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Program in Ecology
Transdisciplinary Program
Debbie Swierczek
Program Coordinator
School of Graduate Education
Old Main 310
Phone: 307-766-4128
Email: ecology@uwyo.edu
Program in Ecology Faculty represent many different departments and offer diverse expertise and interests, but all share a core commitment to research and graduate training in ecology. All students enrolled in PiE are advised or co-advised by a PiE Faculty member.
>>Information on becoming a Program in Ecology faculty member
>> Sort faculty by research focus
Professor, Department of Ecosystem Science and Management
E-mail: jlbeck@uwyo.edu | Web Page
Students: Jonathan Lautenbach
Alumni: Clay Buchanan, Courtney Duchardt, Kurt Smith, Aaron Pratt
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My research interests lie in wildlife habitat ecology and restoration ecology with a focus on restoring the functionality and structure of wildlife habitats in disturbed rangeland systems, particularly sagebrush habitats. The types of research questions that my lab addresses typically are guided by ecological concepts that are used as a framework to evaluate conservation questions. Two general areas of emphasis that my lab is pursuing are: (1) understanding the direct and indirect impacts of anthropogenic development on vertebrate species (greater sage-grouse and ungulates as model taxa) inhabiting sagebrush habitats, and (2) evaluating the efficacy of mitigation techniques and conservation practices intended to enhance habitat conditions or mitigate effects of anthropogenic development in sagebrush habitats. In all studies we seek to understand responses of habitat restoration efforts across a range of spatial and temporal scales to better inform conservation practices.
Professor, Department of Zoology and Physiology
E-mail: bendavid@uwyo.edu | Web Page
Students: Kristina Harkins, Eric Quallen, Christina Sluka,
Alumni: Jamie Crait, John Whiteman, Adi Barocas, Carolyn Eckrich
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My main interest revolves around the interaction between animal behavioral ecology, population dynamics, and ecosystem function. I mainly study carnivores and use the transport of nutrient from sea to land as a model system. To study those interactions, I use isotopic and genetic tracers. For example, I investigate the effects of trade-off between nutritional requirements and risk of infanticide on consumption of salmon by female brown bears, and how female decisions made based on this trade-off influence the transfer of salmon-derived nutrients to terrestrial vegetation.
Professor, Department of Zoology and Physiology
Robert B. Berry Chair in Ecology
E-mail: cbenkman@uwyo.edu | Web Page
Alumni: Adam Siepielski, Matt Talluto , Cody Porter
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I'm an evolutionary ecologist who is especially interested in (1) what underlies variation in biotic interactions and how this influences natural selection and cascades throughout the community, (2) what causes variation in reproductive isolation between diverging lineages, and (3) how climate change has and will affect conifer-seed-eating animals. Most of my research pertains to conifer-seed-eating animals, especially crossbills (a type of finch that is reasonably common near Laramie), because of the ease at which food resources can be linked to crossbill behavior, ecology, and evolution.
Professor, Department of Botany
E-mail: buerkle@uwyo.edu | Web Page
Students: Erin Bentley
Alumni: Zach Gompert, Liz Mandeville, Monia Haselhorst
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Research in my lab focuses on the genetics of adaptation and speciation, and on methods in computational biology. Adaptation and speciation operate within an ecological context. Thus, I am particularly interested in understanding the basis of traits that have functional and ecological importance. Similarly, I am interested in the ecological determinants of the outcomes of hybridization, including speciation. The reason for studying the genetics of these evolutionary processes is that knowledge of the underlying genetics can reveal important details of the dynamics of adaptation and speciation. Current research in the lab includes genetic analyses of hybridization and adaptive differentiation among diverse taxa, as well as large-scale studies of ecological interactions among insects, plants, and microbes. For many of these projects we develop novel computational analyses of data.
Assistant Professor, Department of Zoology and Physiology
E-mail: mcarling@uwyo.edu | Web Page
Students: Libby Megna, Paul Dougherty
Alumni: Shawn Billerman
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Research in my lab focuses on understanding the processes of speciation and adaptation in birds. While we focus primarily on these questions from a genetic perspective, we must also consider the environments inhabited by the birds we study. Current projects include: 1) a detailed dissection of gene flow and introgression across the hybrid zone between Lazuli (Passerina ameona) and Indigo (Passerina cyanea) buntings; 2) a broad comparative hybrid zone study focusing on a number of avian species pairs that hybridize in the Great Plains (e.g. Passerina buntings, Icterus orioles, and Pipilo towhees); 3) patterns of functional differentiation in Tachycineta swallows; and 4) a investigation of the impact of extreme environments (high elevation, high latitude) on the evolution of mitochondrial genes.
