PhD Research
My current research focuses on the relationships among nutritional stress levels in polar bears, changing sea ice dynamics, human presence, and the frequency of polar bear visits to remote camps and the Churchill Northern Studies Centre. With climate change forcing polar bears on shore for longer periods of time during the year in the Western Hudson Bay region, the occurrence of human-polar bear interactions and conflicts are bound to rise. Thus, it is imperative that park officials and wildlife managers across the Arctic understand the relationships among polar bear behavior, human activities, and sea ice dynamics. Our goal is to understand why polar bears are approaching people and infrastructure in the Arctic, so that managers are better able to make decisions that will limit polar bear-human conflict and interactions, despite a rapidly changing environment. In order to answer these questions, we are using remote trail camera data, and our cameras have detected over 500 individual polar bear visits to infrastructure since camera installation in 2011. From these photographs, we can glean information such as age and sex classifications, body condition scores, and whether or not young are present. Additionally, we can take information from the Canadian Ice Service about changing sea ice on a year to year basis and camp occupancy information from Parks Canada to determine the influence of environmental and anthropogenic factors on polar bear visitation to infrastructure.
My current research focuses on the relationships among nutritional stress levels in polar bears, changing sea ice dynamics, human presence, and the frequency of polar bear visits to remote camps and the Churchill Northern Studies Centre. With climate change forcing polar bears on shore for longer periods of time during the year in the Western Hudson Bay region, the occurrence of human-polar bear interactions and conflicts are bound to rise. Thus, it is imperative that park officials and wildlife managers across the Arctic understand the relationships among polar bear behavior, human activities, and sea ice dynamics. Our goal is to understand why polar bears are approaching people and infrastructure in the Arctic, so that managers are better able to make decisions that will limit polar bear-human conflict and interactions, despite a rapidly changing environment. In order to answer these questions, we are using remote trail camera data, and our cameras have detected over 500 individual polar bear visits to infrastructure since camera installation in 2011. From these photographs, we can glean information such as age and sex classifications, body condition scores, and whether or not young are present. Additionally, we can take information from the Canadian Ice Service about changing sea ice on a year to year basis and camp occupancy information from Parks Canada to determine the influence of environmental and anthropogenic factors on polar bear visitation to infrastructure.
Columbian Ground Squirrel Research
I participated in two field seasons of work on the Kananaskis Columbian Ground Squirrel Project in Kananaskis Country, Alberta, Canada (i.e., Sheep River Provincial Park and Peter Lougheed Provincial Park), resulting in seven months spent in the field with these cute kids! This particular study has been ongoing for more than thirty years, with researchers collecting data on how hibernation phenology of Columbian ground squirrels has been changing with the climate. Columbian ground squirrels in these populations have been emerging from hibernation earlier and earlier due to earlier warm temperatures. Earlier emergence may lead to earlier reproduction, and arrival of pups may no longer line up with the abundance of food resources pups rely on to grow and survive, creating a mismatch. At both high and low elevation field sites, our field crews monitored almost all life processes and life history traits of these squirrel populations. Columbian ground squirrels were trapped using Tomahawk traps baited with a small smear of peanut butter. Once captured, all squirrels were tagged with numerical ear tags and painted with a dye mark for easier identification. Weight, sex, reproductive status, hind foot length, and zygomatic breadth were recorded in order to track growth and reproductive information. All of this is included in a vast long-term data set that can then be used to investigate many different questions, like how reproduction is being affected by climate change!
