Todd B. Cross, Ph. D.

Research

I am a postdoctoral research biologist/ecologist with the Fedy Lab at University of Waterloo (Ontario). I strive to conduct research that concurrently explores the evolutionary ecology of species and that results in the provision of data-driven research products and spatial tools relevant to the management of wildlife species of conservation concern. I am primarily focused on two areas of research in addition to several side projects:

1) I am fortunate to be involved in a large-scale conservation genetics project which aims to understand population structure and to identify landscape and environmental features critical to maintaining genetic connectivity for greater sage-grouse. We use cutting-edge genomic methods and robust genetic tools to gather information from thousands of birds sampled from leks across the species’ range. Our efforts are in close collaboration with state and federal agencies responsible for sage grouse management across the eleven western states within the species’ range. Together, we are tackling an unprecedentedly large study which is providing a comprehensive view of genetic population structure, patterns of diversity, and qualitative connectivity data.

2) For the last few years I’ve been working to identify critical habitat for two different woodpecker species of conservation concern. Lewis’s woodpecker, reliant upon post-wildfire habitat and the tree snags therein for foraging, nesting, and brood rearing. White-headed woodpecker, reliant upon in-tact forested landscapes. The landscapes that both species rely upon are actively managed. Standing snags are of timber value and may need removal for hazard mitigation, and forested landscapes that are part of the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program. I leverage habitat selection models and occupancy models to determine critical habitat and to quantify the effects of management decisions on species occupancy, then create spatial tools from these models for use in decision support for natural resource managers. 

Education

Ph.D., Fish and Wildlife Biology, University of Montana, 2017

Postbaccaleaureate, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado Boulder, 2010

B.S., Biology, Wheaton College, 2006