Associate Professor, Department of Zoology and Physiology
Wyoming Cooperative Fish & Wildlife Research Unit
E-mail: achalfou@uwyo.edu | Web Page
Students: Katherine Gura, Emily Shertzer
Alumni: Gabriel Barrile, Jason Carlisle, Embere Hall
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I study wildlife-habitat relationships and the ecological, behavioral, and evolutionary processes underlying patterns in habitat use and quality at multiple spatial scales. My lab is currently focused on the influence of anthropogenic changes to habitats (e.g., via oil and natural gas extraction) on non-game wildlife species including songbirds, small mammals and herpetofauna, especially within sagebrush systems. My work has also focused on broad scale life history patterns and avian parental care behaviors.
Assistant Professor, Departments of Ecosystem Science and Management
Email: david.christianson@uwyo.edu
Students: Laura Diakiw
I explore the interaction between top-down, bottom-up, and environmental effects on individuals, populations, communities and ecosystems to better understand our world, provide better answers to stakeholders, and to train the next generation of thinkers and problem-solvers.
Associate Professor, Department of Geology and Geophysics
E-mail: mclemen1@uwyo.edu | Web Page
Alumni: Morgan Churchill
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My research interests center on understanding the ecological relationships among organisms within ancient ecosystems. For the past several years, I have been particularly interested in the study of the evolutionary ecology of marine mammals including sirenians (e.g., manatees, dugongs) and cetaceans (e.g., whales, dolphins, porpoises). The primary tools I use for this research are stable isotope analyses of the inorganic and organic fraction of fossil remains, which can provide information on the diet and habitat preferences of extinct organisms that might not be interpretable from the morphology or depositional setting. Recently, an increasing component of my research has included work in modern marine and terrestrial ecosystems as a means of testing interpretations of geochemical results from fossil remains. Two examples of these projects include a long term study of the feeding habits of manatees in the Indian River Lagoon of Florida and analysis of lifetime feeding habits and nutritional ecology of desert tortoises in the Sonoran and Mojave Deserts with colleagues at the Smithsonian National Zoological Park.
Associate Professor, Department of Ecosystem Science and Management
E-mail: tcollier@uwyo.edu | Web Page
Students: Megan Wilson
Alumni: Rebecca Upjohn
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My research encompasses the theoretical and applied aspects of insect ecology and biological control, the use of living organisms to control insect pests and weeds. A current research focus is the behavioral and population ecology of host specificity in insects used as weed biological control agents. The primary question is: what behavioral and ecological factors influence host specificity and impact of biological control agents in the field? The key goal is to maximize impact on the weed and minimize impact on native, non-target species. A second area of research involves interactions among parasitoid wasps used in biological control of Hawaiian fruit fly pests. Here the key issue is coexistence of competing species, and direct and indirect interactions in parasitoid-host food webs.
Assistant Professor, Departments of Zoology and Physiology
Email: sarah.collins@uwyo.edu | Web Page
Students: Linnea Rock
Research in my lab focuses on freshwater ecosystem ecology, including elemental cycling, food web dynamics and their relevance to applied water quality issues. We ask questions about ecological patterns and processes through field studies in a variety of temperate and tropical ecosystems. In addition to field projects, I participate in several synthesis groups about freshwater ecosystems at regional to continental scales, which include collaborations with computer scientists and statisticians. Overall, work in my lab aims to develop the approaches and concepts to understand how accelerating human-driven changes in terrestrial landscapes and climate are reflected in aquatic ecosystems at local to continental scales.
Assistant Professor, Departments of Botany and Geology/Geophysics
Email: ecurrano@uwyo.edu
Students: Lauren Azevedo-Schmidt, Claudia Richbourg, Matt Butrim
I am a paleoecologist who uses fossil plants to investigate the response of ancient forest ecosystems to environmental perturbations. Specifically, how did environmental changes affect taxonomic diversity, ecosystem structure, plant-insect interactions, and biogeographic patterns? By understanding how ecosystems reacted to past changes, we can better predict how modern ecosystems will respond to anthropogenic changes like CO2-induced global warming. The research conducted in my lab is field-based, specimen-based, and collaborative. Current research focuses on: 1) biotic response to climate changes during the hothouse Paleogene in the Western US, particularly Wyoming, and 2) the evolution of East African terrestrial ecosystems over the last 30 million years. Outreach activities include co-founding The Bearded Lady Project: Challenging the Face of Science, a documentary film and photography project that investigates our stereotypes of what a field scientist looks like.
