Program in Ecology and Evolution | Interdisciplinary Program
Dr. Melanie Murphy
Director, Program in Ecology and Evolution
Debbie Swierczek
Program Coordinator
School of Graduate Education
Knight Hall 247
Phone: (307) 766-4128
Email: ecology@uwyo.edu
Students in Program in Ecology and Evolution study a diverse set of ecological questions, ranging in scale from DNA and microbes to plant and vertebrate systematics, to landscape ecology and everything in between. All Ph.D. students in Program in Ecology and Evolution also belong to a home department.
Advisor: Melanie Murphy
Home Department: Ecosystem Science and Management
Broadly, I’m interested in conducting research to better inform current conservation and management practices for sensitive taxa, particularly amphibians. My PhD research is focused on learning more about habitat use, survival, disease ecology, and the community changes in the microbiome of the endangered Wyoming toad after release from captivity.
PiEE Student Co-President (2022-2024)
Advisor: Dave Tank
Home Department: Botany
I study population genetics, specifically the consequences of rarity for plant genetic diversity and plant microbiomes. I am also interested in advancing the field of informal science education through outreach and research with the Microbestiary.
Advisor: Brent Ewers
Home Department: Botany
I am a scientist, guide, and film-maker based in Jackson Wyoming pursuing a PhD with Dr. Brent Ewers in the Program in Ecology and Evolution. I serve as the Forest Botanist for the Bridger-Teton National Forest. In my "spare time" I enjoy exploring the mountain with my wife, Julia, and dog Chiquita.
Advisor: William Fetzer
Home Department: Zoology and Physiology
Research is focused on using diets and stable isotopes to study and quantify the energy flow pathways to prey fish within the Great Lakes. Funded by the Great Lakes Fisheries Trust, the project aims to gain a clearer understanding for fisheries managers in the Great Lakes region.
Advisor: Dave Tank
Home Department: Botany
My research focuses on systematics of North American willows (genus Salix). I’m especially interested in polyploid evolution species delimitation among Arctic species.
Advisor: Ellen Currano
Home Department: Geology and Geophysics
I am interested in learning how we can extrapolate from fossilized leaves to a broader understanding of an ecosystem at large. Leaves are just one part of a plant, but they can carry a lot of information about how that plant interacts with its environment. To that end, I’m interested in researching the relationships between fossil leaf functional traits, climate, and leaf architecture.
Advisor: Jerod Merkle
Home Department: Zoology and Physiology
My research focuses on ungulate (bison, elk, mule deer, pronghorn, and bighorn sheep) migrations in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. I am investigating the community and movement ecology of these species to help understand why a large diversity of movement strategies exist among sympatric ungulates.
Advisor: Jerod Merkle
Home Department: Zoology and Physiology
I am broadly interested in animal behavior and decision-making, with a specific interest in movement ecology. My research aims to understand how and why mule deer explore novel habitats. I hope a clearer understanding of exploration will strengthen management efforts for declining mule deer populations.
Advisor: Amy Krist
Home Department: Zoology and Physiology
My main interests are focused on aquatic ecology and understanding the processes that control nutrient cycling and ultimately the effect of those processes on producers and consumers. I am part of the NSF EPSCoR Track II project to help create a database of stoichiometric traits of organisms in their chemical habitats (STOICH). As a part of the STOICH project team, I’m working with Amy Krist to build a database on ecological stoichiometry and functional traits of zooplankton from alpine lakes in the Wind River Range.
Advisor: Joseph Holbrook
Home Department: Zoology and Physiology
My research focuses on the ecology of canid species—wolves, coyotes, and red foxes—within the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. I am exploring spatial overlap, dietary niche partitioning, and interspecies interactions among these three sympatric carnivores to develop key metrics for understanding species coexistence and trophic dynamics in a complex ecosystem.
Advisor: Melanie Murphy
Home Department: Ecosystem Science and Management
I am primarily interested in how genes move across changing landscapes and using genetic tools to inform conservation and management. My PhD research is focused on understanding how a non-human ecosystem engineer, the beaver, drives biodiversity at different levels of the biological hierarchy. I will use eDNA to describe aquatic biological communities in beaver and non-beaver wetlands and landscape genetics to understand population genetic structure and connectivity in wetland-dependent amphibians.
Advisor: Corey Tarwater
Home Department: Zoology and Physiology
Mary De Aquino is interested in the mechanisms that drive and maintain biodiversity. She received her B.S. from the University of California, Santa Cruz. Since then, she's been fortunate to work in diverse and beautiful landscapes from the plains of Montana to the cloud forests of Ecuador. For her dissertation, she is studying niche partitioning, species' roles, and the impacts of species loss in the mixed-species groups of birds that follow army ant swarms. Mary is also interested in science communication and enjoys sharing her love of science and the natural world with others. When not spending time outdoors, Mary enjoys sports, art, and hanging out with dogs.
Advisor: David Christianson
Home Department: Ecosystem Science and Management
Advisor: Nicole Bedford
Home Department: Zoology and Physiology
Rachel is broadly interested in how environmental factors—such as temperature and resource availability—influence internal processes like torpor patterns (measured as changes in core body temperature and locomotor activity) and cognitive functions (including learning and memory) in the least chipmunk, a scatter-caching, facultative hibernator. Additionally, she will examine how different winter survival strategies (facultative hibernation, obligate hibernation, and non-hibernation) influence overwinter survival in several North American terrestrial rodent species using peer-reviewed literature and NEON datasets.
Advisor: Melanie Murphy
Home Department: Ecosystem Science and Management
I am interested in many aspects of ecological research with a focus on population and community ecology. More specifically, my research addresses species-habitat/landscape relationships in areas of development. For my dissertation research I am investigating the influence of energy development on landscape connectivity and distribution of Greater Sage-grouse for prioritizing reclamation efforts in Wyoming.
Advisor: Sara Germain
Home Department: Botany
I'm interested in determining how a changing climate has altered tree mortality across the western United States. My research aims to quantify the direct and indirect drivers of changing high-elevation forest composition using traditional and novel tree-ring analytical methods. I study these changes in mortality across varying spatial and temporal gradients, focusing on drought, temperature, pathogenic fungi, and insect-derived forest transformation.
Advisor: Anna Chalfoun
Home Department: Zoology and Physiology
Advisor: Topher Weiss-Lehman
Home Department: Botany
I have a broad interest in conservation biology, with a particular focus on how biotic and abiotic factors affect the species' spatial population dynamics. I am excited to use modeling approach to understand the underlying mechanisms of species' eco-evolutionary dynamics.
Advisor: Merav Ben-David
Home Department: Zoology and Physiology
My interests are population ecology, conservation, and education. At the University of Wyoming, I've completed projects on population genetics and genomics of river otters and hummingbirds. My doctoral work focuses on the phylogenomics of spotted skunk species.
Advisor: Tucker Furniss
Home Department: Ecosystem Science and Management
My research evaluates delayed post-fire tree mortality models in individual tree and stand-level mixed forests. Specifically, I am assessing second-order fire effect models and looking at how water stress, competition, and mountain pine beetles impact stand-level mortality in a warming climate. My work impacts land manager decisions to mitigate mortality and manage healthy forests.
