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

Staff Member


Dana Morin

Dana Morin

Post Doc
Email: djm466@cornell.edu

Biography

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.

Research Publications Publication Date
Xue, Y, X. Wu, D. Morin, B. Dilkina, A. Fuller, J. Royle and C. Gomes. 2017. Dynamic Optimization of Landscape Connectivity Embedding Spatial-Capture-Recapture Information. Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence. January 2017
Morin, D.J., A.K. Fuller, J.A. Royle, and C. Sutherland. 2017. Model-based estimators of density and connectivity to inform conservation of spatially-structured populations. Ecosphere 8(1):e01623. 10.1002/ecs2.1623. January 2017
Molina, S., A.K. Fuller, D.J. Morin, and J.A. Royle. 2017. Use of spatial capture-recapture to estimate density of Andean bears in northern Ecuador. Ursus 28:117-126. August 2017
Presentations Presentation Date
Morin, D.J., A.K. Fuller, J.A. Royle, C. Sutherland. 2015. Corridor design applications of spatial capture-recapture models. 22nd Annual Conference of The Wildlife Society, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Invited presentation in symposia. October 2015
Morin, D., A.Fuller, J. Royle, C. Sutherland, A. Gupta, B. Dilkina, and C. Gomes. Modeling animal home range and landscape connectivity from spatial capture-recapture data. CompSust16. Ithaca, NY. 7 July, 2016. July 2016
Molina, S., A.K. Fuller, J.A. Royle, and D.J. Morin. Population Ecology of the Andean Bear (Tremarctos Ornatus) in the Northwest of the Metropolitan District of Quito, Ecuador. 24th International Conference on Bear Research & Management. Anchorage, Alaska. 14 June, 2016. June 2016
Gupta, A., B. Dilkina, D. Morin, A. Fuller, J. Royle, C. Sutherland, and C. Gomes. Using model-based estimators of connectivity for landscape corridor design. CompSust 2016. Ithaca, NY. 6 July, 2016. July 2016
Fuller, A.K., D.J. Morin, and J.A. Royle. Density-weighted connectivity for corridor design. 24th International Conference on Bear Research & Management. Anchorage, Alaska. 16 June, 2016. June 2016