Associate Professor, Department of Zoology and Physiology
Email: michael.dillon@uwyo.edu | Web Page
Students: Craig Garzella, Ellen Keaveny, Sarah Waybright,
Alumni: Susma Giri, Kennan Oyen
I am broadly interested how physiology dictates interactions of organisms with their environments. In my group, we combine field work with laboratory experiments and modeling to study physiological ecology primarily of insects, which are diverse morphologically, evolutionarily, and physiologically and thrive in all environments on earth. Some current projects include: flight and thermal physiology of alpine bumblebees, overwintering physiology of native bees, and the effects of fine scale spatial and temporal variation in climate on organism physiology and ecology.
Professor, Department of Veterinary Sciences
Wyoming Excellence Chair in Disease Ecology
Email: hernest@uwyo.edu | Web Page | Recent Publications
Alumni: Melanie LaCava, UWyo MS Beth Mendelsohn, several PhD and MS Alumni from UC Davis
My research interests involve applied wildlife genomics and disease ecology science toward wildlife conservation, management, and population health. Ecological tools incorporate disciplines of genetics, genomics, population biology, and disease ecology, epidemiology, with important intersections in GIS and wildlife pathogen diagnostics. Current species of interest inhabit western North America, with particular focus in regions encompassing Wyoming, the Rocky Mountain West and California. Taxonomic groups include large mammals (pronghorn antelope, bighorn sheep, mule deer, mountain lions, black bears, and others), birds (current focus is hummingbirds; also interests in raptors and corvids), and their disease agents. I am a wildlife ecologist, population geneticist, and veterinary researcher with affiliations with the Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory, UC Davis, and maintain collaborations with state, federal, and NGO wildlife agencies. Education and mentoring students is very important to me.
Associate Professor, Department of Botany
E-mail: beewers@uwyo.edu | Web Page
Students: Tim Aston, Bridger Huhn
Alumni: Julia Angstmann, John Frank, Kusum Naithani, David Reed, Heather Speckman
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The main question driving Dr. Brent E. Ewers laboratory’s research is how does plant physiology control fluxes of mass and energy at scales ranging from plant organs to landscapes. Ongoing projects investigate a wide range of nonvascular, woody and herbaceous plants inhabiting near-pristine, heavily disturbed, crops and controlled environments. Brent's lab leads or collaborates on current projects investigating bark beetle-induced mortality impacts on forest ecosystem processes, influence of vegetation on the hydrological cycle and the role of genetics in plant responses to stress.
Assistant Professor, Department of Zoology and Physiology
E-mail: wfetzer@uwyo.edu | Web Page
Students: Kaitlyn McKnight
My research interests lie at the interface of basic and applied research and I aim to answer questions directly relevant to the management and conservation of fisheries and freshwater ecosystems. Specifically, I am interested in spatial and temporal responses of aquatic food webs to anthropogenic perturbations, such as climate change, invasive species, and eutrophication. I use multiple approaches and incorporate diverse sources of information to evaluate how direct and indirect drivers interact to drive complex, often unexpected outcomes. To ensure that my science is applicable to conservation, management and policy development, I directly engage and communicate my findings to stakeholders, managers, and policy makers.
My ecological research themes include:
Animal, Aquatic, Ecosystems, Isotope Tracers, Organismal, Population and Community
Associate Professor, Department of Zoology and Physiology
E-mail: jgoheen@uwyo.edu | Web Page
Students: Leo Khasoha, Francisco Molina, Dedan Ngatia, Douglas Njeri
Alumni: Abdullahi Ali, Jesse Alston, Brett Jesmer
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My research interests lie at the nexus of conservation biology and community ecology. Currently, I am devoted to two research programs: 1) examining how the loss of megaherbivores and other wildlife affects rangeland dynamics in savanna ecosystems through the Ungulate Herbivory Under Rainfall Uncertainty (UHURU); and 2) investigating the interplay between community saturation and human disturbances across wildlife assemblages. Graduate projects in my research group span a breadth of topics, and include precipitation and herbivory as filters to plant community assembly, foraging efficiency/risk tradeoffs in herbivores, community- and ecosystem-level consequences of wildlife restoration in Mozambique, small mammal responses to ungulate extirpations, and landscape change and conservation of a globally-endangered antelope in northeastern Kenya.
Assistant Professor, Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources & Department of Zoology and Physiology
Email: joe.holbrook@uwyo.edu | Web Page
My research focuses on an integration of population and community ecology. Three main questions underpin this focus: (1) Why are animals where they are?, (2) How does environmental change influence animals?, and (3) What roles do animals fulfill within the broader ecological community? In addition, I am keenly interested in the interaction between humans and the environment, which has large implications for policy, land management, and conservation solutions. These broad interests necessarily require diverse partnerships, datasets, and analytical techniques. Indeed, my partners and I are continually looking for ways to integrate concepts and approaches to gain additional insight and identify conservation opportunities. I generally work with mammalian carnivores, which have spanned from jaguarundis and badgers within rangelands to Canada lynx, wolverine, and mountain lions within forests. Applied issues motivate my work, but I strive to place these questions within a strong theoretical foundation to advance both management and science.