Advisor: Jacob Goheen
Home Department: Zoology and Physiology
Advisors: Lusha Tronstad and Tim Collier
Home Department: Zoology and Physiology
I am broadly interested in the effects of climate, human activities, and species interactions on organismal survival and reproduction and species distributions. I have done previous work in the Atlantic Ocean focused on clams. My current work is investigating the historic and modern species distributions and conservation status of native mussels in Wyoming.
Advisor: Chistopher Weiss-Lehman
Home Department: Botany
My research is centered around evolutionary spatial dynamics. Specifically I am interested in how the process of species shifting their ranges may result in decreased genetic diversity and an increase in genetic load which may affect the persistence of species even after a successful range shift. To study this I am using experimental microcosms of red flour beetles (tribolium castaneum) to examine the genomic consequences of range shifts with the goal of linking these genomics changes to ecologically important population metrics including fitness and adaptive potential.
Advisor: Brent Ewers
Home Department: Botany
I am broadly focused on plant physiology and how to gain insight into the mechanisms of plants' responses. My current research involves modeling sugarbeet growth and determining what measurable physiological processes are linked to the growth rate. I am hoping to further our understanding of mechanisms underlying vegetation responses to a changing environment brought on by climate change. There is a multitude of excellent plant physiological models and I am attempting to reparameterize them to work on many taxa for the benefit of agricultural and ecosystem sciences.
Advisor: Annika Walters
Home Department: Zoology and Physiology
The Program in Ecology and Evolution is administered by a director and office associate, with the assistance and advisement of 46 faculty members and 15 affiliates. The program includes 65 students in 11 departments, and has graduated 79 outstanding alumni.Meredith is interested in understanding the influence of climate change and environmental factors on aquatic communities that occupy high alpine lakes. Meredith aims to describe the relationships between snowpack and ice phenology as they relate to biological limnology, zooplankton community structure, and trout growth and reproduction under the lens of climate change. Meredith utilizes a combination of field collection, laboratory techniques, and remote sensing methods to better understand the seasonal dynamics of this often-understudied ecosystem.
Meredith received her M.S. degree from the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences at the University of Washington in Seattle, WA (2015). Her research focused on the early marine growth and physiology of out-migrating juvenile salmon in the Salish Sea and beyond. After completing her M.S. degree, Meredith accepted a professional appointment as a Research Biologist at the Northwest Fisheries Science Center in Seattle WA (2016-2022). During this time, she worked to understand and model the biological and oceanographic factors influencing salmon growth in the Salish Sea, Columbia River Estuary, and Northern California Current. Beyond research, Meredith enjoys spending her free time in the mountains rock climbing and backcountry skiing. Rest days include crossword puzzles and cuddling with her cat Jasper.
Advisor: John Koprowski
Home Department: Zoology and Physiology
Ajay's research focuses on the impact of major conservation challenges, such as climate change and infrastructure development, on the habits and habitats of tigers in Nepal. He also investigates whether these challenges have led to an increase in human-tiger conflict. Furthermore, his study will explore the interactions between tigers and leopards, as well as how this interaction is contributing to the rising human-carnivore conflict in Nepal.
Advisor: Jacob Goheen
Home Department: Zoology and Physiology
I study abundance-occupancy relationships in a small mammal community of central Kenya savanna. I test the predictions of two influential ecological hypotheses; 1) colonization-extinction rates hypothesis, which predicts restricted, rare species require dispersal from the surrounding region to maintain occupancy, whereas widespread, abundant species do not require such dispersal even though such dispersal will bolster their abundance, 2) resource-use hypothesis, that predicts resource generalism at the species level is the mechanism that leads to the fitness advantages exhibited by common and widespread species.
Advisor: David Williams
Home Department: Ecosystem Science and Management
Emmanuel’s research focuses on exploring the intricate interactions between soil processes, plant growth, and environmental conditions. His work aims to unravel the mechanisms behind ecosystem functioning and resilience, contributing to advancements in soil ecology and sustainable natural resource management. Outside academia, Emmanuel enjoys soccer and meeting new people.
Advisor: Riley Bernard
Home Department: Zoology and Physiology
I study bat population, community composition, health and diet in the southern Black Hills of South Dakota following the detection of white-nose syndrome (WNS) in the region. My research will be used to help the National Park Service make informed management decisions that will aid in the conservation of WNS-sensitive bat species.
Advisor: Lusha Tronstad
Home Department: Zoology and Physiology
Advisor: Lauren Shoemaker
Home Department: Botany
My research is centered around community ecology and how species fluctuate through space and time. I have specific interests in spatiotemporal synchrony and stability in systems experiencing environmental change. Goals for my research include decomposing the roles of environment, species interactions, synchrony and evenness in driving overall ecosystem stability.
Advisor: Matt Carling
Home Department: Zoology and Physiology
I am obsessed with birds in general, and bird behavior and evolution more specifically. During my master's work on a gull colony in Washington I realized how fascinating hybridization is, and that hybridizing species can help us understand the process of speciation. Despite the fact that gulls are really cool, I have switched study systems and am currently conducting a comparative study of reproductive isolation in songbirds. Several pairs of closely related passerine species hybridize quite extensively but other pairs do not hybridize even though they sing similar songs, have similar ecologies, and share geographic ranges. I am hoping to associate patterns of environmental niche divergence, song divergence, and genomic divergence with patterns of hybridization or its converse, complete reproductive isolation. Ideally, I will be able to identify consistent patterns in the evolution of reproductive isolation across North American passerines.
Advisor: Daniel Laughlin
Home Department: Botany
I study how plant form and function influence population and community responses to stress and competition, particularly in grasslands. My dissertation research aims to use functional traits to enhance our understanding of community assembly processes and ultimately improve our ability to predict restoration outcomes. I am also passionate about effective science communication and translating theory into management.
Advisor: Jacob Goheen
Home Department: Zoology and Physiology
Kenyan scientist specializing in ecology and management of infectious disease in wild and domestic carnivores. Working for sustainable coexistence of people and wildlife.
Advisor: Jacob Goheen
Home Department: Zoology and Physiology
Advisor: Topher Weiss-Lehman
Home Department: Zoology and Physiology
Sergio Pérez received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Tolima in Colombia and has since worked as a researcher in many institutions including the Max Planck Institute for Biology in Germany, the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama, and Louisiana State University in the USA. Sergio joined the Weiss-Lehman lab to investigate the role of phenotypic plasticity in spatial dynamics and species responses to global change. He is especially interested in linking theoretical models of plasticity to experimental results from our flour beetle microcosms.
Advisors: Annika Walters and Sarah Collins
Home Department: Zoology and Physiology
Ashleigh studies the ecological impacts of water quality issues ranging from sedimentation in spawning habitat to the environmental drivers of harmful algal blooms and zooplankton dynamics in reservoirs.
PiEE Student Co-President (2023-2024)
Advisor: Katie Wagner
Home Department: Botany
I use genomic data to understand both the evolutionary history and modern ecology of populations. My dissertation involves partnering with state, federal, and non-profit partners to study Wyoming’s native (and imperiled) Yellowstone cutthroat trout across its range. I hope to understand the effects of historic fish stocking, geography, and life history on the diversification of the subspecies and use this information to inform management decisions, stocking practices, and monitoring techniques. On a broader scale, I would like my work to contribute to the growing utilization of genetic data in conservation.
