RMRS Science Application & Integration - USDA Forest Service Research
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Research Development & Application

 

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Rocky Mountain Research Station

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Science Application & Integration


 

 

Biology

The study of living organisms - from the smallest bacteria to the largest mammal - constitutes biology. Traditionally, the specialized disciplines of biology are grouped by the type of organism being studied: botany, the study of plants; zoology, the study of animals; and microbiology, the study of microorganisms. These fields are further divided based on the scale at which organisms are studied and the methods used to study them: biochemistry examines the fundamental chemistry of life, molecular biology studies the complex interactions of systems of biological molecules, cellular biology examines the basic building block of all life, the cell; physiology examines the physical and chemical functions of the tissues and organ systems of an organism; and ecology examines how various organisms interrelate with their environment.

 

Adult Bull Trout - Photo by Jason Dunham Mexican Spotted Owl - Courtesy USFS Brightly Colored Bird - Photo by David Herr Bald Eagle - Photo Courtesy Anan Interpretive Staff

 

All Scientists
Scientist Research Interests

Dan Isaak
Fisheries Biologist

See Also: Atmospheric Science, Ecology, Fire/Fuel, Fisheries, Geomorphology, and Stream-Riparian Environments

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Boise Aquatic Sciences Lab

Interests:

  • Biology

  • Climate change

  • Bull trout monitoring

  • Fire

  • Brook trout

  • Native salmonids

  • Cutthroat trout

  • Chinook salmon

  • LiDAR, stream temperature and geomorphology/climate

Geographical Areas: Central Idaho streams, Interior Columbia River Basin, Snake River.

 

Hugo Magana
Research Fisheries Biologist

See Also: Ecology, Fisheries

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Albuquerque Forestry Sciences Lab

Interests:

  • Fish biology

  • Aquatic ecology

  • Aquatic trophic interactions

  • Feeding behavior of Hybognathus amarus

  • Aquatic habitat response to flooding

  • Primary productivity

  • Diatom culturing

Geographical Areas: Western Gulf of Mexico.

 

Elaine Sutherland
Supervisory Research Biologist

See Also: Atmospheric Science, Ecology, and Fire/Fuel

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Missoula Forestry Sciences Lab: Ecology and Management

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Interests:

  • Fire Ecology/Dendrochronology

  • Software tool development, and applied dendrochronology

  • Using tree-ring analysis and other research tools to understand disturbance processes (particularly fire)

  • Landscape pattern, and relationships to climate

  • Using tree-ring analysis to understand how disturbance processes affects tree biology

  • Synthesizing existing scientific information for scientists and managers

  • Relationship between disturbance and forest community dynamics

  • Application of prescribed burn

Geographical Areas: SW Ponderosa Pine forest; Central Rockies Mixed Conifer; Northern Rockies Sub alpine; Eastern Hardwood forests.

 

 

Other Biologists & Collaborative Scientists
Scientist Research Interests

Deborah Finch
Supervisory Research Wildlife Biologist

See Also: Fire/Fuel, Stream-Riparian Environments, Wildlife Biology

 

 

 

 

 

 

Albuquerque Forestry Sciences Lab

Interests:

Geographical Areas: Northern Great Plains; Southwestern Ponderosa pine forests; Middle Rio Grande Basin; North-central Michoacan Mexico; Gila River NM; American Southwest; Bosque Middle Rio Grande.

 

Curtis Flather
Research Wildlife Biologist

See Also: Wildlife Biology

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fort Collins Forestry Sciences Lab: Natural Resources Center

Interests:

  • Modeling wildlife population and community response to landscape patterns

  • Theoretical and empirical examination of species persistence thresholds in heterogeneous landscapes

  • Applying mathematical programming techniques to spatial ecology problems

  • Assessing the impacts of error in cartographic-based biodiversity assessments

  • Documenting trends in critical wildlife resources for land use policy

Geographical Areas: California; Mediterranean Basin; Southern Rocky Mountains of New Mexico.

