Dr. Neil H Carter, Assistant Professor, PI of the Conservation & Coexistence Group
I am an assistant professor in the Human-Environment Systems Research Center at Boise State University. My research is highly interdisciplinary and utilizes field-based, quantitative, and conceptual approaches to understand complex feedbacks among people, wildlife, and ecosystems. I strive to conduct actionable research that advances science and informs decision makers on ways to conserve biodiversity while also sustain (and improve) human well-being. Research interests include: Complexity of socio-environmental systems, sustainability science, wildlife ecology, landscape ecology, conservation ecology, and human dimensions of wildlife management. 

E-mail: neilcarter@boisestate.edu

Education:
Postdoctoral Fellow – National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (2013 - 2015)
Ph.D. – Fisheries & Wildlife; Michigan State University (2013)
M.S. – Terrestrial Ecology; University of Michigan (2007)
B.S. – Ecology, Behavior, and Evolution; University of California, San Diego (2003)

Current Conservation & Coexistence Group Members

Mark Ditmer, Postdoctoral Researcher, Human Environment Systems
I am an applied wildlife ecologist who is passionate about understanding how human decisions alter animal movement, behavior, resource use, and demography while utilizing emerging quantitative research approaches. I seek to develop new methodological approaches, often leveraging cutting-edge technologies, such as biologgers and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and combine data in unique ways to illuminate the mechanisms behind observed patterns in wildlife science. My current project focuses on utilizing novel anthropogenic light and noise data as a new lens to investigate how species space use patterns are influenced by these expanding sources of environmental disturbance.

Email: markditmer@boisestate.edu

​Education:
Postdoctoral Fellow – University of Minnesota & Minnesota Zoo (2015-2018)
Ph.D – Conservation Biology; University of Minnesota (2014)
B.S. – Economics; Villanova University (2005)
B.A. – ​Finance; Villanova University (2005)
Alexander Killion, PhD Student, Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior 
I am interested in how humans make decisions when confronted with conflict with large carnivores, and how those decisions affect wildlife conservation. I strive to better understand feedbacks in human-environment systems, such as how actors are influenced by policy and in return how actors are able to shape policy. My work focuses on quantifying such relationships and integrating social information with fine-scale spatiotemporal wildlife data to identify the mechanisms driving human-wildlife conflict.

E-mail: alexanderkillion@boisestate.edu

Education:
M.S. – Fisheries & Wildlife; Michigan State University (2016)
B.S. – Biology and Pre-Medicine; Augustana College (2013)
Kate Markham, PhD Student, Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior
​My interests lie in biodiversity conservation, land-use change, and the use of remote sensing to complement conservation and ecological field work. I utilize an interdisciplinary approach in my research, drawing from the fields of ecology, geography, particularly remote sensing, and anthropology. For my dissertation, I am investigating how wildlife in the conterminous US are affected by widespread anthropogenic nightlight and noise. This research is funded through NASA and is in partnership with the National Parks Service. To learn more about my research and interests, see here.

Email: katemarkham@u.boisestate.edu

​Education:
M.S. – Environmental Sciences and Policy; Clark University (2017)
M.A. – Anthropology; University of Victoria (2014)
B.S. – Biological Anthropology; The George Washington University (2011)
Tara Easter, PhD Student, Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior
I work to understand how various social, economic, political, geographic, and ecological factors interact to affect wildlife conservation. My master's thesis examined the spatial distribution of mammalian richness and small-carnivore interactions outside of Gorongosa National Park in a multi-use area in Mozambique. For my dissertation research, I am studying the spatial patterns and processes of wildlife poaching and trafficking and the social and ecological drivers of those patterns. 

E-mail: taraeaster@u.boisestate.edu

Education:
M.S. – Biology; Boise State University (2018)
B.S. – Evolution, Ecology, and Conservation; North Carolina State University (2012)
Abigail Sage, MSc Student, Biology
For my thesis, I will be integrating social data into ecological suitability maps for a high conflict species, the grizzly bear, in the High Divide region of Idaho and Montana. Since the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) population was recently delisted, the attitudes and behaviors of landowners in this region will be a major factor in establishing connectivity between the GYE and the still threatened Northern Continental Divide population. I am also interested in applying discrete choice sampling in social surveys to predict landowners’ behaviors and assess their preferred carnivore management policies that will promote coexistence.

Email: abbysage@boisestate.edu

​Education:
B.S. – Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences; Oregon State University (2014)
Edward Leal Trout, MSc Student, Biology
The research I conduct is focused on the frontiers of human-wildlife interactions. I am interested in questions of how animals use the landscape in the presence of human activity and the best ways of mitigating human-wildlife conflict. Depredation of livestock by carnivores such as wolves, cougars, bears, and coyotes is a serious and pervasive national problem costing both ranchers and predators. For my thesis, I am working with the Wood River Wolf Project and local sheep ranchers in the Big Wood River Watershed to address these issues.  I plan to combine spatial use data from carnivores, their prey, and sheep herding to develop tools to inform future decision making by ranchers to lower both sheep and carnivore mortality.

Email: edwardtrout@boisestate.edu

​Education:
B.S. – Zoology; University of California Santa Barbara (2016)
B.A. – Classics; University of California Santa Barbara (2016)
Julie Ramirez, B.S. Student, Research Assistant 
My research is focused on how humans and wildlife interact with each other on shared landscapes. I am interested in understanding how humans and wildlife adapt to each other, as well as, what methods are best to achieve coexistence. My current project aims to understand how the presence of humans impacts the presence of different animal species at La Selva Biological Research Station, in Costa Rica.
 
Email: julieramirez@u.boisestate.edu

Education: 
B.S. - Environmental Biology; Boise State University (Expected Graduation- May 2021) 

Graduates 

2018 - Tara Easter, MS in Biology
​Quantifying mammalian interactions and distributions to inform conservation planning in Mozambique

Former Group Members

Dr. Michael J Poulos, Postdoctoral Researcher, Geosciences (2016-2017)
​Udaya Jayawardhana, MSc, Research Assistant (2016-2018)
Jessica Mueller, B.S. Student, Research Assistant (2018)
​Anna Roser, Postbaccalaureate Student, Research Assistant (2018)
​Javier Luna, B.A. Student, Research Assistant​ (2017)