Advisor: Annika Walters
Home Department: Zoology and Physiology
I am a PhD student researching the effects of invasive fish management on water quality in Yellowstone Lake. I have experience working throughout the state of Illinois on fish conservation and water quality projects. In 2022, I received my Master’s degree from Southern Illinois University, where I studied the response of macroinvertebrates to fertilization treatments.
Advisor: Melanie Murphy
Home Department: Ecosystem Science and Management
I am a wildlife biologist with a primary interest in tropical and temperate ecosystems, particularly in wildlife monitoring and conservation. My research interests focus on the direct and indirect effects of human activities—such as illegal trade, wildlife disease, hunting, road development, land-use changes, habitat loss, and fragmentation—on animal reestablishment, distribution, abundance, and behavior. I am committed to generating insights that inform effective wildlife management, conservation strategies, and policy development. For my PhD, I will focus on enhancing the Wyoming toad recovery through disease mitigation.
Advisor: Anna Chalfoun
Home Department: Zoology and Physiology
I am broadly interested in how animals perceive and select resources on the landscape and the extent to which they can adjust behaviors to navigate habitats altered by humans. Currently, I am studying habitat selection-based fitness trade-offs, site fidelity, and full annual cycle spatial use of Loggerhead Shrikes nesting in sagebrush habitats disturbed by energy development. Additionally, I am examining how fine-scale habitat heterogeneity influences inter-annual nest site selection in sagebrush obligate songbirds and how fine-scale habitat elements influence landscape level biodiversity. I am also eager to contribute to the broader wildlife conservation community beyond research. To that end, I have worked with friends and colleagues to develop and run bird banding station to monitor avian migration in Laramie Wyoming that offers internship opportunities to undergraduate students and experiential learning to the public.
Advisor: Kevin Monteith
Home Department: Zoology and Physiology
I’m interested in predator-prey dynamics, nutritional condition and the behavior of large mammals. My dissertation examines mountain lion predation on endangered Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep and mule deer. I am investigating several aspects, including individual variation in prey selection, the effectiveness of escape tactics against ambush predators, partial migration and the influence of nutritional condition on predation rates of prey.
Advisor: Anna Chalfoun
Home Department: Zoology and Physiology
I am interested in the effects of human-induced habitat change on survival and fitness of animals across the full life cycle. Specifically, I am studying survival and fitness during understudied life stages, including the post-fledging and over-wintering stages, in sagebrush-obligate songbirds that breed near energy development.
Advisors: Merav Ben-David and Sarah Benson-Amram
Home Department: Zoology and Physiology
I am broadly interested in cognitive ecology and animal behavior. My research focuses on the morphology, social structure, and cognition of wild raccoons in urban and rural spaces. I am interested in understanding what makes a successful urban species, how these animals learn to navigate these spaces, and how urban and rural environments may shape different cognitive and morphological traits. Here, I am looking to find a more efficient way to evaluate wild raccoon cognition using olfactory stimuli and to determine if urban environments may alter brain and skull morphology in wild raccoon populations across the US.
Advisor: Katie Wagner
Home Department: Botany
Advisor: Lauren Shoemaker
Home Department: Botany
I am a community ecologist studying how species coexistence shifts in the context of climate change. I’m interested in understanding how dispersal and species interactions are altered along a temperature gradient, with implications for predicting biodiversity change. My recent work has focused on uncovering the role of transient species on stable community dynamics. I build on existing ecological frameworks with the aim to bridge theory to applied restoration and management efforts across systems.
Advisor: Melanie Murphy
Home Department: Ecosystem Science and Management
Amphibians are experiencing global population declines and extinctions. As someone who grew up catching frogs and salamanders, my research endeavors are driven by a desire to understand the local and landscape factors influencing amphibian populations. Using the species found in the Rocky Mountains as my study system, my dissertation incorporates landscape genetics to assess amphibian rarity based on their niche breadth and functional connectivity. Additionally, I’m interested in how disease can shape a population’s distribution and ability to disperse.
Advisor: Bryan Shuman
Home Department: Geology and Geophysics
Advisor: David Christianson
Home Department: Ecosystem Science and Management
I am broadly interested in bridging the gaps between intensive boots-on-the-ground field studies, modern computing, and ecological statistics, with particular interest in dynamic integrative data models and their utility for understanding and forecasting ecological responses to environmental change. My dissertation research focuses on the development and extension of Bayesian hierarchical models to answer questions about drivers of population dynamics in species that occur at naturally low densities, including collared pika, moose, and Olive-sided Flycatchers.
PiEE Student Co-President (2020-2021)
Advisor: Michael Dillon
Home Department: Zoology and Physiology
I broadly study queen bumble bee overwintering physiology. I am currently exploring how where a queen bumble bee overwinters influences her survival and energy usage while overwintering, and/or her fitness post-winter. Through a combination of field work, lab work, and empirical modeling approaches, I aim to predict if the changing climate may impact bumble bee abundance and spatial distribution now and in the future.
Student Committee Co-President
Advisor: Michael Dillon
Home Department: Zoology and Physiology
I am a PhD student in Dr. Michael Dillon’s lab and am broadly interested in insect adaptations to living in extreme environments. My current focus is on examining the effects of heat stress on bumblebee workers and its impact on overall colony success. Alongside my research, I am passionate about teaching and outreach. I love inspiring curiosity in learners of all ages, from preschoolers to older adults.
Advisor: Matt Kauffman
Home Department: Zoology and Physiology
I study mule deer migration with a focus on state-dependent resource-risk tradeoffs behavior, the origins and trade offs of spatial fidelity, and migratory adaptability under changing environmental conditions and disturbance. I use the Red Desert to Hoback migration, the 3rd longest terrestrial migration on earth, among others.
Advisors: Tim Collier and Scott Shaw
Home Department: Ecosystem Science and Management
I’m interested in reclamation and restoration science associated with energy development and how different reclamation practices affect the insect community and in turn, higher trophic levels. My research is primarily focused on insects of importance to sage grouse chicks. I’m interested in manipulating the plant species originally used to reclaim the land, to include more forbs and shrubs, to potentially increase the biomass of insect species vital to sage grouse development. I'm also very curious about the effect ants have on a reclaimed community through seed dispersal and predation and possible protection of plants from herbivores.
I am a wildlife biologist with a primary interest in tropical and temperate ecosystems, particularly in wildlife monitoring and conservation. My research interests focus on the direct and indirect effects of human activities—such as illegal trade, wildlife disease, hunting, road development, land-use changes, habitat loss, and fragmentation—on animal reestablishment, distribution, abundance, and behavior. I am committed to generating insights that inform effective wildlife management, conservation strategies, and policy development. For my PhD, I will focus on enhancing the Wyoming toad recovery through disease mitigation.
My interests are population ecology, conservation, and education. At the University of Wyoming, I've completed projects on population genetics and genomics of river otters and hummingbirds. My doctoral work focuses on the phylogenomics of spotted skunk species.
Bolded names indicate students, alumni, and faculty associated with the Program in Ecology & Evolution. Asterisks indicate co-first authors. Publications are listed alphabetically by first author.
Atmeh, K., C. Bonenfant, J-M Gaillard, M. Garel, A.J.M. Hewison, P. Marchand, N. Morellet, P. Anderwald, B. Buuveibaatar, J.L. Beck, et al. 2025. Neonatal antipredator tactics shape female movement patterns in large herbivores. Nature Ecology & Evolution 6:142-152.