Associate Professor, Department of Ecosystem Science and Management
E-mail: khufford@uwyo.edu | Web Page
The primary focus of my laboratory is the study of the consequences of community and population-level variation for the long-term sustainability of restored plant communities. I am an evolutionary ecologist with interests in conservation and restoration. My research is focused on the adaptation of plant populations to local environments, and the implications of adaptive variation for the restoration of native plant communities. I study spatial and temporal patterns of selection using techniques in field ecology, molecular genetics and bioinformatics. Topics of interest include the spatial scale of local adaptation, and the fitness consequences of intraspecific hybridization among wild plant populations. I am also interested in pursuing questions that link population-level studies to larger geographic scales and trophic interactions.
Associate Professor, Department of Zoology and Physiology
Leader, Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit
E-mail: mkauffm1@uwyo.edu | Web Page
Students: Anna Ortega, Luke Wilde
Alumni: Ellen Aikens, Doug Keinath, Arthur Middleton, Brett Jesmer
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My research interests range from demography and population dynamics of animal species, to community-level consequences of herbivory and predation, and landscape ecology of wildlife populations. A common theme of much of my work is a desire to connect ecological research with applied conservation issues, particularly regarding animal populations. Some recent projects have evaluated the management and recovery of peregrine falcons, the effects of range management on carnivores in southern Africa, the dynamics of elk populations, and trophic interactions among wolves, elk and aspen. Much of my current work, and that of my students, is focused on the ecology and management of Rocky Mountain ungulates and their predators. Nevertheless, interesting ecological questions that have a bearing on real-world conservation will always capture my interest regardless of taxa or study system. As the Assistant Unit Leader for Wildlife at the Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, my research program also addresses the priority needs of state and federal wildlife managers. Consequently, students in my lab often work closely with wildlife managers outside of academia.
Associate Professor, Department of Zoology and Physiology
E-mail: krist@uwyo.edu | Web Page
Students: Spencer Cruz
Alumni: Michele Larson
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In my research, I seek to develop our understanding of host-parasite relationships and the biology of invasions in an ecological and evolutionary context. For example, I study the role of ecological stoichiometry in the success of the non-native New Zealand mud snail and the ecological and evolutionary consequences of the introduction of lake trout to zooplankton in Yellowstone Lake. Using snail- trematode interactions, I also study the consequences of parasitism to the evolution of host-life histories and how varying the stoichiometry of food alters the outcome of snail-trematode interactions.
Associate Professor, Department of Botany
Email: daniel.laughlin@uwyo.edu | Web Page
Students: David Atkins, Jesse Fleri, Alice Stears
The Laughlin research lab develops quantitative approaches to understand and predict how plant communities respond to global change. We develop trait-based models that translate ecological processes into statistical frameworks to predict how communities assemble along environmental gradients and how species interact at local scales. The goal for these models is not only to gain a deeper understanding of basic ecological processes, but also to inform the restoration of degraded ecosystems.
Assistant Professor, Departments of Mathematics and Zoology and Physiology
E-mail: rliu1@uwyo.edu
My research interests are mathematical biology, differential equations, dynamical systems, and their interface. My research projects involve formulation, analysis and applications of deterministic mathematical models for infectious diseases and ecological systems. The models are aimed to answer questions and help gain useful insights for the biological systems being investigated. Based on the theoretical analysis and numerical simulations, we describe useful quantitative behaviors of model solutions and tackle which factors are most important in determining these behaviors. Together with collaborating biologists, we provide biological interpretations of the mathematical results, as insights and predictions. From time to time, we need to develop new or improve existing mathematical theories and techniques to provide satisfactory solutions to questions posed by collaborating biologists.
Professor, Department of Philosophy
Director, Master's in Fine Arts program
E-mail: lockwood@uwyo.edu | Web Page
Alumni: Christa Cooper Sumner
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I conduct research that focuses on studies, analyses, explorations, syntheses, critiques, and expressions of the interface between natural sciences and the humanities/arts. This work includes, but is not limited to, philosophy and creative writing. My studies in philosophy pertain to environmental and natural resource ethics, as well as environmental justice. My efforts in writing are primarily in the genre of creative non-fiction and nature writing, including book-length works, essays, and shorter pieces. I also pursue scholarly studies at the interface between religion and the natural sciences, with a focus on the transcendental tradition, intellectual pluralism/pragmatism, and panentheistic perspectives.
