Dr. Anastasia Couvillon - PI
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Anastasia Couvillon, PhD is an Assistant Professor of Biology at the University of Louisiana at Monroe, where she leads a research program focused on the conservation and management of threatened and endangered species and their habitats. Her work integrates spatial ecology, quantitative modeling, and decision analysis to develop conservation planning tools that bridge the gap between ecological science and real-world policy and management decisions.
Dr. Couvillon’s research emphasizes the use of spatially explicit models, population reconstruction approaches, and structured decision-making frameworks to support transparent, evidence-based conservation across multiple spatial and temporal scales. She has extensive experience developing decision-support tools for landscape-level conservation planning, particularly for waterfowl, wetland ecosystems, and mammal conservation in the southeastern United States. Her work has informed habitat acquisition, restoration prioritization, and funding allocation decisions across North America through collaborations with federal and state agencies, non-governmental organizations, and international partners.
Prior to joining ULM, Dr. Couvillon served as a Research Ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, where she was a principal investigator on regional and continental-scale conservation planning initiatives under the North American Waterfowl Management Plan. Her work included the development of multicriteria optimization models, portfolio-based land acquisition tools, and spatial frameworks used by conservation practitioners in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
Dr. Couvillon earned her PhD in Wildlife Management from Texas A&M University–Kingsville, an MA in Conservation Biology from Columbia University, and a BS in Conservation Biology from the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry. She has authored peer-reviewed publications in journals such as Ecological Applications, Journal of Environmental Management, and Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management, and has received competitive funding from agencies including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Ducks Unlimited, and the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.
As an educator and mentor, Dr. Couvillon teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in ecology, anatomy, conservation biology, mammalogy, and research methods. She is committed to training master’s students through hands-on research, quantitative skill development, and applied conservation projects that prepare graduates for careers in wildlife science, management, and policy. Her lab values interdisciplinary collaboration, reproducibility, and engagement with conservation practitioners to ensure that research outcomes are both scientifically rigorous and management-relevant.
Catrina Weiner
Catrina is a Master's student in Biology. Her research focuses on the ecology and habitat use of the gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus), a widespread but understudied carnivore in North America. Although gray foxes occur across a broad geographic range and in many habitat types, little is known about the specific environmental factors that influence where they occur, particularly in the southeastern United States.
She is conducting the first study of gray foxes in Louisiana by examining their abundance, site use, and habitat associations within the Winn Ranger District of Kisatchie National Forest. Her work evaluates how landscape features, land use, and potential interactions with competing carnivores influence gray fox presence. Using camera traps deployed seasonally across the study area, she analyzes detection and non-detection data to estimate site occupancy and population trends.
Her research applies Bayesian occupancy modeling to identify habitat traits that are preferred or avoided by gray foxes. This project provides critical baseline data for understanding gray fox ecology in Louisiana and will help inform future wildlife monitoring and conservation efforts in Kisatchie National Forest and the broader region.
Collin Welch
Collin is a Master's student in Biology. His research focuses on the ecology and habitat relationships of Baird’s pocket gopher (Geomys breviceps), a keystone prey species for the federally threatened Louisiana pine snake (Pituophis ruthveni). Because pocket gophers make up the majority of the Louisiana pine snake’s diet, understanding gopher distribution and habitat requirements is critical for informing recovery and reintroduction efforts following the snake’s Threatened status designation in 2018.
He conducted field research in the Vernon Unit of Kisatchie National Forest, where pocket gophers were trapped and radio-collared to estimate home range size and space use. He also collected detailed habitat data to model gopher occupancy and mound abundance across the landscape. His analyses identified sandy, well-drained soils and a dense herbaceous understory as key habitat features associated with gopher presence.
Using spatial modeling approaches, he extrapolated field data to a 30 × 30 m grid to predict pocket gopher distribution throughout the study area. The resulting occupancy and mound-density maps provide a practical framework for identifying, managing, and restoring pocket gopher habitat on both public and private lands and directly support conservation planning for the Louisiana pine snake.
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