Atkins, D.H., Blackburn, R.C., Moore, M.M., Sanchez-Meador, A.E., Laughlin, D.C., (2025) Handheld lidar can accurately quantify aboveground biomass. Ecosphere, in press.
Baldock, J. R., Al‐Chokhachy, R. K., Campbell, M. R., & Walters, A. (2023). Timing of reproduction underlies fitness tradeoffs for a salmonid fish. Oikos, 2023(11), e10184.
Baldock, J. R., Al-Chokhachy, R., Walsworth, T. E., & Walters, A. (2023). Redd superimposition mediates the accuracy, precision, and significance of redd counts for cutthroat trout. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 80(5), 825-839.
Bandyopadhyay, K., and J. L. Beck. 2025. A global review of the conservation status of true quails (Families Odontophoridae and Phasianidae). Wildlife Biology 2025: In press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.22541/au.173640632.26070276/v1
B. Anton, W. Rosenthal. (2025). Pyloric hypertrophy and gastric outflow obstruction in an adult ornate bichir (Polypterus ornatipinnis). Veterinary Record Case Reports.
Buche, L., L. Shoemaker, L. Hallet, I. Bartomeus, P.A. Vesk, C. Weiss-Lehman, M. Mayfield, and O. Godoy. 2025. A continuum from positive to negative interactions drives plant species’ performance in a diverse community. Ecology Letters 28: e70059
Chelak, M. S., M. T. Kohl, J. R. Small, K. T. Smith, A. C. Pratt, J. L. Beck, C. R. Backen, N. B. Flack, H. P. Wayment, J. A. Wood, R. Howell, T. D. Strange, L. R. McDonald, K. R. Manlove, S. N. Frey, R. T. Larsen, B. A. Maxfield, D. K. Dahlgren, T. A. Messmer, and D. C. Stoner. 2025. Refurbishing used GPS transmitters improves performance for subsequent deployments on greater sage-grouse. Wildlife Society Bulletin 49: e1566. https://doi.org/10.1002/wsb.1566
Clancy, N.G., F.J. Rahel, B.K. Peoples, A.W. Walters, J. Lyons, N.E. Mandrak, P.E. Budy, E.A. Frimpong, and W.F. Cross. 2025. On the importance and practical conservation of nongame fishes. Fisheries.
Combrink, L.L., Golcher-Benavides, J., Lewanski, A.L., Rick, J.A., Rosenthal, W.C. and Wagner, C.E. 2025. Population Genomics of Adaptive Radiation. Mol Ecol, 34: e17574. https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.17574
Craig, E.F.*, M. Szojka*, R.M. Germain, and L.G. Shoemaker. 2025. Species occupancy is inflated by sink populations in productive environments but not unproductive environments. Ecology. 106(5): e70089
Davidson, J.L., McKnight, K.R., Szojka, M., Gannon, D., Wisnoski, N.I., Werner, C.M., Liang, M., Seabloom, E.W., Ray, C., DeSiervo, M.H. and Shoemaker, L.G., 2025. Effects of Disturbance and Fertilisation on Plant Community Synchrony, Biodiversity and Stability Through Succession. Ecology letters, 28(4), p.e70052.
Lautenbach, J. D., A. J. Gregory, S. J. Galla, A. C. Pratt, M. A. Schroeder, and J. L. Beck. 2025 Using habitat, morphological, and genetic characteristics to delineate the subspecies of Sharp-tailed Grouse in south-central Wyoming. Ecology and Evolution 15(5):e71429. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.71429
L. Combrink, J. Golcher-Benavides, A. Lewanski, J. Rick, W. Rosenthal, C. Wagner. (2025). Population Genomics of Adaptive Radiation. Molecular Ecology.
Moody, E.K. Anania, K., Boersma, K.S., Butts, T. J., Corman, J.R., Cruz, S., Farrell, W. R., Krist, A.C., Larson, E.I., Lewanksi, A., Liriano, C., Fonseca K.N., Pignatelli, A.J., Poetzl, A., Rugenski, A.T., Stigliztz, C., Villanueva. 2025. Linking Functional Responses and Effects with Stoichiometric Traits. Ecology 106 (4): e70080. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.70080
Pilkerton, A.M., J.S. Alexander, L.S. Patterson, J.C. Burckhardt, F.J. Rahel, A.W. Walters. 2025. Linking Suspended Sediment Conditions to Hyporheic Dissolved Oxygen and Fine Sediment Deposition in Salmonid Spawning Habitat Below an Irrigation Dam, Park County, Wyoming. River Research and Applications. In Press. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/rra.4412
Pilkerton, A., S. McCullough, L.S. Patterson, F.J. Rahel, and A.W. Walters. 2025. Suspended sediment and fisheries: an exploration of empirical relationships. North American Journal of Fisheries Management. In press.
Pilkerton, A.M.*, J.S. Alexander, L.S. Patterson, J.C. Burckhardt, F.J. Rahel, and A.W. Walters. 2025. Linking Suspended Sediment Conditions to Hyporheic Dissolved Oxygen and Fine Sediment Deposition in Salmonid Spawning Habitat Below an Irrigation Dam, Park County, Wyoming. River Research and Applications. https://doi.org/10.1002/rra.4412
Slimon, K., M. Szojka and R.M. Germain. 2025. Environmental variability and the evolution of dispersal and dormancy. Ecology. 106(2):e70042.
Stears, A.E., Heidel, B., Paniw, M., Salguero-Gómez, R., and Laughlin, D.C. 2025. Negative density dependence promotes persistence of a globally rare yet locally abundant plant species Oenothera coloradensis. Oikos 2025: e10673. https://doi.org/10.1111/oik.10673
Tarwater, C.E., J.D. Brawn, L. Gomez-Murillo#, C. Batista Mojica, I. Gallo Izquierdo, I. Ochoa, and R.C. Wilcox. 2025. Variation in movements before and after departure from natal territories in a family living bird. Behavioral Ecology
Wilcox, R.C. and C.E. Tarwater. 2025. Foraging and social behavior in a novel assemblage of birds on Oahu, Hawaii. The Wilson Journal of Ornithology, 1-20
Ayayee, P.A., G.F. Custer, L. Tronstad, and L.T.A van Diepen, 2024. Unveiling salinity-driven shifts in microbial community composition across compartments of naturally saline inland streams. Hydrobiologia 851:2627–2639. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-024-05479-5
Barrus, N.T., B.M. Maitland, and F.J. Rahel. 2024. Assessing a standardized method to identify optimal baselines for trophic position estimation in stable isotope studies of stream ecosystems. Hydrobiologia 851:4673-4691. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-024-05618-y
Beck, J. L., M. C. Milligan, K. T. Smith, P. A. Street, A. C. Pratt, C. P. Kirol, C. P. Wanner, J. D. Hennig, J. B. Dinkins, J. D. Scasta, and P. S. Coates. 2024. Free-roaming horses exceeding appropriate management levels affect multiple vital rates in greater sage-grouse. Journal of Wildlife Management 88:e2269.
Benning, J.W., E.I. Clark, R.A. Hufbauer, and C. Weiss-Lehman. 2024. Environmental gradients mediate dispersal evolution during biological invasions. Ecology Letters 27:e14472.
