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The Tinker Lab for

Forest & Fire Ecology

University of Wyoming - Department of Botany - Program in Ecology

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	Daniel Tinker Supervisor Office: Aven Nelson 130 Phone: 307-766-4967 E-mail: tinker@uwyo.edu Dan received his B.S. from Fort Lewis College in 1993, his M.S. from the University of Wyoming in 1996, and his Ph.D. from the University of Wyoming in 1999. He conducted post-doctoral research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison from 1999-2000. He has worked as an assistant professor in the Department of Geosciences and Natural Resources Management at Western Carolina University and as a visiting assistant professor in the Department of Botany at the University of Wyoming. Since 2005, he has been employed as an assistant professor of Botany at the University of Wyoming and runs the Tinker Lab for Forest and Fire Ecology.
	Gail Stakes Laboratory assistant Office: Aven Nelson 210 Phone: 307-766-3047 E-mail: stakes@uwyo.edu Gail is a part-time lab assistant for the Tinker Laboratory for Forest and Fire Ecology. Gail performs a wide variety of tasks including lab management, processing field samples, data entry and analysis, manuscript preparation, computer operations, and in general serves as the “glue between the cracks” to help the lab run smoothly and efficiently. Gail Stakes received an MS in Electrical Engineering and a BS in Molecular Biology from Vanderbilt University. She worked for Oak Ridge National Laboratory and associated subcontractors for 15 years in East Tennessee. Gail moved to Laramie, Wyoming in 2004 to share a ranch and academic life with Dan Tinker.
	David McKenzie Current graduate student Office: Aven Nelson 210 Phone: 307-766-3047 E-mail: dmckenz3@uwyo.edu Dave's Western Red Cedar Research Dave graduated from the University of Nebraska- Omaha with a M.S. in Biology. He is currently working on his PhD in the Tinker Lab at UW. Dave's main focus is forest ecology with an emphasis on climate variability, fire, and their interaction and influence on species distribution at a small scale. He is especially interested in western red cedar (Thuja plicata) in an isolated population at the edge of its range. He is also interested in the role of refugia-like pockets of cedar and their role in maintaining cedar stands in this edge population. He is currently working on a project in Glacier National Park on the causes of cedar decline and the role of refugia-like pockets and the persistence of cedar in the park. In addition, Dave is interested in oak savanna restoration and deciduous forest succession following long-term removal of fire.
	Sara Beaver Current graduate student E-mail: sbeaver5@uwyo.edu Sara recently graduated from Lenoir-Rhyne College in Hickory, North Carolina with her B.S. in Biology. She joined the Tinker Lab for Forest and Fire Ecology during summer 2008.
	Nancy Bockino Former graduate student Office: Grand Teton National Park, Moose, WY Phone: 307-690-1683 E-mail: nbockino@uwyo.edu Nancy's Whitebark Pine Research Nancy has a broad range of natural resource experience and education including fire, forest, and vegetation ecology, and wolf, lynx, fox, and goshawk biology. Her current focus is on disturbance dynamics and demographics in whitebark pine in high elevation ecosystems in the Greater Yellowstone. She is currently an ecologist focused on whitebark pine monitoring and restoration at Grand Teton National Park where she has worked for seven years. She completed her master’s research in December 2007 with Dr. Daniel Tinker, investigating interactions among blister rust, mountain pine beetle, and climate change. Nancy looks forward to the future as a steward of the land and a student of the alpine ecosystem.
	Brianna Schoessow Former graduate student Office: Aven Nelson 210 Phone: 307-766-3047 E-mail: bschoess@uwyo.edu Brianna's Canada Thistle Research Brianna graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point in May 2005, with a B.S. in Biology and with minors in Conservation Biology and Resource Management. She completed her M.S. in December 2007 at the University of Wyoming in Botany. Brianna conducted her research in the 1988 burned areas of Yellowstone National Park, assessing the dynamics of the non-native, invasive species, Canada thistle (Cirsium arvense) following disturbance. She has also completed the requirements for the Program in College Teaching at the University of Wyoming, and is currently employed at UW as an assistant lecturer for the Life Sciences Program. She is strongly committed to teaching and learning at all levels, and looks forward to continuing her career in biology for many years to come.