My work focuses on the question:

How do environments and life-histories impact animal populations and behaviors in a rapidly changing world?

photo Ian Freeman

Movement is key to life

In my research, I study the role of migration in regulation populations and the ways in which human activities are hindering animals' ability to seek resources and maximize the benefits of these amazing journeys.

In Wyoming and throughout much of their range, mule deer "surf the green-wave" of newly emergent forage each spring. In the video here, we can see that surfing, with deer rushing to catch up with the flush of green on this otherwise barren landscape.

I am a PhD student in the Kauffman Lab in the Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at University of Wyoming. For my dissertation, I am studying the impact phenotypic variation and adaptive movements have on mitigating climate and anthropogenic stressors. In this role, I work closely with the Wyoming Migration Initiative and the Global Initiative on Ungulate Migration to build lasting relationships and facilitate early science-education programs throughout Wyoming and the west. I am particularly passionate about developing tools for managers to forecast scenarios and improve conservation planning.

Also, I work with teams around the world to investigate the processes affecting growth, movement, and survival in animals with otherworldly phenotypic and behavioral flexibility: deer mice and shorebirds.