I am interested in how wildlife move, use habitat, and survive. Specifically, I am interested in understanding and predicting the consequences of anthropogenic land use change (e.g., cumulative effects) on habitat selection and survival. I am also interested in the application and development of quantitative approaches to model habitat selection, survival, and population dynamics. I have primarily used ducks as a study system and plan to continue to in my career; however, my interests span across a variety of species and the different modelling approaches I am interested in provides me with flexibility to adapt these approaches to different systems.
My primary motivation is to provide science-based solutions to management and conservation partners to support wildlife conservation. Through my research, I endeavour to produce good science that answers applied ecological questions to support conservation decisions. While applied in scope, I also strive to incorporate theoretical components. The broad themes of my current research are movement and habitat selection and their associated consequences on survival and ultimately, fitness. Predicting these models can be used to improve our understanding of species ecology, but also to assist conservation managers and policy makers in decision making and the development best management practices. At the population level, I am also interested in understanding how vital rates, such as nest or brood survival, and landscape change affect population dynamics. Long-term, I am interested in using data collected on movement, habitat selection, and survival to inform models of population dynamics for the conservation of waterfowl and other wildlife species.
My primary motivation is to provide science-based solutions to management and conservation partners to support wildlife conservation. Through my research, I endeavour to produce good science that answers applied ecological questions to support conservation decisions. While applied in scope, I also strive to incorporate theoretical components. The broad themes of my current research are movement and habitat selection and their associated consequences on survival and ultimately, fitness. Predicting these models can be used to improve our understanding of species ecology, but also to assist conservation managers and policy makers in decision making and the development best management practices. At the population level, I am also interested in understanding how vital rates, such as nest or brood survival, and landscape change affect population dynamics. Long-term, I am interested in using data collected on movement, habitat selection, and survival to inform models of population dynamics for the conservation of waterfowl and other wildlife species.
Caribou ConservationFor my postdoctoral research, I am working to use previously developed models (RSFs) and existing data to develop new models that predict the potential effects of mining development on woodland caribou in Ontario's Ring of Fire region. We are using the predictive platform, SpaDES, to implement our models in R and Git to produce a reproducible, transparent, and open workflow. Our end results will allow managers and conservation planners to integrate new data and models for the region (e.g., hydrology, forest fire) with our current knowledge under different development scenarios.
Collaborators: Dr. Frances Stewart, Dr. Jennifer Baltzer, and Dr. Josie Hughes |
Nesting Ecology of Boreal DucksMy PhD research investigated the effect of oil and gas development on the nesting ecology of boreal ducks. We studied micro and macrohabitat nest-site selection and nest survival of upland nesting ducks. We also identified their predators using camera traps at nests and studied the effects of industrial development on the distribution of predator species using camera trap arrays. In addition, we worked to pilot some tracking technology techniques (e.g., VHF telemetry, GPS-GSM-UHF transmitters) in this region to improve our ability to study ducks in remote areas.
Collaborators: Dr. Brad Fedy, Dr. Stuart Slattery, Dr. Vanessa Harriman, Howie Singer |
Distribution and Abundance of American Black Ducks in OntarioI am working with collaborators from the Canadian Wildlife Service and Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry to develop models to understand changes in the distribution and abundance of American Black Ducks, and other waterfowl species, in Ontario based on data from the Eastern Waterfowl Survey. To do this, we have used general linear mixed effects models (GLMMs), general additive mixed-effects models (GAMMs), and dynamic N-mixture models.
Collaborators: Dr. Glen Brown, Rod Brook, Dr. Christian Roy, Shawn Meyer |
Wood Duck Nesting and Brood EcologyWe studied post-hatch ecology of wood duck hens and broods at Long Point to understand the contribution of nest box programs in this region. We marked nesting hens with bands and VHF transmitters and monitored their nest box use. Following hatch, we tracked hens daily to understand habitat use and counted ducklings to estimate brood and duckling survival to 30 days post-hatch.
Collaborators: Dr. Scott Petrie, Dr. Mike Schummer |
Future Work
I would like to pursue the following general avenues of research during my career. Of course, these directions are likely to change over time based on technology, funding, and needs of project partners and management agencies.
- Ecology of cavity-nesting ducks (e.g., Wood Duck, Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye)
- Long-term use of natural cavities by ducks and other species
- Reproductive strategies of cavity nesting ducks (e.g., conspecific brood parasitism)
- Movement ecology of cavity nesting ducks across the annual cycle
- Costs and benefits of nest box programs
- Effects of anthropogenic land use change on wildlife
- Effects of forestry, oil and gas, mining, and agriculture on movement, habitat selection, and survival of wildlife species
- Spatial quantification of cumulative effects
- Application of quantitative approaches in wildlife ecology
- Development of open population N-mixture models to estimate population trajectories of wildlife
- Development of Integrated Population Models (IPMs) to understand population dynamics and the collection of data to inform these models
- Multi-scale approaches to habitat selection and survival analysis
- Integration of habitat selection and survival in modelling applications (e.g., risk landscapes)