Professor, Department of Veterinary Sciences
E-mail: jennifer.malmberg@uwyo.edu | Web Page
My research interests are centered on naturally occurring infectious diseases at wildlife-livestock and urban-rural interfaces. As a veterinary pathologist, I aim to integrate diagnostic pathology and molecular analyses to investigate host-pathogen interactions at scales ranging from proteins to populations. In my lab, we focus on both endemic and emerging diseases of concern for wildlife conservation. Ongoing projects include characterization of Mycoplasma bovis in pronghorn and the evolutionary analysis of feline immunodeficiency virus as related to the ecology of the North American puma.
Professor, Department of Zoology and Physiology
E-mail: dbmcd@uwyo.edu | Web Page
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I work at the intersection of behavioral ecology, demography and molecular ecology. I am interested in how social systems interact with genetic structure in lek-mating birds, in how landscapes have affected the geographic structure of vertebrate populations and how matrix-based demographic models illumine social behavior. Although my primary organismal interest is birds, my students have used genetic markers to explore questions in mammals and fish as well as birds. Current projects include the evolution of cooperation in lek-mating Long-tailed Manakins (Costa Rica), the genetics and mating system of high-elevation rosy-finches, and the demography of endangered black-footed ferrets.
Assistant Professor, Department of Zoology and Physiology
Email:jmerkle@uwyo.edu | Web Page
Students: Molly Caldwell, Anne Scholle, Tana Verzuh
I am a quantitative wildlife ecologist with broad interests in understanding how the movement of animals relates to environmental heterogeneity and change, and how these interactions scale to population- and landscape-level ecological processes. My specific research foci include movement and migration ecology, fitness consequences of behavior, how cognition and innovation influence foraging behavior, and conservation and management of large mammals.
Assistant Professor, Department of Geology & Geophysics
Email:minckley@uwyo.edu | Web Page
Students: Jonathan Bowler
My interests lie in how ecosystems have responded to past climate changes. I am a paleoecologist who works primarily on arid and semi-arid ecosystems (deserts to forests) in western North America and how those ecosystems respond to prolonged climate change like drought and to short-term disturbances like floods and fires. The primary tool I use for analyzing past ecosystem dynamics is pollen, macrobotanical remains and charcoal deposited on and contained within lake and wetland sediments. My lab currently has projects looking at the interactions between climate forcing and changes in stable states of desert wetland and grassland. I am investigating the resilience of western forests to prolonged drought (century to millennial scale) that may be coupled with changes in fire-regimes as possible analogs to future forest dynamics under climate change scenarios.
Assistant Professor, Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources and Department of Zoology and Physiology
Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit
Email: kevin.monteith@uwyo.edu | Web Page
Alumni: Ellen Aikens, Tayler LaSharr
My research program is focused on integrating nutritional ecology with intensive field studies of large ungulates to elucidate the mechanisms that underpin behavior, growth, reproductive allocation, predator-prey dynamics, and ultimately, the factors affecting population growth. My graduate students and I are currently conducting research on most of Wyoming’s large ungulates; topics are centered on establishing a protocol for habitat-based, sustainable management of ungulate populations, while investigating the effects of predation, habitat alteration, climate change, migration tactics, and novel disturbance through the lens of nutrition.
Associate Professor, Department
of Ecosystem Science and Management, Ag C 2027
E-mail:melanie.murphy@uwyo.edu | Web Page
Students: Rachel Arrick, Kathryn Davis, Beth Fitzpatrick, Melanie Torres
Alumni: Charlotte Gabrielson
My research program is focused on addressing applied questions of ecological complexity at landscape scales utilizing tools from landscape ecology and population genetics. The goal of my research is to address complex ecosystem dynamics, focusing on biodiversity (distribution and abundance) and functional connectivity in areas of management and conservation concern. My objective is to incorporate ecological research and alternative management scenarios to assess sustainability. While most of my current work focuses on amphibians and related ecological systems, I have experience with a broad range of taxonomic groups and their related ecological systems: carnivores, ungulates, small mammals, birds, and a coniferous plant. I expect build a research program addressing a broad range of taxonomic groups with a focus on rangeland systems. I have three major interrelated areas of research: 1) Ecosystem Biodiversity - ecological and anthropogenic processes and how they constrain species distributions, 2) Functional Connectivity - system connectivity and how it limits population persistence, and 3) Landscape Change - impact of alternative future landscape conditions on ecosystem sustainability.