Brose, C. (2024). Twelve Pounds of Duct Tape and No Manual: Shifting Mindsets Around Disability in Botany. Plant Science Bulletin 70(3):283-285.
Butrim, M.J., Lowe, A.J. and Currano, E.D., 2024. Leaf mass per area: An investigation into the application of the ubiquitous functional trait from a paleobotanical perspective. American Journal of Botany, 111(10), p.e16419.
Carlisle JD, Smith KT, Beck JL, Murphy MA, Chalfoun AD (2024) Beyond overlap: considering habitat preference and fitness outcomes in the umbrella species concept. Animal Conservation. 27:212-225.DOI: 10.1111/acv.12899
Case. S.B, K. Kawelo, J. Hoh, D. O’hearn, J.H. Sperry, J.T. Foster, D.R. Drake, J. Vizentin-Bugoni, J.P. Kelley, and C.E. Tarwater. 2024. Effects of fruit novelty on feeding preference in four globally invasive frugivorous birds. Biological Invasions 26: 4179-4198. (https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-024-03436-w)
Clancy, N.G.*, J.A. McFarland, M.G. Ahern, A.W. Walters. 2024. Functional turnover and fish-community trends over 130 years in a prairie watershed. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 153(5):525-540. doi.org/10.1002/tafs.10479 Selected as featured paper.
Coulter, A. A., M. J. Moore, J. Golcher-Benavides, F.J. Rahel, A.W. Walters., S. K. Brewer, and M. L. Wildhaber. 2024. A synthesis of the characteristics and drivers of introduced fishes in prairie streams: can we manage introduced harmful fishes in these dynamic environments? Invasion Biology 26:4011-4033. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-024-03450-y
Custer, G.F., B. Mealor, B. Fowers, and L.T.A. van Diepen, 2024. Soil microbiome analysis supports claims of ineffectiveness of Pseudomonas fluorescens D7 as a biocontrol agent of Bromus tectorum. Microbiology Spectrum 12:1. https://doi.org/10.1128/spectrum.01771-23
Dougherty, P.J., Carling, M.D., Go west, young bunting: recent climate change drives rapid movement of a Great Plains hybrid zone, Evolution, Volume 78, Issue 11, 1 November 2024, Pages 1774–1789, https://doi.org/10.1093/evolut/qpae118
Jimoh, S. O., D. H. Atkins*, H. E. Mount*, and D. C. Laughlin. 2024. Traits associated with the conservation gradient are the strongest predictors of early-stage fine root decomposition rates. Journal of Ecology 112:2828-2842. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.14423
Lowman, H.E., M. DeSiervo, R.O. Hall Jr., J.P. Jahner, S.O. Jimoh, D.C. Laughlin, A.C. Patterson, C. Weiss-Lehman, C.C. Barbosa, J.R. Blaszczak, C.A. Buerkle, A.M. Carter, S.M. Collins, V. DeLeo, M. Dunkle, D. Gannon, E.M. Grames, J.G. Harrison, S.E. McFarlane, I. Olesky, B.F. Powers, C. Ray, A. Stears, B. Summers, C.L. Torrens, M. Trentman, C.M. Werner, and L. Shoemaker. 2024. Collaborative consortia can boost postdoctoral workforce development. PNAS 121(28) e2401812121
Lujan, E., Nielsen R., Short Z., Wicks S., Watetu W.N., Khasoha L.M., Goheen J.R., & Alston J.M. Symbiotic acacia-ants drive nesting behavior by birds in an African savanna. Biotropica, 55, 1101–1105.
Magruder, A.C.*, G.M. Barrile, S. Siddons, J. Walrath, and A.W. Walters. 2024. Seasonal movements between mainstem and tributaries may facilitate the persistence of Roundtail Chub and Flannelmouth Sucker within an altered stream system. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 153(5): 644-659. doi.org/10.1002/tafs.10489
Merkle, J.A., M.P. Poulin, M.R. Caldwell, M.P. Laforge, A.E. Scholle, T.L. Verzuh, and C. Geremia. 2024. Spatial-social familiarity complements the spatial-social interface: evidence from Yellowstone bison. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 379(1912): 20220530.
Price, A.N., M.A. Zimmer, A.J. Bergstrom, A.J. Burgin, E.C. Seybold, C.A. Krabbenhoft, S. Zipper, M.H. Busch, W.K. Dodds, T. Datry, A.W. Walters, J.S. Rogosch, R. Stubbington, R.H. Walker, J.C. Stegen, K.E. Kaiser, M.L. Messager, J.D. Olden, S. Godsey, D.A. Lytle, G.H. Allen, M.C. Mims, J.D. Tonkin, M. Bogan, R.M. Burrows, J. Hammond, K.S. Boersma, A.G. DelVecchia, D.C. Allen, S. Yu, A. Ward, 2024. Biogeochemical and community ecology responses to the wetting of non-perennial streams. Nature Water 2: 815-826. doi.org/10.1038/s44221-024-00298-3.
Rick, J.A., C.D. Brock, A.L. Lewanski, J. Golcher Benavides, C.E. Wagner. 2024. Reference genome choice and filtering thresholds jointly influence phylogenomic analyses. Systematic Biology 73(1):76–101. https://doi.org/10.1093/sysbio/syad065
Rosenthal, W.C., E.G. Mandeville*, A.M. Pilkerton*, P.C. Gerrity, J.A. Skorupski, A.W. Walters, and C. E. Wagner. 2024. Influence on sauger population structure and hybridization with introduced walleye. Ecology and Evolution 14(7): e11706 https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.11706
Sadler, I.G., Tronstad, L.M., Fisher, C., Hall Jr, R.O. and Koel, T.M., 2024. Yellowstone Wildfires Increased Stream Ion Concentrations and Export. Nitrogen, 5(4), pp.1181-1195.
Smith, K. T., A. C. Pratt, J. D. Lautenbach, H. M. North, and J. L. Beck. 2024. Survival of juvenile greater sage-grouse in Wyoming. Wildlife Biology: e01199.
Szojka, M. and R.M. Germain. 2024. Dispersal across habitat boundaries: revealing the demographic fates of failed dispersers in patchy landscapes. Ecosphere. 15(3): e4814
Tittes, S.B., C. Weiss-Lehman, N.C. Kane, R.A. Hufbauer, N.C. Emery, and B.A. Melbourne. 2024. Evolution is more repeatable in the introduction versus range expansion phase of colonization. Evolution Letters 8: 351-360.
Verzuh, T.L., K. Heuer, and J.A. Merkle. 2024. Leveraging how animals learn in conservation science: an evaluation of management techniques on movement, group dynamics, and habitat use. Conservation Science and Practice 6(11): e13240.
Von Eggers, J.M., Wisnoski, N.I., Calder, J.W., Capo, E., Groff, D.V., Krist, A.C., Shuman, B. (2024). Environmental filtering governs consistent vertical zonation in sedimentary microbial communities across disconnected mountain lakes. Environmental Microbiology. 26(3), e16607. https://doi.org/10.1111/1462-2920.16607
Walters, A.W., N.G. Clancy*, T.P. Archdeacon, S. Yu, J.S. Rogosch, and E.A. Rieger*. 2024. Refuge identification as a climate adaptation strategy to promote fish persistence during drought. Fish and Fisheries 25(6): 997-1008 doi/10.1111/faf.12860 Selected as Ghoti paper.