 

Joseph Ganey
Research Wildlife Biologist

See Also: Wildlife Biology

 

 

 

 

 

SW Forest Science Lab, Flagstaff

Interests:

  • Effects of fuels-reduction treatments on Mexican spotted owls in the Sacramento Mountains, New Mexico

  • Monitoring dynamics of snag and log populations in southwestern mixed-conifer and ponderosa pine forests

  • Contributing to informed resource management decisions and increased scientific understanding of natural resource issues

Geographical Areas: Sacramento Mountains, New Mexico; Southwestern mixed-Conifer and Ponderosa Pine Forests; Pine Oak Forests of Northern Arizona; Southeastern Arizona; Rio Penasco Watershed.

 

Teryl Grubb
Research Wildlife Biologist

See Also: Wildlife Biology

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SW Forest Science Lab, Flagstaff

 

Interests:

  • Two-year cooperative research (NFS, Clemson University, U.S. Army CERL) into potential effects of heli-skiing on golden eagles in the Wasatch Mountains, Utah

  • Effects of off-highway vehicle and other recreational noise on Mexican spotted owls and other raptors

  • Long-term study of population dynamics/habitat requirements of bald eagles wintering in northern Arizona

  • Long-term cooperative research (Clemson University, Michigan State University, Voyageurs National Park, and R-9 National Forests) into using bald eagles as a bio-indicator of Great Lakes ecosystem health

Geographical Areas: Northern Arizona; California; Great Lakes Basin; Wasatch Mountains, Utah; Kaibab Plateau, Arizona; Lincoln National Forest, New Mexico; Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota.

 

Stanley Kitchen
Research Botanist

See Also: Botany, Fire/Fuel

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Provo Shrub Sciences Lab

Interests:

  • Shrub botany

  • Restoration

  • Shrubland biology

  • Grass

  • Forb

  • Fecundity

  • Germination

  • Drought and fire

Geographical Areas: Desert Experimental Range; Millard County, Utah; Great Basin; Southern Utah; Eastern Nevada.

 

Claire McGrath
Postdoctoral Ecologist

 

See Also: Ecology, Fisheries

 

 

 

 

Boise Aquatic Sciences Lab

Interests:

  • Limnology

  • Aquatic foodwebs

  • Ecosystem processes

  • Community ecology

  • Fisheries

  • Resource management

Geographical Areas: Deadwood Reservoir, Idaho; Colorado.

 

Susan Meyer
Research Ecologist

See Also: Ecology

 

 

 

 

Provo Shrub Sciences Lab

Interests:

  • Regeneration biology

  • Ecological restoration

  • Genetic variation

  • Shrub, grass, perennial herbs, Cheatgrass, downy brome

  • Seed germination

  • Phenology

Geographical Areas: Colorado Plateau; Northern Utah; Rocky Canyon, Utah; Snake River Plains, Gypsum Grasslands of North Central Mexico.

 

Jose Negron
Research Entomologist

See Also: Ecology, Entomology, Fire/Fuel

 

 

 

 

 

Fort Collins Forestry Sciences Lab: Landscapes

Interests:

  • Biology

  • Ecology

  • Western bark beetle management

  • Fire and insect interaction

  • Fuel loads

Geographical Areas: Colorado Front Range; Sacramento Mountains, NM; Upper Pine Creek Research Natural Area, SD; Central and Northern Rockies; Arizona; Utah.

 

Dean Pearson
Research Ecologist

See Also: Ecology, Wildlife Biology

 

 

 

 

 

SW Forest Science Lab, Flagstaff

Interests:

  • Leading Ecology and Management of Invasive Species, biological control, invasive species ecology, and wildlife biology team

  • Integrating community and invasion ecology to advance fields of research and improve invasives management

  • Understanding processes of community assembly by removing individual system components and examining the outcome

Geographical Areas: Western Montana; Northern Rocky Mountains; Bitterroot National Forest.

