Goals & Research Focus
The goal of our work is to advance conservation through ecological research. Most of what we do is focused on freshwater species, but we are broadly interested in uncovering the hidden ecologies of cryptic species to understand how populations respond to environmental change. Projects that we pursue usually fall into at least one of three areas:
- Behavioral ecology: includes work on the causes and implications of animal movements, space use, and resource selection
- Population ecology: clarifying patterns of species occurrence and the demographic mechanisms of population change, including spatial and temporal changes in occupancy and abundance
- Change ecology: understanding how individuals and populations respond to natural disturbances (major weather events) and human modifications of the environment (land use patterns)
SOME RECENT & ONGOING PROJECTS
Evaluating distribution and population genetics of the patch-nosed salamander
Investigating hellbender salamander ecology and population ecology in the wake of severe disturbance
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Assessing survivorship of captive-reared freshwater mussels in natural streams
Investigating variation in American Alligator behavior along a land use gradient
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