Big data and rapidly improving analytical tools are enabling researchers to answer previously unanswerable questions. I am a quantitative ecologist who uses these emerging tools to quantify the mechanisms that shape ecological processes, then apply that knowledge to conservation practice. I perform integrative research that spans several fields, including movement ecology, thermal physiology, biogeography, and remote sensing. My research has four primary foci:
Animal Movement
Movement governs animals’ interactions with their environments, each other, and humans, but our knowledge of how and why animals move has long been constrained by data and computational limitations. My research seeks to better understand how we can harness recent advances in animal tracking to improve our understanding of ecological processes. I am working to improve statistical methods for modeling animal movement, make these methods more accessible for biologists who are not statistical experts, and use them to quantify global patterns of animal movement.
Wildlife & Livestock
Much of the world’s best remaining wildlife habitat is also inhabited by livestock, but coexistence between livestock and wildlife is not always harmonious: large carnivores prey on livestock, large herbivores compete with livestock for food and water, and many diseases are transmitted between livestock and wildlife. I am working to find ways that wildlife and livestock can coexist so we can maintain robust and resilient wildlife populations without damaging human livelihoods and cultural legacies.
Macroecology
Most ecological research focuses on what we can learn from in-depth studies of specific systems on a local scale, but a massive increase in continental- and global-level data is enabling studies of ecological phenomena at much larger scales than were historically possible. Currently, I am working to harness these data sets to quantify global patterns of body size and shape, reproductive phenology, and animal movement.
Conservation
As much as I love thinking about questions in basic ecology, I find ecological research a bit empty if we cannot apply it to conserve to restore ecosystems and the biological communities that inhabit them. Much of my research therefore revolves around working to leverage ecological research to inform conservation action. This works best when we can find win-win situations in which both wildlife and people benefit.