Current Research

Primary responsibilities are to conduct research relating to wildlife distribution, dynamics, and responses to disturbances and climate change to inform land management. This includes (1) studying species habitat ecology, occurrence, and space use across environmental gradients, (2) evaluating wildlife responses to fire, forest restoration activities, and associated trade-offs, and (3) engaging in co-production of knowledge to narrow the gap between science and management.

Research Interests

Fire, restoration, and wildlife conservation in seasonally dry forest ecosystems

Biodiversity conservation in a changing climate

Occupancy estimation and modeling in wildlife conservation

Mechanisms of wildlife population decline and recovery

Movement ecology and resource selection by animals

Social-ecological resilience

Ecosystem services and biodiversity in managed forests

Past Research

Spotted owl population responses and space use after ‘megafires’

Effects of woody bioenergy intensification on biodiversity

How logging legacies and trophic interactions influence population declines

Assessing trade-offs associated related to fuels reduction and species conservation

Effects of climate change on population dynamics and conservation planning

Modeling behavioral thermoregulation in response to climate warming

Why This Research is Important

Forest ecosystem conservation is not going to be easy in the coming decades. Climate change and fire suppression have together created a tenuous situation where a continuation of the status-quo could lead to wholesale loss of some forest ecosystems, with enormous implications for people and wildlife that depend on them. Forest restoration through increased prescribed fire use and thinning can restore natural structure and processes to ecosystems but may have collateral impacts to sensitive wildlife species. My research focuses figuring out how we can restore forests while safeguarding wildlife populations over the short- and long-term. The most important aspect of my research is knowledge co-production: developing science together with land managers so that the science (1) asks the right questions and (2) can be better integrated into conservation planning and forest management. A new era of science-management partnership is needed to solve some of the most pressing and complex issues: science informed by management needs, and managers co-producing the latest science.

Education

• University of Florida, Postdoc Wildlife Ecology and Conservation 2020
• University of Wisconsin-Madison, Ph.D. Wildlife Ecology Statistics 2019
• University of Wisconsin-Madison, M.S. Wildlife Ecology 2015
• University of Wisconsin-Madison, B.S. Zoology 2011

Professional Experience

Professional Organizations

• Journal of Wildlife Management, Associate Editor (2019 - Current)
• American Ornithological Society, Member (2016 - Current)
• Ecological Society of America, Member (2016 - Current)
• The Wildlife Society, Member (2014 - Current)

Awards & Recognition

Publications

• Hobart, Brendan K.; Kramer, H. Anu; Jones, Gavin M.; Dotters, Brian P.; Whitmore, Sheila A.; Keane, John J.; Peery, M. Zachariah. 2021. Stable isotopes reveal unexpected relationships between fire history and the diet of Spotted Owls.
• Jones, Gavin M.; Gutierrez, R. J.; Block, William M.; Carlson, Peter C.; Comfort, Emily J.; Cushman, Samuel A.; Raymond J. Davis, ; Eyes, Stephanie A.; Franklin, Alan B.; Ganey, Joseph L.; Hedwall, Shaula ; Keane, John J.; Kelsey, Rodd ; Lesmeister, Damon B.; North, Malcolm P.; Roberts, Susan L.; Rockweit, Jeremy T.; Sanderlin, Jamie S.; Sawyer, Sarah C.; Solvesky, Ben ; Tempel, Douglas J.; Yiwan, Ho ; Westerling, A. Leroy; White, Gary C.; Peery, M. Zachariah. 2020. Spotted owls and forest fire: Comment.