Associate Professor, Department of Plant Sciences
E-mail: unorton@uwyo.edu | Web Page
Students: Chloe Mattilio
Alumni: Liana Boggs Lynch
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My research lies within the areas of both basic and applied science, concentrating on questions formed to evaluate the impact of anthropogenic or chronic disturbances on ecological underpinnings of ecosystem resiliency and sustainability. As a biogeochemist I am drawn toward understanding the linkages between belowground N and C cycling and ecosystem functions. I am interested in agroecological principles governing sustainable food production in time of diminishing natural resources and environmental change and the short and long-term consequences of climate variability on ecosystems services. In my research approach I investigate a variety of soil, air and plant indices that are most sensitive to environmental change such as greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide) and labile and stable organic matter pools. Methodologies I often employ include GHG measurements, assays for determining potentially mineralizable C and N, and gross rates of mineralization using 15N enrichment techniques. I am currently involved in the following projects: (1) Quantifying the impact of a massive bark beetle outbreak on carbon, water and nutrient cycling and regeneration of southern Wyoming lodgepole pine forests; (2) Development and transfer of conservation agriculture production systems for small-holder farms in eastern Uganda and western Kenya; (3) Effects of cropping-system, irrigation method, and soil properties on soil nitrogen and organic matter dynamics in the Big Horn Basin; and, (4) Economic and environmental sustainability of conventional, reduced-input, and organic approaches on western crop-range-livestock farms.
Professor, Department of Zoology and Physiology
E-mail: frahel@uwyo.edu | Web Page
Alumni: Bryan Maitland, Mark KirkDan Gibson-Reinemer, Eriek Hansen
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My research involves fish ecology with a particular focus on streams, habitat relationships, and landscape ecology. My graduate students and I are addressing issues of fish habitat use and movement patterns in regards to both large spatial scales and patchiness. We are interested in what constitutes a habitat patch, how patches are rearranged by disturbances such as floods, and what factors influence fish movement among patches. Another area of interest is the homogenization of aquatic biota across the world through habitat alteration and species introductions. Much of our research involves species of conservation concern including native trout and nongame fishes such as native minnows in prairie streams. One of our current projects in this area involves the role of irrigation canals as a population sink for cutthroat trout.
Assistant Professor, Botany Department
E-mail: lshoema1@uwyo.edu
Students: Janette Davidson, Kaitlyn, McKnight, Megan Szojka
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I am a community ecologist interested in understanding patterns in diversity across space and time. In my research, I combine complex systems science and mathematical models with experimental tests of theory. My research focuses on understanding (1) how spatio-temporal variability promotes coexistence and species diversity, (2) the processes that create spatial patterning across landscapes, and (3) linking patterns of population and community synchrony to underlying mechanisms.
Associate Professor, Department of Geology and Geophysics
E-mail: bshuman@uwyo.edu | Web Page
Students: Jordan Von Eggers
Alumni: John Calder
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My research focuses on long-term changes in the availability of water, and how these changes shape ecosystem composition, pattern, and process. In particular, I have been using geologic evidence to study how the water levels of lakes in North America have changed over centuries to millennia during the past 15,000 years, and am comparing these records of past moisture levels with fossil and geochemical evidence of past vegetation, disturbances, and other ecosystem phenomena. In doing so, I seek to understand how ecosystems from the landscape- to continental-scale respond to climate change. By comparing lake-level data from across the continent, I am also examining the climatic processes that cause moisture fluctuations through time. Students working with me have worked on 1) paleoclimate reconstruction and diagnosing the causes of past climate changes, 2) vegetation and fire history reconstruction and examining the role of disturbance (fire) for mediating vegetation responses to climate change, 3) spatially-explicit landscape modeling of past ecosystem changes, and 4) improving our understanding of the sedimentary and geochemical record of past environmental change.
Ramesh SivanpillaiAssociate Research Scientist, Departments of Botany and Ecosystem Science and Management
Wyoming Geographic Information Sciences Center
Email: Sivan@uwyo.edu | Web Page
My research focuses on mapping vegetation types and monitoring vegetation condition and land cover change using remotely sensed data. Most of my work uses multispectral data collected from satellite and airborne platforms. Study areas range from small agricultural fields to large river deltas. Working with remotely sensed data acquired at different spatial and spectral resolutions enables me to assess the effect of scale or grain size on mapping vegetation and other earth surface features. My research sites are located in US (Wyoming and Texas), India, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Mexico, Honduras and Nicaragua.
Associate Professor, Department of Ecosystem Science and Management
Director, Wyoming Reclamation and Restoration Center
E-mail: unclem@uwyo.edu | Web Page
Students:
Alumni: Caley Gasch, Ramesh Sapkota, Michael Curran
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The foci of my research program are soil microbial ecology and restoration ecology and the interface of these two disciplines. I employ an integrated approach in my work combining analyses of community structure and function as well as environmental influences. Topics we are currently investigating include: 1) spatial and temporal variability of soil microbial communities; 2) response and recovery of soil microbial communities and their ecosystem functions to various forms of disturbance; 3) influence of land management practices on soil microbial community structure and function.