 

Burton Pendleton
Research Ecologist

See Also: Atmospheric Sciences, Ecology, Fire/Fuel

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Albuquerque Forestry Sciences Lab

Interests:

  • Creosote community expansion

  • Pollination

  • Gene flow

  • Prescribed fire

  • Climate change

  • Soils

  • Fire fuels

  • Reproductive biology and establishment ecology of the landscape-dominant shrub

  • Coleogyne ramosissima (blackbrush)

  • Effects of biological soil crusts and mycorrhizal fungi on seedling establishment

  • Pollination and gene flow at the shrubland/grassland ecotone and use of prescribed fire as a management tool to slow shrub expansion and maintain healthy grasslands

  • Developing inventory and monitoring protocols for upland vegetation and soils for the Mojave Network of the National Park Service

  • Monitoring strategies for the Spring Mountains National Recreation Area in southern Nevada's Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest

Geographical Areas: Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge; Mojave network; Spring Mountains National Recreation Area; Southern Nevada Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest; Rio Grande Bosque; SW New Mexico.

 

Rosemary Pendleton
Research Ecologist

See Also: Botany, Ecology, Fire/Fuel

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Albuquerque Forestry Sciences Lab

Interests:

  • Shrubland Fire Ecology

  • Plant reproductive biology

  • Zuckia, Linum, Purshia

  • Soil crusts

  • Grassland vegetation

  • Biodiversity

  • Pollination

  • Microtophography

  • Cheatgrass

  • Gene flow

Geographical Areas: Southwest; Northern ecotone; Central New Mexico; Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge.

 

Richard Reynolds
Research Wildlife Biologist Supervisor

See Also: Ecology, Wildlife Biology

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SW Forest Science Lab, Flagstaff

Interests:

  • Distribution, territory occupancy, demography, dispersal, and habitats of northern goshawks on the Kaibab Plateau, Arizona

  • Factors affecting nest locations and habitat quality of northern goshawks on the Kaibab National Forest

  • Post-fledgling movement, habitat use, survival, and dispersal of juvenile northern goshawks in Arizona

  • Factors affecting northern goshawk fecundity on the Kaibab Plateau, Arizona

  • Genetic fingerprinting for identifying individual goshawks from molted feathers to supplement recapture histories

  • Ecology, territory occupancy, demography, dispersal, and habitat quality of flammulated owls in Colorado

Geographical Areas: Kaibab Plateau and Kaibab National Forest, Arizona; Colorado.

 

Len Ruggiero
Deputy Program Manager, Wildlife and Terrestrial Ecosystems Program

See Also: Ecology, Wildlife Biology

 

 

 

 

SW Forest Science Lab, Flagstaff

Interests:

  • Wolverine Science Team Leader and Special Section of the Journal of Wildlife Management

  • Marten ecology in the Sierra Madre Mountains of Wyoming

  • Publishing on the interface between science and politics

  • Conservation Genetics, including the importance of population substructuring in conservation

Geographical Areas: Sierra Madre Mountains, Wyoming; California; Western Montana; Northern Rocky Mountains; North American Boreal Forests; Northern Mixed/Sub Alpine Forests.

 

Mark Rumble
Research Wildlife Biologist

See Also: Fire/Fuel, Stream-Riparian Environments, Wildlife Biology

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Forest and Grassland Research Lab, Rapid City

Interests:

  • Wildlife Biology

  • Bird conservation

  • Riparian environments

  • Fire effects

  • Invasive species

  • Fuel loads

  • TES species

  • Water resources

  • Soils

  • Restoration

  • Natural resource management

  • Conservation

  • PIF, decision support tools

Geographical Areas: Black Hills, South Dakota; Northern Great Plains; Middle of Missouri River; Wyoming.

