In Graduate Student’s Committees

Juan Carlos Huaranca, 2018-present. Ph.D. Universidad de Los Lagos, Chile. He is focused on population ecology, conservation biology and the implementation of management actions, especially among carnivores, other wildlife and humans in the Bolivian Andes. His research deals with the coexistence of charismatic high-elevation cats and the livelihood of camelid pastoralist people

Rumaan Malhotra, 2018-present. Ph.D. University of Michigan. Rumaan is studying the interaction of various components of human impacts on native carnivore communities. He uses camera traps to determine the spatial and temporal shifts exhibited by native carnivores in the rainforest of southern Chile in response to habitat fragmentation and the presence of domestic dogs, at a landscape scale.

Kelsey S. Biles, 2018-present. Wintering ecology, migration tracking, and pairing behavior of American Kestrels (Falco sparverius) in north central Texas. Ph.D. University of North Texas.

Lorena Saavedra, 2019-present. M.S. Universidad de Magallanes, Chile. Lorena is investigating the movements of un-leashed owned dogs on Navarino Island via GPS collars. Specifically, through  psychometric experimental protocols, she is examining how the emotional bonds between the dogs and their owners affect the roaming behavior of their pets into natural areas. Her goal is to provide tools to manage the exploratory behavior of free-moving domestic dogs and their impacts on nearby local biodiversity

Courtney Paine, 2019-present. M.S. University of North Texas. Courtney is studying whether Zone-tailed Hawks display aggressive mimicry of Turkey Vultures through utilization of my falconry experience. She will be training and flying both species over prey species, such as prairie dogs colonies, and measuring their response rates to each raptor species

IN FORMER GRADUATE STUDENT’S COMMITTEES

Sandra Uribe, 2015-2018. Ph.D. Universidad de Chile. Sandra’s research has been on natural and productive environments, chiefly studying small mammals associated to forest plantations in central Chile. She is especially interested on the ecology and conservation wild animals.

Jeffrey G. Whitt, 2014-2018. Ph.D. University of North Texas. Jeff examined the drivers of Bobwhite Quail population decline and locally modeled the effect of landscape use on the recovery of the species. He is currently a postdoctoral fellow at Texas A&M  working on a California Quail translocation project.

Brian Bacon, 2017. M.S. University of North Texas. He is interested in bubonic plague in the U.S. and on bacteria and virus communities trapped in ice in glaciers in Iceland and released when melting occurs.

Darío Moreira, 2012-2015. Ph.D. University of Alberta. Darío is a wildlife biologist and professor at the Faculty of Forest Sciences at the U. de Concepción. His research focuses on understanding the behavior and ecology of carnivores in heterogeneous landscapes in central and south Chile and addressing the effects of habitat quality and configuration. He also combines spatial, ecological, and social approaches to make socioecologically-informed land-use decisions related to human-wildlife coexistence in Temperate forest and Patagonian landscapes.

  • Pulliam, Lauren 2013-2015. Biodiversity and genetic structure of benthic macroinvertebrates along an altitudinal gradient: a comparison of the Windhond and Róbalo River communities on Navarino Island, Chile. M.S., Biological Sciences, University of North Texas.
  • Kirk, Cristian 2013-2014 [Sustainable tourism as a tool for the conservation of the southern elephant seal (Mirounga leonina) in Tierra del Fuego, Chile.] M.S., Universidad de Magallanes, Punta Arenas, Chile.
  • Moses, Kelli 2013 M.S. Environmental Sciences. University of North Texas.
  • Perry, Heather 2011-2012 Ph.D. Biological Sciences, University of North Texas.
  • Mabe, Jeffrey 2011-2012 Ph.D. Biological Sciences, University of North Texas.
  • Driver, Lucas 2011-2012 Ph.D. Biological Sciences, University of North Texas.
  • Galla, Stephanie 2011-2012 Ph.D. Biological Sciences, University of North Texas.
  • Ramírez, Isaac 2008-2009. [Development a biological integrity index based on benthonic macroinverbrates for the Damas River watershed, 10th Region, Chile.]. M.S., Universidad de Los Lagos, Osorno, Chile.
  • Uribe, Claudia 2008. [Recovery of chemical, biochemical, and biological conditions in salmon farms in southern Chile.]. M.S., Universidad de Los Lagos, Osorno, Chile.
  • San Martín, Roberto 2006-2011. [Depredation effects in the recruitment of Concholepas concholepas (Gastropoda, Muricidae) in the rocky intertidal.]. M.S., Universidad de Los Lagos, Osorno, Chile.
  • Kusch, Alejandro 2006-2009. [Responses of the avifauna to semiarid scrubland of Chiliotrichum diffusum as an effect of land management.]. M.S., Universidad de Magallanes, Punta Arenas, Chile.
  • Sanhueza, Rocío 2005-2010. [Fragmentation effects of the native forest on non-flying mammals in the Coastal Cordillera, 9th Región.] . M.S., Universidad de Los Lagos, Osorno, Chile.
  • Arango, Ximena 2004-2007. [Ethnobiology of the Magellanic woodpecker Campephilus magellanicus in Isla Navarino.]. M.S. , Universidad de Magallanes, Punta Arenas, Chile.
  • Quijano, Silvia 2003. [Effects of the spatial complexity and insects availability on the feeding behavior of bats in Puyehue National Park.] Doctoral Program in Sciences with major in Systematics and Evolution. Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile.
  • Montenegro, Leyla 2000. [Vegetation dynamics in a fragmented landscape of the central lowlands of Osorno Province, Chile.]. M.S., Universidad de Los Lagos, Osorno, Chile.
  • Triana, Max 2000. [Exploitation of the Ulmo (Eucryphia cordifolia) for firewood in small forest farms in the Huilliche community of Trufún, San Juan de La Costa, Osorno.]. M.S., Universidad de Los Lagos, Osorno, Chile.