Assistant Professor, Department of Zoology & Physiology and UW Biodiversity Institute
E-mail: corey.tarwater@uwyo.edu
Students: Samuel Case
Alumni: Rebecca Wilcox
My research interests are broadly focused on the links between ecology, evolution, and behavior of year-round resident birds and using individual-based studies to understand variation in individual fitness and population demography. Current projects include: 1) effects of rainfall and fragmentation on demography in an understory insectivore in Panama, 2) the role of individual and environmental variation on juvenile behaviors, recruitment, and demography of birds in central Panama, 3) the role of invasive birds and rats in seed dispersal of native and nonnative plants in Hawaii, and 4) life history trade-offs and the link between personalities and life histories using a long-term study of song sparrows in British Columbia.
Hawaii VINE project - https://www.facebook.com/hawaii.vine.project
Econeotropica project - https://www.facebook.com/econeotropica
Linda van DiepenAssociate Professor, Department of Ecosystem Science and Management
Email: linda.vandiepen@uwyo.edu | Web Page
Students: Elizabeth Traver
Alumni: Gordon Custer, Liana Boggs Lynch
My research interests lie in the field of ecosystem science with a focus on the role of the soil microbial community in biogeochemical processes such as nutrient and carbon cycling. I am interested in understanding the responses of an ecosystem to various disturbances and how soil processes and plant-microbe interactions mutually control these ecosystem responses.
Some examples of my work within Wyoming are: 1) the role of soil microorganisms in restoration of forests after wildfire, 2) the role of microorganisms in soil remediation of contaminated mine lands, 3) microbial interactions with invasive plant species (e.g., cheatgrass), and 4) effects of forest pathogens on soil microbial community dynamics.
Associate Professor, Department of Ecosystem Science and Management
Email: karen.vaughan@uwyo.edu | Web Page
My research involves exploring and understanding biogeochemical and pedological processes in the soil environment. Specifically, my lab group is studying soil evolution in high alpine environments, wetland biogeochemistry, and the influence of land use (e.g. mine reclamation and grazing management) on soil physical, chemical, and biological processes. We are also examining the impact of climate on wetland processes and ecosystem function along a montane elevational gradient as well as drivers or soil organic C dynamics across ecological and climatic gradients.
Assistant Professor, Department of Botany and UW Biodiversity Institute
Email: cwagne22@uwyo.edu | Web Page
Students: Jessica Rick, William Rosenthal
Alumni: Jimena Golcher-Benavides
I am an evolutionary biologist with broad interests in processes of speciation and diversification. My research uses population genetic, genomic, phylogenetic, and comparative methods to study diversification, from speciation processes to macroevolutionary patterns of biodiversity.
Associate Professor, Department of Zoology/Physiology
Wyoming Cooperative Fish & Wildlife Research Unit
Email: awalter8@uwyo.edu | Web Page
Students: Jeff Baldock, Niall Clancy, Ashleigh Pilkerton
Alumni: Richard Walker, Gabe Barrile
I am interested in the resistance and resilience of aquatic communities to disturbance. My research addresses disturbances (e.g., flow alteration, climate change, nutrient loading, and energy development) that are relevant to the conservation and management of aquatic ecosystems through a combination of field observation, experimentation, and modeling. Much of my current research involves fish that are of conservation concern and is set in a management context. My goal is to conduct research that has relevance to both basic ecological theory and fisheries management.
Naomi WardAssistant Professor, Departments of Molecular Biology and Botany
E-mail: nlward@uwyo.edu | Web Page
Students: Macy Ricketts
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Our research focuses on microbial genomics, ecology, and systematics, and interactions between these research areas. Specifically, we study the biology of the planctomycetes, acidobacteria, and verrucomicrobia, using genomic and post-genomic approaches. These three groups, while phylogenetically unrelated, are united in having a cosmopolitan distribution in aquatic and terrestrial environments, and being relatively understudied and poorly characterized. We are starting to gain an understanding of their ecological importance - e.g. some planctomycetes have been recently demonstrated to carry out the anaerobic oxidation of ammonium (³anammox²), and it appears that anammox planctomycetes play a significant role in the global nitrogen cycle - but much work remains to be done. A secondary focus is the structure and function of microbial communities, both free-living East African savanna soils, deep-sea coral habitats, and Galapagos Rift hydrothermal vents), and associated with the human host (gastrointestinal and reproductive tracts).
