My Research

guiding questions

Southern Africa is predicted to experience warmer and drier conditions under climate change. How might these changes shift the balance of needs for large savanna mammals? And how will this balance influence their behavior?
Humans have been and always will be a part of African savanna ecology. How will increasing human activity (fencing, urbanization, agriculture) affect the conservation and persistence of wild populations and communities?

talk to me about...

Remote sensing techniques and tools, especially Google Earth Engine and ArcGIS.
Hierarchical and Bayesian modeling of animal movements and behavioral choices.
Computer simulation and computational modeling (R, Python, and C++), especially efficiency and Big Data.
One Health and the need to balance the needs of humans, livestock, and wildlife in our conservation goals.

research projects

Two large African buffalo drink from a puddle on bare stone. Two oxpeckers sit on the face of the buffalo to the right.

Antelope and a changing world

My Ph.D. dissertation covered three elements of change for African antelope populations: (1) artificial waterhole provisioning, (2) climate change (warming and drying), and (3) veterinary fencing.

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A majestic kudu bull reaches out to nibble on some new spring leaves amidst a backdrop of dry thorny shrub.

Elephants and veterinary fences

As part of the Beyond Fences Initiative, this project uses advanced computer modeling, drawing on existing datasets from radio-collared animals, to investigate how elephants and other mammals currently move about southern Africa's KAZA TFCA.

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