Directors
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Dr. William F. Porter
Director, Boone and Crockett Quantitative Wildlife Center Professor; Boone & Crockett Chair of Wildlife Conservation porterw@msu.edu Dr. Porter's research explores population dynamics and the behavioral ecology of wildlife in relation to habitat, emphasizing the application of ecological knowledge to management and conservation policy. Current studies focus on the fundamental forces now reshaping wildlife conservation: land-use change affecting habitats, emerging diseases in wildlife, shifting patterns in weather and climate, and changing conservation policy. Dr. Porter comes to Michigan State University after a long career at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse where he was Professor of Wildlife Ecology and Director of the Adirondack Ecological Center. |
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Dr. David Williams
Associate Director, Boone and Crockett Quantitative Wildlife Center Assistant Professor; Dept. of Fisheries and Wildlife dmwill@msu.edu Dr. Williams' research interests are broad, but focus on understanding how landscape heterogeneity influences populations, animal movements, and habitat use and applying that knowledge in the context of larger ecological processes and management decisions. His teaching has included courses on the analysis and management of wildlife populations, wildlife ecology, and applications of geographic information systems to the management of natural resources. |
Research Associates
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Dr. Aniruddha Belsare
Research Associate Boone and Crockett Quantitative Wildlife Center Department of Fisheries and Wildlife belsare1@msu.edu Dr. Belsare is a disease ecologist with a background in veterinary medicine, disease modeling, and conservation research. His research interests primarily lie at the interface of ecology and epidemiology, and include host-pathogen systems that are of conservation and/or public health concern. One of the main goals of his research is to develop model-based tools that help address the challenges of wildlife disease management. He is currently developing population and epidemiological models to study the spread of chronic wasting disease in Michigan’s white-tailed deer populations and inform CWD control strategies. |
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Dr. Sonja Christensen
Research Associate Boone and Crockett Quantitative Wildlife Center Department of Fisheries and Wildlife chris625@msu.edu Dr. Christensen is a research associate in the Dept. of Fisheries and Wildlife at MSU and works with the Boone and Crockett Quantitative Wildlife Center. Her research has centered around the population ecology and management of ungulate species, with a special focus on disease ecology and the impacts of disease on ungulate populations. She has worked as a statewide deer specialist for a state wildlife agency and as an academic researcher collaborating with state, federal, and non-governmental organizations. |
Research Administrator
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Dr. Rose Stewart
Research Administrator Boone and Crockett Quantitative Wildlife Center Department of Fisheries and Wildlife stewa684@msu.edu Dr. Stewart administers research activities within the Boone and Crockett Quantitative Wildlife Center. After receiving her B.A. in Biology from St. Mary's College of Maryland, she began her career at the World Wildlife Fund and its Wildlife and Contaminants Program. Dr. Stewart's interest in wildlife endocrinology led her to the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, where she completed her Ph.D. in collaboration with the University of Maryland. Following completion of her doctoral degree, she directed the Center for the Integrative Study of Animal Behavior’s core research facility at Indiana University. Dr. Stewart is broadly interested in wildlife conservation, student mentoring and promoting research opportunities. |
Graduate Research Assistants
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Rebecca Cain
Ph.D. Candidate Boone and Crockett Fellow cainrebe@msu.edu Rebecca’s dissertation seeks to uncover key factors that modify the spatial and temporal patterns of record book white-tailed deer harvests across the Midwestern United States, and how wildlife management strategies influence this system. Rebecca graduated from Clemson University in 2011 with a B.S. in Biological Sciences. In 2014, Rebecca completed her thesis, “A quantitative analysis of white-tailed deer harvest across states and counties,” to earn a Master of Earth & Environmental Resources Management (M.E.E.R.M) degree from the University of South Carolina. Also in 2014, Rebecca obtained a Wildlife/Forestry Conservation Career Diploma from Penn Foster. Rebecca has completed the Quality Deer Management Association's Deer Steward I & II certification courses and is an Official Measurer for the Boone and Crockett Club. |
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Jonathan Cook
Ph.D. Candidate Boone and Crockett Fellow cookjo15@msu.edu Jonathan received his B.S. in Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology in 2012 and his M.S. in Ecology in 2016, both from the University of California-Davis. Between his undergraduate and graduate studies, Jonathan worked in a research lab at UC-Davis that focused on questions related to estuarine and marine fish health. For his Master’s degree, he assessed aquatic species response to a large-scale restoration project in San Francisco Estuary. His main research interests are in understanding how habitat quality influences the distribution and habitat use patterns of species to inform the health of wildlife populations. For his Ph.D. research, Jonathan will be evaluating habitat use patterns of white-tailed deer to inform disease detection and management in Michigan. |
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Kathryn Frens
Ph.D. Candidate Boone and Crockett Fellow frenskat@msu.edu Kathryn is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife and the Environmental Science and Policy Program at Michigan State University. Her dissertation research focuses on the intersection of land use policy, wildlife conservation, and human wellbeing across large landscapes. She is particularly interested in combining information and methods from across disciplines to do research that informs policy, and also gets enthusiastic about well-written papers and other effective communication. Kathryn graduated from Hope College in 2006 with a degree in biology and writing, and subsequently received a M.S. degree from the University of Michigan’s School of Natural Resources and the Environment. Since then, she has worked on wildlife research projects around the country. |
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Christopher Hoving