Associate Professor, Departments of Botany and Molecular Biology
E-mail: cweinig@uwyo.edu
Students: Allessandra Ceretto, Robby McMinn
Alumni: Matthew Rubin, Charley Hubbard, Yulia Yarkhunova
The majority of variation segregating in natural populations is quantitative, and its expression depends on genetic background, environment, and interactions with these two factors. Traditionally, the evolution of quantitative traits has been described using statistical genetic techniques. However, one of the greatest advantages of these approaches is also one of their primary limitations: it is possible to estimate genetic variation and covariation in traits without any direct knowledge of the underlying loci or molecular genetic details. In like fashion, it is possible to estimate the pattern of natural selection on quantitative traits in the absence of knowledge of loci that determine fitness. Advances in collecting and analyzing molecular data promise to reveal the molecular genetic basis of quantitative trait variation. In our lab, we focus on understanding genetic mechanisms of adaptation to competition, the role of the circadian clock in competitive responses and in adaptation to seasonal settings, and the genetic basis of quantitative variation in floral morphology. In sum, our work spans the fields of ecology, evolution, and genetics.
Assistant Professor, Department of Botany
E-mail: cweissle@uwyo.edu
Students: Spencer Holtz,
Research in my lab broadly focuses on the eco-evolutionary dynamics of global change. In recent decades, scientists have begun to better understand both the magnitude of changes humans are imposing on the planet and the capacity of populations to evolve rapidly in response to novel selection pressures. I am particularly interested in the spatial dynamics of these phenomena, such as range expansions (as with invasive species) or range shifts due to climate change. Research in the lab combines theoretical models with laboratory experiments using the red flour beetle (Tribolium castaneum), a classic model organism for both ecology and evolution. Using this approach, we aim to better understand how rapid evolution might affect species’ responses to global change, and thus inform future conservation efforts.
Assistant Professor, Department of Ecosystem Science and Management
E-mail: kevin.wilcox@uwyo.edu | Web Page
My research spans the divide between community and ecosystem ecology, and I am interested in how ecosystem processes vary across time and space. As global change factors like climate shifts, eutrophication, and land use change alter resources within landscapes, this will result in changes in the plant communities that exist there. In turn, these community changes will have strong impacts on important ecosystem functions and services, such as carbon sequestration, forage production, and soil retention. I mostly focus on herbaceous ecosystems, such as grassland and savanna, but the ideas I'm interested in apply to a wide range of different ecosystem types.
Professor, Department of Botany
E-mail: dgw@uwyo.edu | Web Page
Students: Jiemin Guo, Abigail Hoffman
Alumni: Janet Chen
The Williams lab investigates plant-environment interactions in terrestrial environments of the world with particular focus on savannas, grasslands and deserts. Student and postdoc research addresses the role of plants in water, carbon and nitrogen cycle processes from cellular to ecosystem scales, and from daily to inter-annual timescales. Major research questions address the potential responses of water-limited ecosystems to changes in climate, atmospheric chemistry and vegetation composition.
Assistant Professor, Wyoming Geographic Information Science Center
E-mail: dyang1@uwyo.edu | Web Page
GeoDI Lab explores interactions between human and environmental processes that shape landscapes, habitats, and ecosystems by cutting-edge geospatial tools.
Our research focuses on macrosystem ecology, landscape ecology, geospatial informatics, applied remote sensing, and GeoAI. We are interested in the dynamics of human-modified landscape systems, their response to environmental change (e.g., land use and climate), as well as the scientific basis for the management, conservation, and restoration. Topics we are currently investigating include: 1) NEON (National Ecological Observatory Network) macrosystems forest management and biodiversity; 2) incorporate VGI data into geospatial modeling of extreme events under changing climates; 3) processing and analyzing large ecological and remote sensing databases using geospatial cloud computing (e.g., Google Earth Engine, Microsoft Azure, and Web-GIS) to benefit conservation, resource management, landowners, and policymakers.
William L. BakerProfessor Emeritus of Geography
Alumni: Mark Williams
Professor Emeritus of Zoology and Physiology
Alumni: Emiliano Donadio, Jonathan Pauli, Arthur Middleton
Professor Emeritus, Department of Botany
Alumni: Mark Lesser, Rachel Jones, Yao Liu
Professor Emeritus, Department of Zoology and Physiology
Alumni: Mikey Tabak
Professor Emeritus, Department of Botany
Alumni: Jason Edwards
Associate Professor Emeritus
Departments of Botany, Ecosystem Science and Management, Environment and Natural Resources
Alumni: David McKenzie, Paige Copenhaver Parry, Kellen Nelson
Program in Ecology
Transdisciplinary Program
Debbie Swierczek
Program Coordinator
School of Graduate Education
Old Main 310
Phone: 307-766-4128
Email: ecology@uwyo.edu
1000 E. University Ave. Laramie, WY 82071
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