Behaviorally-informed management of wildlife and their habitats

Understanding how animals cope with and adapt to environmental disturbances, and the consequences of these responses, is one of the greatest and most visible ecological questions of today. Behavior is the critical medium through which animals can rapidly and flexibly respond to changing environments, but many behavioral patterns are also directly threatened by these changes.

Our mission is to enhance our understanding of the causes and consequences of animal behavior at the individual level and apply this knowledge to wildlife management, policy, and conservation actions that are both innovative and practical, and grounded in ecological science.

Life on the move

Movement is one of the most ubiquitous behaviors in ecology, enabling many essential ecological functions like resource acquisition and risk avoidance. In our work, we address the mechanisms underpinning individual movement and space use decisions; why, when, and where to move? We connect this mechanistic understanding to the consequences of movement decisions for individuals, populations, ecological communities, and ecosystems.

Learn more about our work

Our research integrates theoretical, field, and quantitative approaches and relies on a strong foundation of interdisciplinary collaboration with a wide range of stakeholders. We leverage large spatial datasets, remote sensing, experimental and empirical studies, and modeling to contribute to more ecologically-informed theory on wildlife populations, as well as practical recommendations for their management.