Team

Climate change and increasing human pressures are rapidly transforming ecosystems, particularly in northern regions. Yet wildlife populations exposed to similar disturbances can respond very differently: some decline, while others persist or even expand. Understanding the demographic mechanisms underlying these contrasting responses is essential for effective conservation and management. My research examines how wildlife populations respond to environmental change and human disturbance across four contrasting study systems: common eiders, snow geese, muskoxen, and black bears. Combining long-term monitoring data with integrated population models, I investigate how environmental conditions and human activities shape survival, reproduction, and population growth. Through prospective and retrospective demographic analyses, I aim to identify which vital rates and demographic processes contribute most to population trajectories, and whether mechanisms such as demographic compensation can buffer populations against disturbance. By comparing species with different life histories, ecological contexts, and population trends, this research seeks to improve our understanding of wildlife resilience and our ability to predict population responses to future change, ultimately informing adaptive conservation and wildlife management.