Wilcox, R.C., T.J. Benson, J.D. Brawn, and C.E. Tarwater. 2024. Observed declines in body size have differential effects on survival and recruitment, but no effect on population growth in tropical birds. Global Change Biology 30: e17455. (https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.17455)
Wolf, J.M., N.G. Clancy, and L.R. Rosenthal. 2024. Bull Trout passage at beaver dams in two Montana streams. Northwest Science
Baldock, J.R.*, R. Al-Chokhachy, M.R. Campbell, and A.W. Walters. 2023. Timing of reproduction underlies fitness trade-offs for a salmonid fish. Oikos e10184 https://doi.org/10.1111/oik.10184
Baldock, J.R.*, R. Al-Chokhachy, T.E. Walsworth, and A. Walters. 2023 Redd superimposition mediates the accuracy, precision, and significance of redd counts for cutthroat trout. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 80(5): 825-839. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjfas-2022-0267
Bandyopadhyay, K., B. Cristescu, J. L. Beck, J. L. Koprowski, and L. Marker. 2023. Status and density of threatened Kori bustard Ardeotis kori in a woodland savanna. Ostrich: Journal of African Ornithology 94:124–128.
Brown, B.R.P.U., Goheen, J.R., Newsome S.D., Pringle R.M., Palmer T.D., Khasoha, L.M., & Kartzinel T.R. Host phylogeny and functional traits differentiate gut microbiomes in a diverse natural assemblage of small mammals. Molecular Ecology, 32(9), 2320-2334.
Buchanan, C. B., S. S. Wulff, S. E. Albeke, and J. L. Beck. 2023. Elk shift resource selection temporally in response to natural gas development. Rangeland Ecology and Management 90:35–44.
Case, S.B. and C.E. Tarwater. 2023. Exploitation competition between seed predators and dispersers introduced to Hawaiian forests. Ecology e4038.(https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.4038)
Combrink, L.L., W.C. Rosenthal, L.J. Boyle, J.A. Rick, A.C. Krist, A.W. Walters, and C.E. Wagner. 2023. Parallel shifts in trout feeding morphology suggest rapid adaptation to alpine lake environments. Evolution 77(7): 1522-1538. https://doi.org/10.1093/evolut/qpad059
Custer, G.F., M.R. Gans, L.T.A. van Diepen, F. Dini-Andreote, and A. Buerkle, 2023. Comparative analysis of core microbiome assignments: implications for ecological synthesis. Msystems Vol.8 No.1 e01066-22. https://doi.org/10.1128/msystems.01066-22
Datry, T., A. Truchy, J.D. Olden, M.H. Busch, R. Stubbington, W.K. Dodds, S. Zipper, S. Yu, M.L. Messager, J. Tonkin, K. Kaiser, J. Hammond, E.K. Moody, R.M. Burrows, R. Sarremejane, A. DelVecchia, M.L. Fork, C.J. Little, R.H. Walker, A.W. Walters, D. Allen. 2023. Causes, responses, and implications of anthropogenic versus natural flow intermittence in river networks. BioScience 73(1): 9-22.
Duchardt, C. J., D. J. Augustine, L. M. Porensky, J. L. Beck, J. D. Hennig, D. W. Pellatz, J. D. Scasta, L. C. Connell, and A. D. Davidson. 2023. Disease and weather induce rapid shifts in a rangeland ecosystem mediated by a keystone species (Cynomys ludovicianus). Ecological Applications 33:e271232
Fennell, J.M.*, W.C. Rosenthal, C.E. Wagner, J.C. Burckhardt, and A.W. Walters. 2023. Temporal segregation in spawning between native Yellowstone cutthroat trout and introduced rainbow trout. Ecology of Freshwater Fish 32(1): 94-106. http://doi.org/10.1111/eff.12672
Hallet, L.M., L. Aoyama, G. Barabás, B. Gilbert, L. Larios, N. Shackelford, C.M. Werner‡, O. Godoy, E.R. Ladouceur, J.E. Lucero, C. Weiss-Lehman, J.M. Chase, C. Chu, W.S. Harpole, M.M. Mayfield, A.M. Faist, and L. Shoemaker. 2023. Restoration ecology through the lens of coexistence theory. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 38: 1085-1096.
Kirk, M. A. and F. J. Rahel. 2023. Assessing climate-induced range shifts of stream fishes using a consensus framework. Ecology of Freshwater Fish 32:270-281. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/eff.12684
Larson, M.D., Greenwood, D., Flanigan, K. and Krist, A.C., 2023. Field surveys reveal physicochemical conditions promoting occurrence and high abundance of an invasive freshwater snail (Potamopyrgus antipodarum). Aquatic Invasions, 18(1), pp.83-102. https://doi.org/10.3391/ ai.2023.18.1.103389
LaSharr, Tayler N., Samantha PH Dwinnell, Brittany L. Wagler, Hall Sawyer, Rhiannon P. Jakopak, Anna C. Ortega, Luke R. Wilde et al. "Evaluating risks associated with capture and handling of mule deer for individual‐based, long‐term research." The Journal of Wildlife Management 87, no. 1 (2023): e22333.
L. Combrink, W. Rosenthal, L. Boyle, J. Rick, E. Mandeville, A. Krist, A. Walters, C. Wagner. (2023). Parallel shifts in trout feeding morphology suggest rapid adaptation to alpine lake environments. Evolution.
Lujan, E., Nielsen R., Short Z., Wicks S., Watetu W.N., Khasoha L.M., Goheen J.R., & Alston J.M. Symbiotic acacia-ants drive nesting behavior by birds in an African savanna. Biotropica, 55, 1101–1105.
Maitland, B.M. and Rahel, F.J. 2023. Aquatic food web expansion and trophic redundancy in streams along the Rocky Mountain-Great Plains ecotone. Ecology 104(7) e4103. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.4103
Messager, M.L., J.D. Olden, J. Tonkin, R. Stubbington, J.S. Rogosch, M.H. Busch, C.J. Little, A.W. Walters, C.L. Atkinson, M. Shanafield, S. Yu, K. Boersma, D. Lytle, R.H. Walker, R.M. Burrows, T. Datry. 2023. A metasystem approach to designing environmental flows. Bioscience 73(9): 643-662 https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biad067
Merkle, Jerod A., Blake Lowrey, Cody F. Wallace, L. Embere Hall, Luke Wilde, Matthew J. Kauffman, and Hall Sawyer. "Conserving habitat for migratory ungulates: How wide is a migration corridor?." Journal of Applied Ecology 60, no. 9 (2023): 1763-1770.
Milligan, M. C., A. N. Johnston, J. L. Beck, K. L. Taylor, E. Hall, L. Knox, T. Cufaude, C. Wallace, G. Chong, and M. J. Kauffman. 2023. Wind-energy development alters pronghorn migration at multiple scales. Ecology and Evolution 13:e9687.
Moerman, F., N. Lustenhouwer, F. Altermatt, R. Bassar, G. Bocedi, D. Bonte, S. Dey, E. Fronhofer, E. Garcez de Rocha, A. Giometto, L. Lancaster, R. Prather Jr., M. Saastamoinen, J.M. Travis, C. Urquhart, C. Weiss-Lehman, J. Williams, L. Börger, and D. Berger. 2023. Experimental evolution of dispersal: unifying theory, experiments and natural systems. Journal of Animal Ecology 92: 1113-1123.