I participated in two field seasons of work on the Kananaskis Columbian Ground Squirrel Project in Kananaskis Country, Alberta, Canada (i.e., Sheep River Provincial Park and Peter Lougheed Provincial Park), resulting in seven months spent in the field with these cute kids! This particular study has been ongoing for more than thirty years, with researchers collecting data on how hibernation phenology of Columbian ground squirrels has been changing with the climate. Columbian ground squirrels in these populations have been emerging from hibernation earlier and earlier due to earlier warm temperatures. Earlier emergence may lead to earlier reproduction, and arrival of pups may no longer line up with the abundance of food resources pups rely on to grow and survive, creating a mismatch. At both high and low elevation field sites, our field crews monitored almost all life processes and life history traits of these squirrel populations. Columbian ground squirrels were trapped using Tomahawk traps baited with a small smear of peanut butter. Once captured, all squirrels were tagged with numerical ear tags and painted with a dye mark for easier identification. Weight, sex, reproductive status, hind foot length, and zygomatic breadth were recorded in order to track growth and reproductive information. All of this is included in a vast long-term data set that can then be used to investigate many different questions, like how reproduction is being affected by climate change!
MSc Research
I spent three years at Washington State University, working with Dr. Charlie Robbins and Dr. Lynne Nelson at the Bear Research, Education, and Conservation Center for my MSc research. Over that time, I worked with as many as sixteen different bears! Under the supervision of my PIs and with the help of undergraduate students, I aided with day-to-day maintenance and care (i.e., preparation of food and feeding, cleaning of facilities, allowing bears access to the yard as scheduled, assisting with all ongoing studies, preparation of drugs and anesthetization, etc.) of these bears of varying ages and backgrounds. I was even lucky enough to help bottle-raise a group of four grizzly cubs during my time there. My particular study focused on heart health and hibernation patterns in brown bears in response to changing fatty acids in the diet. Thus, I had to calculate calorie loads and macros for a subset of bears, and prepare their meals for active season. One set of bears was fed a 'healthy' Mediterranean style diet of salmon, salmon oil, oats, apples, and kibble, while the other set was fed an 'unhealthy' Westernized fast food diet of cheddar cheese, beef tallow, ground beef, apples, and kibble coated in high fructose corn syrup. All of the bears involved in my study were trained to stand on a scale for regular weight check-ins, and were trained to participate in willing blood draws, injections (to check body composition), echocardiograms, blood pressure readings, and attachment of biologgers to monitor hibernation activity - all without the use of anesthesia. In general, we found (despite mild effects on the heart) that brown bears are simply designed to be fat without many of the negative health effects a human might experience...at least in the short term. Bears are just meant to be chunks in the fall and winter months in order to survive hibernation and have a good, healthy start to the next active season!
I spent three years at Washington State University, working with Dr. Charlie Robbins and Dr. Lynne Nelson at the Bear Research, Education, and Conservation Center for my MSc research. Over that time, I worked with as many as sixteen different bears! Under the supervision of my PIs and with the help of undergraduate students, I aided with day-to-day maintenance and care (i.e., preparation of food and feeding, cleaning of facilities, allowing bears access to the yard as scheduled, assisting with all ongoing studies, preparation of drugs and anesthetization, etc.) of these bears of varying ages and backgrounds. I was even lucky enough to help bottle-raise a group of four grizzly cubs during my time there. My particular study focused on heart health and hibernation patterns in brown bears in response to changing fatty acids in the diet. Thus, I had to calculate calorie loads and macros for a subset of bears, and prepare their meals for active season. One set of bears was fed a 'healthy' Mediterranean style diet of salmon, salmon oil, oats, apples, and kibble, while the other set was fed an 'unhealthy' Westernized fast food diet of cheddar cheese, beef tallow, ground beef, apples, and kibble coated in high fructose corn syrup. All of the bears involved in my study were trained to stand on a scale for regular weight check-ins, and were trained to participate in willing blood draws, injections (to check body composition), echocardiograms, blood pressure readings, and attachment of biologgers to monitor hibernation activity - all without the use of anesthesia. In general, we found (despite mild effects on the heart) that brown bears are simply designed to be fat without many of the negative health effects a human might experience...at least in the short term. Bears are just meant to be chunks in the fall and winter months in order to survive hibernation and have a good, healthy start to the next active season!