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

Staff Member


Alexej Siren

Alexej Siren is a post-doc with the Vermont Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit.

Post Doc
Email: alexej.siren@uvm.edu

Links:

Education

  • Ph D University of Massachusetts 2020
  • MS University of New Hampshire 2013
  • BA Vermont College 2009

Biography

The ongoing and projected threat from global change poses unique challenges to wildlife populations, species, and ecosystems. My research leverages biogeographical and ecological theory and novel field and quantitative methods to address these challenges and better understand natural phenomena. I enjoy working with a diversity of scientists, including climate modelers, ecohydrologists, forest ecologists, and natural resource managers to ensure that knowledge is co-produced and utilized in a meaningful and impactful way. I am currently studying the impact of climate change on moose (Alces alces) populations in the northeastern US, with a focus on identifying cost-effective monitoring tools for natural resource agencies. Ongoing projects include 1) identifying and predicting forest structure attributes that support early- and late-successional species, 2) developing efficient and robust tools to monitor climate and wildlife populations, 3) scaling up regional camera trap efforts to establish a continental network, 4) studying mechanisms that influence population dynamics across species' ranges, and 5) identifying the effects of adaptive silvicultural treatments for climate change on wildlife populations. My past research includes studying anthropogenic disturbance, namely wind farm development, on wildlife populations with a focus on forest-sensitive species.

