Aubry Lab Population Ecology in a Changing World
Quantitative Ecology
Shelley Spear, PhD student
Department of Fish, Wildlife and Conservation Biology at CSU
& Graduate Degree Program in Ecology.
Originally from Texas, I came to Colorado to pursue a BS in Wildlife Biology from CSU and graduated in 2011. I recently finished my master’s degree at CSU and had the opportunity to conduct research on identifying fine-scale factors affecting habitat selection by white-tailed ptarmigan in Colorado’s gorgeous alpine.
I have been lucky to have a variety of careers outside of the field of wildlife in law, finance, oil and gas, and environmental positions. However, my love for wildlife and ecology kept calling me back! My current research will focus on the dynamics, interactions, and conflicts between humans and black bears (see research section).
Rachel Kanaziz, MS student
Co-advisor: Dr. Kate Huyvaert
Department of Fish, Wildlife and Conservation Biology at CSU
& Graduate Degree Program in Ecology
I recently completed my undergraduate studies at Adrian College with a BA in Biology, Environmental Science, and English. I have conducted soil research at NCSU and habitat research at Adrian. I also worked as a Wildlife Assistant for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. Now, I am pursuing my MS here at CSU where I have a research project focused on the life strategies of small mammals.
Kaera Utsumi, Undergraduate Research Fellow
Kaera completed her undergraduate degree at UC Berkeley and his about to join graduate school completed her B.S. in Molecular Environmental Biology at the University of California, Berkeley, USA. She has been working as a Field Technician on the Colorado Checkered Whiptail monitoring project since spring 2018. She will be joining the graduate degree program at Kansas State University, Manhattan, USA, in the fall of 2019. (Photographed by Maria Eifler). She is herp-obsessed and is particular fond of snakes.
More Undergraduate Research Fellows!
(left to right)
Catherine Staley
Karina Kusaka
Rachael Pederson
Currently enrolled at CSU in our fish and wildlife program. They have been involved in our Colorado Checkered Whiptail monitoring project since spring 2018. More on their research coming up!
Alumni
Caylee Falvo, MS student
Department of Fish, Wildlife and Conservation Biology at CSU
& Graduate Degree Program in Ecology
I'm currently studying the effects of climate change on the physiology, demography, and phenology of Uinta ground squirrels. I use a combination of lab and field work to look at differences in life history strategies among populations that live at different elevations, in distinct climatic niches. I am particularly interested in life history trade-offs that involve immune function and fitness components, and how those are shaped by climate change. I received my undergraduate degrees at the University of California, Berkeley in Molecular Toxicology and Molecular Environmental Biology, and I'm broadly interested in the way wildlife populations and communities respond to anthropogenic change.
Support: USU Ecology Center, CSU grad research fellowship, Audubon Apacheria Fellowship.
Jarod Raithel, PhD
Department of Wildland Resources and the Ecology Center at USU
Email: [email protected]
Webpage: http://beartrust.org/jarod-raithel
Research: Integrating black bear behavior, spatial ecology, and population dynamics along an anthropogenic gradient: Implications for human-black bear conflicts
Support: USU presidential fellowship, Bear Trust International, New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife
Current position: Assistant Professor, Estrella Mountain Community College, AZ
Liz McAlpine-Bellis
Field Technician
Liz graduated from UC Berkeley in May (evolutionary biology) and plans to pursue a research career that will take her to lots of amazing places and let her study lots of interesting animals. Her research focuses on marine invertebrate response to climate change as well as aggression and territoriality in fish, lizards, and mantis shrimp. She likes fierce creatures and hopes to continue this research for a PhD.
Janine Rose Klein
Field Technician
I recently graduated from UC Davis with degrees in Wildlife Conservation Biology and Evolutionary Anthropology with an emphasis in primatology. Most of the research I participated in during my undergraduate career involved the behavior and movement of different species of lizards. I hope to soon pursue graduate work in this or a related field. My research interests include behavioral ecology, conservation biology, social networks in group-living species, and behavioral syndromes.
Rebecca John
Field Technician
I am an ecologist and herpetologist at heart. I earned my undergrad degree in Environmental Science and Biology from University of California, Santa Cruz and my master’s degree in Wildlife Sciences from Auburn University. I have been lucky enough to have travelled around the US (and beyond) working with tortoise, lizards, salamanders, bats, small mammals, fish, and more. My research interests are extensive and include natural history, behavior, ecology, biogeography, and movements.
Haylie Hill
Field Technician
Haylie is part of the field crew that helps Caylee collect phenological, demographic, physiological and genetic information on Uinta ground squirrels at different elevations, in Logan Canyon Utah (see Research page for additional information).
Support: USU
Kari Norman, Undergraduate Quinney Fellow
Research: A hibernator’s response to climate change: ecological drivers of persistence in the Uinta ground squirrel.
Support: URCO (Undergraduate Research Creative Opportunity),
National Geographic Explorer grant (to PI, Lise Aubry)
Current position: Kari moved to Berkeley to start a PhD position in the Boettiger Lab supported by an NSF graduate fellowship.
Lucas Henzler, Undergraduate Research Fellow
Lucas helps collect phenological, demographic, physiological and genetic information on Uinta ground squirrels at three different elevations representative of three different climate niches. His contribution eventually evolved into an undergraduate research project where Lucas ....
Location: Logan Canyon, UT
Support: USU-URCO (Undergraduate Research Creative Opportunity) recipient.
Annalisa Crow, Undergraduate technician
Annalisa assisted graduate student Caylee Falvo in collecting phenological, demographic, physiological and genetic information on Uinta ground squirrels at different elevations in Logan Canyon Utah (see Research page for additional information).
Support: USU