Graduate Students

Eric Erdmann (M.S., Chris Ribic). Eric will be developing data layers for the Western Antarctic Peninsula GIS as part of an NSF-funded project on the ecology of Adelie Penguins. He will be using the GIS to investigate winter movements of satellite-tagged Adelie Penguins and source-sink dynamics of the Adelie Penguin population on Anvers Island.

Megan Jones (M.S., Chris Ribic). Megans research is on nest predator use of grasslands and tree-rows in southern Wisconsin. She is measuring predator movements and activity using sand track stations, trail cameras, track tubes (for small mammals), and snake coverboards. Nest predators will be identified using miniature video cameras to monitor bird nests. Data are then compared relative to distance from tree-rows as well as before and after the removal of tree-rows.

Yasuko Neagari (M.S., Mike Samuel). Yasuko is a graduate student in the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies working on a degree in Conservation Biology and Sustainable Development. She is from Japan where she completed a veterinary degree. The goal of her program is to learn about wildlife conservation and disease ecology in the United States and to develop workable models for wildlife disease management in Japan. She will be completing an internship program at the USGS-National Wildlife Health Center.

Cherrie Nolden (PhD., Mike Samuel). Her research aims to evaluate the potential role of deer carcasses in transmission of chronic wasting disease and determine whether native scavengers are affected by this disease. The study will evaluate decomposition of deer carcasses under field conditions and identify the types and variety of wildlife species that are consuming deer tissue to determine which species would potentially be exposed to CWD from infected carcasses. Remotely-triggered cameras will photograph the carrion consumeers. In addition, common mammalian scavengers (raccoon, opossum, skunk, coyote and fox) will be collected by road-kills, trapping or other methods from the CWD-affected area in Wisconsin. These animals will be necropsied and tested to determine whether they have TSE infected tissues. Tissue, fluid and parasite samples will also be collected for surveillance on other wildlife diseases.

Stacie Robinson (Ph.D., Mike Samuel). The goal of this project is to integrate genetic tools (measurement of gene flow across geographic populations) with landscape ecology identification of habitat friction/ permeability and landscape features) and CWD disease patterns to develop models for predicting the geographic pathways and relative rates of CWD transmission across areas of southern Wisconsin. Emphasis will be placed on development of models of disease spread and prediction of geographic spread of CWD to aid the long-term management of CWD and to identify areas of risk of CWD exposure in human and livestock systems. Specific research objectives include: 1) Utilize current landscape, deer range, and GIS maps to identify contiguous patches of deer habitat, disjunct deer populations, potential migration corridors, and potential movement barriers to optimize collection of genetic samples and facilitate landscape connectivity modeling; 2) Evaluate potential barriers (rivers, highways, extensive agricultural areas) and corridors (riparian areas, forested landscape) to deer movement patterns and gene flow; 3) Determine whether CWD positive deer from spark areas (areas of CWD infection separated from the high prevalence core area) originated locally or dispersed from the core area. Genetic methods would be used to compare relatedness from CWD positive deer in the spark areas to deer from spark and core areas; and 4) Develop integrated models of geographic gene flow, landscape features, and habitat permeability that affect deer movement, link these models to CWD prevalence patterns, and predict potential geographic spread and relative rate of CWD infection beyond the current distribution.

Dan Storm (M.S., Mike Samuel). Daniel Storm (Ph.D., Mike Samuel). The goals of this research are to identify landscape and biological factors associated with the patterns of CWD infection in white-tailed deer across southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois. Specific project objectives are to evaluate deer, landscape, and disease prevalence patterns, with an emphasis on density vs. frequency dependent transmission of CWD. Results of this research will be used to develop and evaluate adaptive approaches for CWD management or control.