Research Publications Publication Date
Sirén, A.P.K., J. Berube, L.A. Clarfeld, C.F.Sullivan, B. Simpson, T.L. Wilson. 2024. Accounting for missing ticks: Use (or lack thereof) of hierarchical models in tick ecology studies. Ticks and Tickborne Diseases 15:102342. DOI: 10.1016/j.ttbdis.2024.102342. | Abstract | Publisher Website April 2024
Clarfeld, L., A. Sirén, B. Mulhall, T. Wilson, E. Bernier, J. Farrell, G. Lunde, N. Hardy, K. Gieder, R. Abrams, S. Staats, S. McLellan, and T. Donovan. 2023. Evaluating a tandem human-machine approach to labelling of wildlife in remote camera monitoring. Ecological Informatics 77:e102257 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoinf.2023.102257. | Abstract | Download | Publisher Website August 2023
Berube, J., A.P.K. Sirén, B. Simpson, K.B. Klingler, T.L. Wilson. 2024. Monitoring off-host winter tick abundance on traditional moose hunting lands. Journal of Wildlife Management 88:e22630. DOI: 10.1002/jwmg.22630. | Abstract | Publisher Website July 2024
Presentations Presentation Date
Wilson, TL, APK Sirén, J Berube, L Clarfeld TM Donovan. 2023. Designing camera trap arrays for multi-species monitoring of mammals at large spatial extents. Annual Meeting, International Association for Landscape Ecology- North America, Riverside, California, 19-23 March2023. March 2023
Wilson, TL, APK Sirén, J Berube, B Simpson. 2023. Effects of imperfect detection on inference from tick-borne disease surveillance data. Joint Workshop on Transboundary Wildlife Diseases. Jeju, Republic of Korea, October 10-11 2023. October 2023
Wilson, T.L., J.A. Berube, A.P.K. Sirén. Perfecting the Imperfect Detection of Ticks: Winter Tick Epizootics and Moose Populations in the Northeastern U.S. Moose research in the Northeast U.S. and eastern provinces of Canada: 6 July 2022. On-line meeting. July 2022
Wilson, T.L., A.P.K. Sirén, J. Berube, B. Simpson. A novel method for monitoring off-host winter ticks in habitat where detection and abundance are expected to be low. Workshop of moose research needs in the Northeast. Sherbrooke, QC, Canada. 13 December 2023. December 2023
Wilson, T. L., J. Berube, A.P.K Sirén, B. Simpson, K. Klingler. Understanding drivers of winter tick (<i>Dermacentor albipictus</i>) abundance and distribution in New England. Asia-Pacific Wildlife Health Workshop, 6-8 August 2024. Hilo, HI. August 2024
Sirén, A.P.K., T.L. Wilson, K.Dunfey-Ball, K.D. Gieder, C.A. Bernier, N.L. Fortin, T. Smith, J.R. Kilborn, C.B. Callahan, R.M. Cliché, L.S. Prout, S, Wixsom, S. Staats, R. Abrams, S. Gifford, R. K. Patry, L.E. Kantar, T.L. Morelli. Broad-scale climate and habitat influences winter tick-moose dynamics along trailing range edges. North American Moose Conference, Midway, UT, USA. 13-16 May 2024. May 2024
Sirén, A.P.K., J. Clark, R.M. Cliché, C.B. Callahan, J.R. Kilborn, C.S. Bernier, K.D. Gieder, P.G. Jensen, R. Patry, L.S. Prout, S. Wixsom, S. Gifford, T.L. Morelli, T.L. Wilson. 2024. Form fits function: Matching camera trap protocols with research objectives. NEAFWA, Hyannis, MA. Invited Oral Presentation. 21-24 April 2024. April 2024
Sirén A.P.K., T.L. Wilson, K. Dunfey-Ball, K.D. Gieder, C.A. Bernier, N.L. Fortin, T. Smith, J.R. Kilborn, C.B. Callahan, R.M. Cliché, L. S. Prout, S. Wixsom, S. Staats, R. Abrams, S. Gifford, R.K. Patry, L.E. Kantar, and T.L. Morelli. Broad scale climate and habitat drivers mediate occupancy-dependent parasitism along trailing range edges. Workshop on moose research needs in the Northeast. Sherbrooke, QC, Canada. 13 December 2023. December 2023
Siren, A., L. Clarfeld, C. Balantic, K. Gieder, P. Jensen, T. Wilson, and T. Donovan. Northeast Wildlife Monitoring Network (NEWMN): A Unifying Framework for Regional Collaboration Using Autonomous Monitoring Units. Northeast Natural History Conference, Burlington VT, 21-23 April 2023. April 2023
Siren, A., Clarfeld, L, C. Balantic, R. Cliche, M. Feehan, K. Gieder, P. Jensen, H. Jones, L. Kantar, R. Patry, L. Prout, S. Wixsom, T. Wilson, and T. Donovan. Northeast Wildlife Monitoring Network (NEWMN): A unifying framework for regional collaboration using autonomous monitoring units. April 3 - 5, 2022. 77th Annual Northeast Fish and Wildlife Association. Long Branch, New Jersey, USA. April 2022
Jensen, P., J. Walker, J. Frair, S. McNulty, R. Bakerian, V. Rojas, A. Siren, L. Clarfeld, T. Donovan, T. Wilson, et al. Many hands make light work: establishing a camera trap network to inventory and monitor wildlife populations across broad spatial and temporal scales. April 3 - 5, 2022. 77th Annual Northeast Fish and Wildlife Association. Long Branch, New Jersey, USA. April 2022
Clarfeld, L., K. Gieder, S. Wixsom, C. Bernier, A. Sirén, J. Peckham, R. Abrams, S. Gifford, S. Staats, L. McNally, and T. Donovan. Forest monitoring for early successional species in the Green Mountains. April 3 - 5, 2022. 2022 Forest Ecosystem Monitoring Cooperative Annual Conference. Burlington, Vermont, USA. December 2022
Clarfeld, L., D. Ignizio, C. Balantic, A. Siren, and T. Donovan. AMMonitor: A remote wildlife monitoring framework. April 3 - 5, 2022. 77th Annual Northeast Fish and Wildlife Association. Long Branch, New Jersey, USA. April 2022
Clarfeld, L, A. Siren, P. Jensen, T. Wilson, C. Balantic, J. Frair, T. Donovan. August 14-19, 2022. Ecological Society of American & Canadian Society for Ecology and Evolution Joint Meeting. Montreal, Quebec, CA. August 2022
Berube, J., A.P.K Sirén, B. Simpson, K. Klingler, T.L. Wilson. Moose’n around with ticks in New England. NEAFWA, Hyannis, MA. Contributed Oral Presentation. 21-24 April 2024. April 2024
Berube, J., A. P. K. Sirén, C. Frank, L. Clarfeld, B. Simpson, T.M. Donovan, T. L. Wilson. 2022. Perfecting the Imperfect Detection of Ticks: Winter Tick Epizootics and Moose Populations in the Northeastern U.S. Presentation. The Wildlife Society Annual Conference, Spokane, WA. 6-10 November. November 2022
Berube, J. APK Sirén, CF Sullivan, L Clarfeld, B Simpson, TM Donovan, TL Wilson. 2023. A Big Little Problem: Assessing Winter Tick Epizootics and Moose Populations in the Northeastern U.S. 78<sup>th</sup> Annual Fish and Wildlife conference, Northeast Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, Hershey Pennsylvania, April 30 – May 2. May 2023
Berube, J. APK Sirén, CF Sullivan, L Clarfeld, B Simpson, TL Wilson. 2023. A big little problem. Assessing winter tick epizootics and moose populations in the Northeastern US. Northeast Regional Native American Fish and Wildlife Society. 6-9 November. November 2023