
Gavin Jones
Research Ecologist
333 Broadway Blvd SE
Albuquerque
New Mexico
United States
87102
Contact Gavin Jones
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
- Research Ecologist, RMRS - Wildlife and Terrestrial Ecosystems
2020 - Current - Adjunct Professor, University of New Mexico
2020 - Current
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
- Best Dissertation Award, 2019
University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology - Student Presentation Award, 2018
The Wildlife Society - Robert B. Berry Award, 2018
American Ornithological Society - Best Talk by and Early-Career Researcher, 2017
British Ornithologists Union - McCabe-Keith Graduate Research Excellence Award, 2016
University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology - Finalist, Best Student Talk, 2016
North American Congress for Conservation Biology
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.