Newkirk, B.M.*, E.R. Larson, A.D. Walker, and A.W. Walters. 2023. Winners and losers over a half century of change in crayfish communities of Wyoming, U.S.A. Freshwater Science 42(2): 146-160. https://doi.org/10.1086/725318
Picardi, S., B. Abrahms, E.R. Gelzer, T.A. Morrison, T.L. Verzuh, J.A. Merkle. 2023. Defining null expectations for animal site fidelity. Ecology Letters 26(1): 157-169.
Roulson, L., N. Clancy, A. Price, C. Hanson, Z. Hooley-Underwood, S. Rousseau, and C. Walser. 2023. Nonpermanent streams: some insights from the AFS Western Division. Fisheries 48: 365-366.
Ruthven, J.S.*, and A.W. Walters. 2023. Invasive Brook Stickleback Culaea inconstans has limited effects on the trophic ecology of native fishes in Wyoming, USA. Food Webs 35 e00275. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fooweb.2023.e00275
Ruthven, J.S.*, and J. Leonard, and A.W. Walters. 2023. Assessment of invasive Brook Stickleback Culaea inconstans occupancy, habitat drivers, and overlap with native fishes in the North Platte River drainage, Wyoming. Hydrobiologia 850: 3595–3610 doi.org/10.1007/s10750-023-05262-y
Smith, K.T., J. R. LeVan, A. D. Chalfoun, T. J. Christiansen, S. R. Harter, S. Oberlie, and J. L. Beck. 2023. Response of greater sage-grouse to sagebrush reduction treatments in Wyoming big sagebrush. Wildlife Monographs 212:e1075
Wells, H.B., Crego, R.D., Alston, J.M., Ndung’u, S.K., Khasoha, L.M., Reed, C.G., … & Young, T.P. Wild herbivores enhance resistance to invasion by exotic cacti in an African savanna. Journal of Ecology, 111(1), 33-44.
White, S. A., & Dillon, M. E. (2023). Climate warming and bumble bee declines: The need to consider sub-lethal heat, carry-over effects, and colony compensation. Frontiers in Physiology, 14. https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/physiology/articles/10.3389/fphys.2023.1251235
Alford, S.A.* and A.W. Walters. 2022. Rapid post-disturbance colonization contributes to native fish resilience. Ecology of Freshwater Fish 31(2): 347-357. http://doi.org/10.1111/eff.12634
Alston, J. M., Reed, C. G., Khasoha, L. M., Brown, B. R., Busienei, G., Carlson, N., ... & Goheen, J. R. (2022). Ecological consequences of large herbivore exclusion in an African savanna: 12 years of data from the UHURU experiment. Ecology, 103(4), e3649.
Barrile, G. M.*, Chalfoun, A. D, Estes-Zumpf, W., and Walters, A. W. 2022. Wildfire influences individual growth and breeding dispersal, but not survival and recruitment in a montane amphibian. Ecosphere, 13(8), e4212. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.4212
Barrile, G. M.*, Walters, A. W., and Chalfoun, A. D. 2022. Stage-specific environmental correlates of reproductive success in Boreal Toads (Anaxyrus boreas boreas). Journal of Herpetology, 56(1), 34–44. https://doi.org/10.1670/21-023
Benning, J., R.A. Hufbauer, and C. Weiss-Lehman. 2022. Increasing temporal variance leads to stable species range limits. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 289: 202202202.
Booher, E.* and A.W. Walters. 2022. Identifying translocation sites for a climate relict population of Finescale Dace (Chrosomus neogaeus). Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 151(2): 245-259 10.1002/tafs.10348.
Bowler, C.H., L.G. Shoemaker, C. Weiss-Lehman, I. Towers, and M.M. Mayfield. 2022. Positive effects of exotic species dampened by neighborhood heterogeneity. Ecology e3779.
Bowler, C.H., C. Weiss-Lehman, I. Towers, M.M. Mayfield, and L.G. Shoemaker. 2022. Accounting for demographic uncertainty increases predictions for species coexistence: a case study with annual plants. Ecology Letters 25: 1618-1628.
Butrim, M.J., Royer, D.L., Miller, I.M., Dechesne, M., Neu-Yagle, N., Lyson, T.R., Johnson, K.R. and Barclay, R.S., 2022. No consistent shift in leaf dry mass per area across the Cretaceous—Paleogene boundary. Frontiers in Plant Science, 13, p.894690.
Case, S.B., K. Postelli, D.R. Drake, J. Vizentin-Bugoni, J.T. Foster, J.H. Sperry, J.P. Kelley, and C.E. Tarwater. 2022. Introduced galliforms as seed predators and dispersers in Hawaiian forests. Biological Invasions 1-15 (doi.org/10.1007/s10530-022-02830-6).
Clancy, N.G., J.L. Dunnigan, and P.E. Budy. 2022. Relationship of trout growth to frequent electrofishing and diet collection in a headwater stream. North American Journal of Fisheries Management.
Collins, C.G., S.C. Elmendorf, J.G. Smith, L. Shoemaker, M. Szojka, M. Swift, and K.N. Suding. 2022. Global change re-structures alpine plant communities through interacting abiotic and biotic effects. Ecology Letters. 25(8):1813-1826.
Freeman, M.C., K.R. Bestgen, D. Carlisle, E.A. Frimpong, N.R. Franssen, K.B. Gido, E. Irwin, Y. Kanno, C. Luce, A.K. McKay, M.C. Mims, J.D. Olden, N. L. Poff, D.L. Propst, L. Rack. A.H. Roy, E.S. Stowe, A.W. Walters, and S.J., Wenger. 2022. Towards improved understanding of streamflow effects on freshwater fisheries. Fisheries 47(7): 290-298. https://doi.org/10.1002/fsh.10731
Gabrielsen CG, Murphy MA, Evans JS (2022) Testing the effect of wetland spatiotemporal variability on amphibian occurrence across scales. Landscape Ecology. 37:477-492.
Gelzer, E.R., M.P. Laforge, J.A. Becker, N.P. Hough, M.S. Lambert, M-P. Poulin, R. Thomas-Kuzilik, T.L. Verzuh, and J.A. Merkle. 2022. Getting cited early: influence of visibility strategies, structure, and focal system on early citation rates. Journal of Wildlife Management 86(4): e22214.
Higgins, T.A., R.C. Wilcox, R.R. Germain, and C.E. Tarwater. 2022. Behavioral traits vary with intrinsic factors and impact reproduction in song sparrows. Wilson Journal of Ornithology 134 (2):278-290
J.A. Rick, J. Junker, I.A. Kimirei, E.A. Sweke, J.B. Mosille, C. Dinkel, S. Mwaiko, O. Seehausen, C.E. Wagner. 2022. The genetic population structure of Lake Tanganyika’s Lates species flock, an endemic radiation of top predators. Journal of Heredity 113(2): 145-159.
J.M. Fennell, W.C. Rosenthal, C.E. Wagner, J.C. Burckhardt, A.W. Walters. 2022. Temporal segregation in spawning between native Yellowstone cutthroat trout and introduced rainbow trout. Ecology of Freshwater Fish, 32, 94–106.
