Derek Scasta

Ecosystem Science and Management

Associate Professor & Extension Rangeland Specialist

Contact Information

(307) 766-2337jscasta@uwyo.edu

R&E Center, Laramie

Curriculum Vitae
Derek Scasta

I joined the Department of Ecosystem Science and Management in August of 2014 after completing my Ph.D. at Oklahoma State University.  Before starting my Ph.D. program, I worked for seven years as an Extension Educator in Texas conducting educational programming and applied research in range and livestock production.  I am currently an Associate Professor, Extension Rangeland Management Specialist, and Associate Director for the Laramie Research and Extension Center (LREC).  My overarching interest for all activities is to bridge the gap between agriculture and conservation on rangelands.

Google Scholar Research Gate Wild Horse Ecology News

 

Research Interests

My research can be grouped in three broadly focused areas:
  1. Range livestock production decisions associated with variable forage quality and quantity resources, topographical constraints, toxic plants, policy stipulations, parasites, and ecological concerns.  This area of focus has involved ranchers from around Wyoming and surrounding regions.

  2. How livestock and wildlife interact in using the landscape to meet various resource needs.  This area of focus has included cattle, sheep, wild horses and burros, prairie dogs, pronghorn, songbirds, sage-grouse, and predators.

  3. How climate influences vegetation succession and disturbance such as wildfire and prescribed affects livestock and wildlife.  This area of focus has included the effects of drought on livestock production, effects of fire on forage quality and shrubs like sagebrush and greasewood, and generally rangeland plant communities.
I am heavily involved with extending research from the University of Wyoming to the people across the state, including: livestock producers, employees of state and federal land management agencies (Wyoming Game and Fish, Wyoming Department of Agriculture, USDA, USFS, BLM, NPS, BIA, etc.), commodity groups (Wyoming Stock Growers Association, Wyoming Wool Growers Association, Wyoming Section for the Society for Range Management, etc.), and Extension Educators.  

Education & Certificates

  • Ph.D.   Natural Resource Ecology and Management, Oklahoma State University (8/2014)
    Dissertation: Implications of pyric-herbivory on Central North American grassland ecology, management and production
    Advisor: Dr. Dave Engle
  • M.S.    Crop Science, Texas Tech University (12/2008)
    Thesis: Screening of alfalfa (Medicago sativa) cultivars for salt tolerance in west Texas
    Co-Advisors: Dr. Calvin Trostle and Dr. Mike Foster
  • B.S.     Rangeland Ecology and Management, Texas A&M University (5/2004)
    Option: Watershed management
  • Certified Professional in Rangeland Management (CPRM), Society for Range Management (2011 – Present) #CP11-002

Affiliations

  • Wyoming Section (WSSRN), 2014- Present
  • Society for Range Management (SRM), 2007-Present
  • Texas Section (TSSRM), 2007-2014
  • Oklahoma Section (OSSRM, 2011-2014

Wild Horse Ecology Research

Extension Products

Research Products

  • Scasta, J. D., J. L. Beck, and C. J. Angwin.  2016. Meta-analysis of diet composition and potential conflict of wild horses with livestock and wild ungulates on western rangelands of North America. Rangeland Ecology and Management 69:310–318. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rama.2016.01.001
    PDF Available Adobe PDF
  • Scasta, J. D. (2020). Mortality and operational attributes relative to feral horse and burro capture techniques based on publicly available data from 2010-2019. Journal of equine veterinary science, 86, 102893.
  • Scasta, J. D. (2019). Why are humans so emotional about feral horses? A spatiotemporal review of the psycho-ecological evidence with global implications. Geoforum, 103, 171-175.
  • Scasta, J. D., Hennig, J. D., & Beck, J. L. (2018). Framing contemporary US wild horse and burro management processes in a dynamic ecological, sociological, and political environment. Human–Wildlife Interactions, 12(1), 6.
  • Scasta, J. D., Hennig, J. D., & Calkins, C. M. (2021). Feral horse cause-specific mortality relative to mustering (gathering) and individual demographic attributes in the USA. Wildlife Research, 48(8), 673-689.
  • Scasta, J. D., Adams, M., Gibbs, R., & Fleury, B. (2020). Free-ranging horse management in Australia, New Zealand and the United States: socio-ecological dimensions of a protracted environmental conflict. The Rangeland Journal, 42(1), 27-43.
  • Sas-Jaworsky, A., & Scasta, J. D. (2022). Wyoming’s Wild Horse Ranch: history and description of a socio-ecological experiment. Human–Wildlife Interactions, 16(2), 13.
  • Hennig, J. D., Beck, J. L., & Scasta, J. D. (2018). Spatial ecology observations from feral horses equipped with global positioning system transmitters. Human–Wildlife Interactions, 12(1), 9.
  • Frey, S. N., Scasta, J. D., Beck, J. L., Singletary, L., & Snell, L. K. (2022). Public Knowledge of Free-Roaming Horses in the United States. In Proceedings of the Vertebrate Pest Conference (Vol. 30, No. 30).
  • Scasta, J. D., Thacker, E., Hennig, J. D., & Hoopes, K. (2022). Dehydration and Mortality of Feral Horses and Burros: a Systematic Review of Reported Deaths. Human–Wildlife Interactions, 16(2), 9.
  • Frey, N., Beck, J. L., Singletary, L., Snell, L., Scasta, D., & Hadfield, J. (2024). Western US Residents’ Knowledge of Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Their Management on Federal Public Lands. Rangeland Ecology & Management, 92, 12-23.
  • Hennig, J. D., Beck, J. L., Duchardt, C. J., & Scasta, J. D. (2021). Variation in sage-grouse habitat quality metrics across a gradient of feral horse use. Journal of Arid Environments, 192, 104550.
  • Hennig, J. D., Beck, J. L., Gray, C. J., & Scasta, J. D. (2021). Temporal overlap among feral horses, cattle, and native ungulates at water sources. The Journal of Wildlife Management, 85(6), 1084-1090.
  • Hennig, J. D., Scasta, J. D., Pratt, A. C., Wanner, C. P., & Beck, J. L. (2023). Habitat selection and space use overlap between feral horses, pronghorn, and greater sage‐grouse in cold arid steppe. The Journal of Wildlife Management, 87(1), e22329.
  • Hennig, J. D., Beck, J. L., & Scasta, J. D. (2024). Feral horses and pronghorn: a test of the forage maturation hypothesis in an arid shrubland. Animal Behaviour, 210, 55-61.

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