Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units Program:
Education, Research and Technical Assistance for Managing Our Natural Resources

I received a BS from Louisiana State University in 1999 and a MS in Ecology from San Diego State University in 2007. Most recently, I have been working on completing my PhD in Wildlife Conservation at Virginia Tech (anticipated August 2015), where I studied coyote space use and population dynamics in the ridge and valley region of the central Appalachians. For my dissertation research I used both invasive and noninvasive methods, collaring coyotes and learning genetic techniques for extracting fecal DNA and genotyping individual coyotes, black bears, and bobcats for use in mark-recapture models. In addition, I also collaborated with several other students developing a spatial mark-resight model for West African lions in Senegal, and a spatial capture-recapture (SCR) approach for integrating non-invasive methods for long-term monitoring of tigers in Nepal. As a post-doc with the Co-op unit, I am part of a large team working to design a Socio-Ecological Corridor in the Chocó-Andean region of Ecuador. My role in the project involves developing and applying spatial-capture recapture models to directly estimate functional landscape connectivity and densities for Andean bears from camera trap data. In my spare time I enjoy trail running with my dog, gardening, and cooking.