 

Vicki Saab
Research Wildlife Biologist

See Also: Ecology, Fire/Fuel, Wildlife Biology

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bozeman Forestry Sciences Lab

Interests:

  • Fire effects on populations and habitats of birds in ponderosa pine forests of the Interior West

  • Breeding habitat ecology of the black-backed woodpecker in burned forests

  • Population ecology of Lewis’s woodpecker in burned coniferous and riparian forests

  • Effects of livestock grazing and surrounding landscapes on habitat use by Neotropical migratory birds in riparian forests

  • Grazing effects on animal and plant communities

  • Ecology of cavity-nesting birds

  • Effects of fire management activities on animals and plants of western coniferous forests

  • Landscape ecology and conservation biology

  • Influences of spatial scale on bird distributions

  • Ecology of riparian birds in arid lands

  • Conducting applied research that contributes to wildlife conservation

Geographical Areas: Ponderosa Pine Forests of Interior West, including Arizona; Washington; Conifer Forests of Oregon; Southwestern Idaho; Rocky Mountains; Interior Columbia Basin.

 

Michael Schwartz
Conservation Genetics Team Leader

See Also: Ecology, Wildlife Biology

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Missoula Wildlife Genetics Lab

Interests:

  • Population demography

  • Behavioral ecology

  • Habitat use

  • Emphasis on research that provides practical answers to natural resource problems, population, conservation, and landscape genetics

  • Conservation Genetics, Genetic Monitoring, Landscape Genetics

  • Ecology of threatened and endangered species

Geographical Areas: Northern Idaho; Maine; Minnesota; New Brunswick; California; Western Montana.

 

John Squires
Research Wildlife Biologist

See Also: Wildlife Biology

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SW Forest Science Lab, Flagstaff

Interests:

  • Seasonal changes in resource use of Canada lynx in managed southern boreal forests

  • Lynx demography and population viability analysis

  • Predicting lynx movements relative to landscape pattern

  • Sustaining lynx habitat in managed landscapes

  • Social and spatial structuring of lynx based on based on telemetry and genetic data

  • Probability of detecting lynx using snow-track surveys

  • Coyote’s habitat, behavior and activities

  • Predicting the effects of forest management on lynx populations

  • Conducting applied wildlife research that addresses the pressing issues confronting the management and conservation of sensitive, threatened, and endangered species

Geographical Areas: Western/Northwestern Montana; Rocky Mountains; South-Central Wyoming; California; Greater Yellowstone Area; Southern Boreal Forests.

 

Russ Thurow
Research Fisheries Biologist

See Also: Fisheries

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Boise Aquatic Sciences Lab

Interests:

  • Biology

  • Advancing understanding of salmonid habitat utilization and distribution

  • Development of tools for sampling the status and distribution of native fishes and their habitats

  • Advancing understanding of the structure and dynamics of salmonid populations

  • Assessing the influence of landscape features and physical processes on the distribution of fishes and their habitats

Geographical Areas: Interior Columbia River Basin; Klamath River and Great Basins; Snake River.

 

Mike Young
Research Fisheries Biologist

See Also: Fisheries, Stream-Riparian Environments

 

 

 

 

Missoula Forestry Sciences Lab: Ecology and Management

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Interests:

  • Conservation biology of cutthroat trout

  • Life history patterns in boreal toads

  • Monitoring of stream fish populations

  • Dynamics of fish-stream-forest interactions: the short- and long-term roles of large wood and fire

  • Consequences, characteristics, and control of nonnative brook trout invasions

Geographical Areas: Western Montana; Colorado River; South Central Wyoming; North Central Colorado.

 

Featured Science

 

Holocene records of Dendroctonus bark beetles in high elevation pine forests of Idaho and Montana, USA

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Age-Related Seasonal Variation in Captures of Stream-Borne Boreal Toads (Bufo boreas boreas, Bufonidae) in Western Montana

Links

 

Biology Online: Life Science Reference

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USGS Biology Site

USDA Forest Service - Rocky Mountain Research Station
Last Modified:  Thursday, 07 January 2010 at 19:51:45 EST
14 July 2009

USDA logo which links to the department's national site. Forest Service logo which links to the agency's national site.