Expertise
- Wildlife Ecology
- Habitat Modeling
- Environmental Science
Research Focus
- Determining the main threats to Common terns (Sterna hirundo) species in Maryland and what has caused a decline in numbers is paramount for future research and management throughout the state
- To determine which of these stressors has had an effect on the population of common tern in Maryland and how these may be addressed in the future.
- Urbanization’s effect (without WNS impact) on bat activity and diversity in Calgary, Chicago, Detroit, Indianapolis, Mexico City, Ontario, Panama, and European and Australian cities have been studied and resulted in mixed conclusion
- Creating a black bear habitat model for all of Louisiana and Arkansas, model will help to parse out agricultural crops that are a food source for bears and will allow for assessments of potential impact on bear habitat because of future land use change, such as the changes in crop type for biofuel production, or increases in urban land cover around fast-growing towns
- Determining specific forest and tree metrics of “good” bear habitat by deriving spatial layers of forest characteristics (Canopy Density, Forest height, Forest Biomass) from Lidar data and from FIA data, identified forest characteristics will be used to determine endpoints for forest best management practices to optimize bear habitat in the GCPO LCC