Ph.D. Candidate Boone and Crockett Fellow hovingc@michigan.gov Chris received his B.S. in Fisheries and Wildlife from Michigan State University and his M.S. in Wildlife Ecology from the University of Maine. Chris has worked for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources since 2003, first as a private lands biologist, and then later as the state's Endangered Species Coordinator. In 2012, he took a newly created position as Adaptation Specialist, where he focuses on the challenges of adapting wildlife management to a changing climate. At Michigan State University, Chris studies the resilience of oak ecosystems to human management, natural disturbance, and changing climate in southern Michigan. His interests include historical ecology, spatial ecology, complex adaptive systems, and conserving wild character in intensively managed ecosystems. |
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Ashley Huinker
M.S. Student Boone and Crockett Fellow huinkera@msu.edu Ashley received her bachelor’s degree in biological sciences from Montana State University in 2016. While completing her B.S., she worked as a wildlife intern for Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks performing common loon surveys and assisting with tasks relating to other non-game wildlife interests. Since graduating, she has worked for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources to band waterfowl and on a northern bobwhite quail research project with Oklahoma State University. For her master’s research, Ashley will be studying American woodcock and factors affecting their reproduction and survival, such as local vegetation characteristics of nesting sites. Ashley is especially interested in game bird management and effective education about wildlife conservation efforts, particularly at the elementary and middle school levels. |
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Nick Jaffe
Ph.D. Student Boone and Crockett Fellow jaffenic@msu.edu Nick received his B.S. in Environmental Studies from University of North Carolina - Asheville in 2012 and M.S. in Natural Resource Ecology and Management from Oklahoma State University in 2017. Between degrees, Nick worked in environmental consulting and research labs at Florida International University, where he earned a graduate certificate in Geographic Information Systems. His thesis research focused on the effects of weather extremes on grassland bird abundance and population vital rates as well as the status of conservation priority birds. His dissertation will explore potential effects of predator-prey interactions on the ecology and local economies of the lower peninsula of Michigan. Nick is broadly interested in landscape ecology, spatial ecology, and wildlife conservation. |
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Leslie Skora
M.S. Student Boone and Crockett Fellow skorale1@msu.edu Leslie received her bachelor’s degrees in Natural Resource Management and Biomedical Science at Grand Valley State University in Michigan. Since then she has worked on several research projects involving Kittlitz’s murrelets and salmon at Glacier Bay National Park in Alaska, wolves in Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming, and pine marten in northern Maine. She currently works at Katmai National Park and Preserve in southwest Alaska, where she monitors the brown bear population along the Brooks River and throughout the park. Her research project plans to model fluctuations in the bear population at Katmai and look at factors such as increased visitor use of the park, salmon escapement, competition for limited resources, and other environmental conditions that might be causing changes to bear numbers. |
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Noelle Thompson
Ph.D. Student Boone and Crockett Fellow thomp996@msu.edu Noelle received her B.S. (2015) and M.S. (2017) in Animal Sciences from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her Master's research evaluated the effects of white-tailed deer removal on deer habitat use and spatial clustering. At MSU, her Ph.D. research focuses on identifying cost-effective management strategies for minimizing direct and indirect transmission of chronic wasting disease in Michigan's free-ranging white-tailed deer. Noelle's research interests are in wildlife conservation and management and infectious disease ecology. |
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Jonathan Trudeau
Ph.D. Student Boone and Crockett Fellow jtrudeau@msu.edu Jonathan is from a small rural town in Northeastern Connecticut. He received his B.S. in Wildlife Ecology from the University of New Hampshire in 2013. Between his undergraduate and graduate studies, Jonathan worked for the US Fish and Wildlife Service as a Biological Technician researching loon nesting behavior and mesopredator abundance in northern hardwood and spruce/fir forests. Jonathan is completing his M.S. degree at Ball State University studying space use differences between urban and rural white-tailed deer in southern Indiana. At MSU, his Ph.D. research will focus on factors influencing the movement and dispersal of white-tailed deer along a human development gradient from rural to suburban. Jonathan’s research interests are in urban wildlife ecology, wildlife disease, and management. |
Undergraduate Research Assistants
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Garrett Knowlton
Research Assistant knowlt31@msu.edu Garrett is an undergraduate student at Michigan State University, pursing a degree in Fisheries and Wildlife and a minor in Geographic Information Science. He joined the QWC as a Research Assistant in 2016, assisting with a project evaluating whether reporting bias affects spatial patterning of record-book white-tailed deer at the time of harvest. Garrett expects to graduate in May 2019 and plans to attend graduate school. His interests include wildlife conservation and management, spatial ecology, and the application of research to conservation policy. |
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Addison Pletcher
Research Assistant pletch19@msu.edu Addison is an undergraduate honors student in Lyman Briggs College pursuing a degree in Geoscience through the College of Natural Sciences. She plans to graduate from Michigan State University in 2021 and attend graduate school. Addison joined the QWC in 2018, and focuses on population ecology of white-tailed deer, concentrated on aerial survey data |
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Hunter Stanke
Research Assistant stankehu@msu.edu Hunter is an undergraduate student within the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, majoring in Forestry and Fisheries and Wildlife. He joined the QWC in 2016, and will be working closely with the Deer Disease Initiative focusing on Chronic Wasting Disease. Upon graduation from Michigan State University in 2020, Hunter plans to attend graduate school and work to develop solutions that integrate the needs of natural resource related-industries with local wildlife populations and habitat. |
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