Kirk, M.A., B.M Maitland, B.T. Hickerson, A.W. Walters, and F.J. Rahel. 2022. Climatic drivers and ecological impacts of a rapid range expansion by non-native smallmouth bass. Biological Invasions: 24:1311–1326. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10530-021-02724-z
Kirk, M. A. and F. J. Rahel. 2022. Climate disequilibrium of fish at cold-edge distribution limits along altitudinal and latitudinal gradients: implications for climate tracking. Journal of Biogeography. 49(12):2145-2155. https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.14479
Kirk, M.A., F.J. Rahel and D.C. Laughlin. 2022. Environmental filters of freshwater fish community assembly along elevation and latitudinal gradients. Global Ecology and Biogeography: 31:470–485. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/geb.13439
Kirk, M. A. and F. J. Rahel. 2022. Air temperatures overpredict changes to stream fish assemblages with climate warming compared to water temperatures. Ecological Applications: 32(1) e02465. https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.2465.
Lautenbach, J. D., J. A. Stephenson, and J. L. Beck. 2022. Predicting Columbian sharp-tailed grouse lek occurrence in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming. Western North American Naturalist 82:409–416.
Lewanski, A.L, J. Golcher Benavides, J.A. Rick, C.E. Wagner. 2022. Variable hybridization
between two Lake Tanganyikan cichlid species in recent secondary contact. Molecular
Ecology 31(16):5041–5059.
Lynch, A.J., F. J. Rahel (joint lead authors), D. Limpinsel, S. A. Sethi, A. C. Engman,
D. J. Lawrence, K. E. Mills, W. Morrison, J. O. Peterson, and M. T. Porath. 2022.
Ecological and social RAD strategies for managing fisheries in transforming aquatic
ecosystems. Fisheries Management and Ecology 29:329-345. http://doi.org/10.1111/fme.12545
Lynch, A. J., L. M. Thompson, J. M. Morton, E. A. Beever, M. Clifford, D. Limpinsel,
R. T. Magill, D. R. Magness, T. A. Melvin, R. A. Newman, M. T. Porath, F. J. Rahel,
J. H. Reynolds, G. W. Schuurman, S. A. Sethi, J. L. Wilkening. 2022. RAD adaptive
management for transforming ecosystems. BioScience: 72(1):45-56. https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biab091
M.A. Kirk, B.M. Maitland, B.T. Hickerson*, A.W. Walters, and F.J. Rahel. 2022. Climatic
drivers and ecological impacts of a rapid range expansion by non-native smallmouth
bass in a Wyoming river. Biological Invasions 24: 1311-1326. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-021-02724-z
Minor, N.R., Dougherty, P.J., Taylor, Scott, T.A., Carling, M.D., Estimating hybridization in the wild using citizen science data: A path forward, Evolution, Volume 76, Issue 2, 1 February 2022, Pages 362–372, https://doi.org/10.1111/evo.14392
Rahel, F.J. and A.J. Lynch. 2022. Managing fisheries within a RAD framework: concepts and applications. Invited front piece for special issue of Fisheries Management and Ecology. 29:323-328. https://doi.org/10.1111/fme.12578
Rahel, F.J. 2022. Approaches for managing freshwater fish in a changing climate: resist, accept or direct. Fisheries 47(6):245-255. https://doi.org/10.1002/fsh.10726
Rosenthal, W.R., J.M. Fennell*, E.G. Mandeville, J.C. Burckhardt, A.W. Walters, and C.E. Wagner. 2022. Effects of reproductive fitness in a hybridizing trout population. Molecular Ecology 31(16): 4224-4241. http://doi.org/10.1111/mec.16578
Vizentin-Bugoni, J., J.H. Sperry, J.P. Kelley, J.T. Foster, D.R. Drake, S.B. Case, J.M. Gleditsch, A.M. Hruska, R.C. Wilcox, and C.E. Tarwater. 2022. Mechanisms underlying interaction frequencies and robustness in a novel seed dispersal network. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B 1982: 20221490.
Weiss-Lehman, C., C.M. Werner, C.H. Bowler†, L.M. Hallet, M.M. Mayfield, O. Godoy, L. Aoyama, G. Barabás, C. Chu, E. Ladouceur, L. Larios, and L.G. Shoemaker. 2022. Disentangling key species interactions in diverse and heterogeneous communities: a Bayesian sparse modeling approach. Ecology Letters 25:1263-1276.
Weiss-Lehman, C. and A.K. Shaw. 2022. Understanding the drivers of dispersal evolution in range expansions and their ecological consequences. Evolutionary Ecology 36:181-197.
Wenger, S.J., E.S. Stowe, K.B. Gido, M.C. Freeman, Y. Kanno, N.R. Franssen, J.D. Olden, N.L. Poff, A.W. Walters, P.M. Bumpers, M.C. Mims, M.B. Hooten, and L. Lu. 2022. Simple statistical models can be useful for testing hypotheses with population time series data. Ecology and Evolution 12(9): e9339 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.9339
Wilcox, R.C. and C.E. Tarwater. 2022. Space use patterns and the extent of complementarity across scales in invasive seed dispersers. Biological Invasions, 1-18 (doi.org/10.1007/s10530-022-02786-7).
Wilde, Luke R., Rose J. Swift, and Nathan R. Senner. "Behavioural adjustments in the social associations of a precocial shorebird mediate the costs and benefits of grouping decisions." Journal of Animal Ecology 91, no. 4 (2022): 870-882.
Alston, J.M.*, and J.A. Rick*. 2021. A beginner’s guide to conducting reproducible research. Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America. https://doi.org/10.1002/bes2.1801
Barrett, L.P., and Benson-Amram, S. 2021. Multiple assessments of personality and problem-solving performance in captive Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) and African savanna elephants (Loxodonta africana). Journal of Comparative Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1037/com0000281
Barrile, G.M., A.D. Chalfoun, & A.W. Walters. 2021. Infection status as the basis for habitat choices in a wild amphibian. The American Naturalist. https://doi.org/10.1086/711927
Barrile, G. M., Walters, A.W., Webster, M., Chalfoun, A.D. 2021. Informed breeding dispersal following stochastic changes to patch quality in a pond-breeding amphibian. Journal of Animal Ecology. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.13503
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LaCava, M.E.F., R.B. Gagne, K.D. Gustafson, S.J. Oyler-McCance, K.L. Monteith, H. Sawyer, M.J. Kauffman, D.J. Thiele, H.B. Ernest. 2021. Functional connectivity in a continuously distributed, migratory species as revealed by landscape genomics. Ecography. https://doi.org/10.1111/ecog.05600
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LaCava, M.E.F., R.B. Gagne, S.M. Love Stowell, K.D. Gustafson, C.A. Buerkle, L. Knox, H.B. Ernest. 2020. Pronghorn population genomics show connectivity at the core of their range. Journal of Mammalogy. https://doi.org/10.1093/jmammal/gyaa054
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2025 | Jeff Baldock
2024 | Tayler LaSharr
2023 | Gabe Barrile
2021 | Cody Porter
2020 | Ellen Aikens
Program in Ecology and Evolution | Interdisciplinary Program
Dr. Melanie Murphy
Director, Program in Ecology and Evolution
Debbie Swierczek
Program Coordinator
School of Graduate Education
Knight Hall 247
Phone: (307) 766-4128
Email: ecology@uwyo.edu