiles) Annual Meetings.

RESEARCH ASSISTANT – Dr. John Iverson ( Earlham College)
• Conducted fieldwork for various projects throughout this period. Primary work focused on the nesting of the endangered Allen Cays Rock Iguana in the Bahamas.
• Other projects included reptile and amphibian surveys for the U.S. government and freeze tolerance studies (lab & field components) in painted turtles, both in Nebraska.

NATURALIST – Marjory Stoneman Douglas Biscayne Nature Center
  • Led educational tours (natural history and ecology) through beach, hammock and ocean habitats for participants ranging in age from elementary school to adult.
  • Trained and approved new naturalists for leading tours.
  • Led volunteer groups for on-site hammock restoration and beach clean-ups.
  • Designed and implemented a system for monitoring the health of the seagrass beds and their associated communities in areas utilized for tours. Created a system linked to the monitoring for rotating area usage both for the BNC and for the Miami-Dade teachers working in the same location.

LABORATORY INSTRUCTOR – Florida International University
• Lectured on lab topics, prepared quizzes and practical exams, graded assignments and assisted students in performing experiments for General Biology 1 (Majors Course), Human Biology, Botany and Marine Biology (Non-majors Courses).
• Revised Marine Biology curriculum to include field sampling techniques and exposure to flora and fauna in a natural setting.

ENVIRONMENTAL CONSULTANT – SKS Engineering & Planning, Inc.
• Monitored turbidity levels in the Everglades National Park to ensure that construction of the Taylor Slough Bridge, part of the Everglades restoration project, did not pollute beyond safe environmental limits for the region.

Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service: Eungella National Park, Australia, Jan 2005
• Participated in annual frog survey employing day and night stream surveys

University of Queensland: Bunya Mountains National Park, Australia, Nov 2004 to Dec 2004
• Assisted with studies on satin bower bird painting behavior through collection of paint samples, observations of natural behavior and reactions to manipulations

University of Queensland: Idalia National Park, Australia, Sep 2004
• Assisted with kangaroo population study to assess impacts of closing artificial drinking holes; used animal transect surveys and quadrant sampling of scat and grazed vegetation

AUSTROP Foundation: Cape Tribulation, Australia, May 2004 to Jul 2004
• Undertook a variety of tasks including forest restoration work, caring for orphaned flying foxes, running education center geared at informing tourists about flying foxes and their role in rainforests, coordinating student projects for a visiting field course, conducting faunal surveys around the research station and doing mechanical and carpentry repairs for research station maintenance

Florida International University: South Florida, USA and Costa Rica, 1999-2002
• Assisted fellow graduate students on a range of projects including: rodent surveys in Everglades NP; plant surveys on Big Pine Key and in Everglades NP; surveys of amphibians and reptiles at the La Selva Research Station, Costa Rica, Everglades NP and Kissimmee, FL

2001 Organization for Tropical Studies: Peace Frogs Grant $1,000
2000 FIU: Tropical Biology Field Expedition Grant $3,000
2000 FIU: Tropical Biology Travel Award $500
1999 FIU: Tropical Biology Research Grant $1,962

Hines, KN & JB Iverson. 2006. Taxon reports: Allen Cays iguana (Cyclura cychlura inornata). Iguana Specialist Group Newsletter 9(1): 10-11.

Knapp, CR & KN Hines. 2006. Taxon reports: Exuma Island iguana (Cyclura cychlura figginsi). Iguana Specialist Group Newsletter 9(1): 12-13.

Gerber, GP, KN Hines, JB Iverson & CR Knapp. 2006. West Indian Iguanas: An Update. Iguana 13(4): 278-282.

Gann, GD, ME Abdo, JW Gann, GD Gann, Sr, KA Bradley, SW Woodmansee, KN Hines, E Verdon & JL Sadle. 2005. Natives For Your Neighborhood. http://www.regionalconservation.org. The Institute for Regional Conservation, Miami, FL.

Iverson, JB, KN Hines & JM Valiulis. 2004. The nesting ecology of the Allen Cays Rock Iguana, (Cyclura cychlura inornata) in The Bahamas. Herpetological Monographs 18:1-36.

Valiulis, JM, KN Hines & JB Iverson. 2003. Adventures of the Iguana Patrol, p. 39-48. In RW Henderson & R Powell (eds.), Islands and the Sea: Essays on Herpetological Exploration in the West Indies. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, Ithaca ( New York). Contributions to Herpetology, volume 20.

Hines, KN, JB Iverson & JM Valiulis. 2002. Cyclura cychlura inornata (Allen Cays Rock Iguana): Bird predation. Herpetological Review 33(4):306.

Hines, KN, JB Iverson & JM Valiulis. 2002. Leiocephalus carinatus virescens (Exuma Curlytail Lizard): Interspecific Aggression. Herpetological Review 33(4):308.