Erin B
- Research Program Mentor
PhD candidate at Texas A&M University
Expertise
Conservation, ecology, wildlife ecology, human-wildlife conflict, zoology, climate change impacts on wildlife/vegetation, animal movement modeling
Bio
I am a research ecologist, and I'm broadly interested in the impacts that disturbance (be it wildfire, invasive species, or human development) have on the landscape and the wildlife that inhabit it. I currently work on quantitative ecology research in the western United States, but have a strong background in international conservation work, including previous work on herbivore grazing patterns in Kenya and research on elephant movement and human-elephant interactions in northern Botswana. I work primarily with ecological models using R programming, across topics of landscape/spatial ecology, animal movement modeling, and spatiotemporal patterns of environmental change. When I'm not making cool maps on my computer, I like to read sci-fi books, try new recipes, and go hiking. I really enjoy the mentoring process and helping students work through the progression of a research project. As a scientist, it is important to start learning the skills and processes that frame how scientific knowledge is built, as well as understanding the many challenges that we face along the way!Project ideas
Where the wild things go
How do certain environmental and/or anthropogenic factors influence animal movement patterns? This project would include developing ecological models based on publicly available movement data for one or more species of interest. Skills gained would be in R programming, GIS, and animal movement ecology.
Friend or foe? Local human-wildlife interactions
As human populations grow and increasingly overlap with wildlife, there are many potential interactions. This project could investigate the social and/or environmental aspects of human-wildlife interactions based on the student's local neighborhood, town, region, or country.