Graduate Students

JULIA OWEN

PhD Candidate: Genomics of spotted skunks

TAYLOR DAVIS

MSc student: California Elk genetics

TALI CASPI

ANDREA BROAD

PhD Candidate: Black-tailed Deer in the North Coast range of California

MONICA SERRANO

 

GRACE ROSBURG-FRANCOT

MSc student: carnivore diet metabarcoding

CASS RODRIGUEZ

PhD Student: Mountain lion (Puma concolor) population genetics & genomics

 

Current Scholars

MECU POST-DOCTORAL SCHOLARS

Dr. Sophie Preckler-Quisquater (2022–present)

Dr. Josh Hallas (2022–present)

 

 

 

 

 

Past Students and Scholars

MECU GRADUATE STUDENTS

Lauren Hennelly (PhD, 2022) – Divergence, selection, and demographic history of wolves in Eurasia using genomic data

Sophie Preckler-Quisquater (PhD, 2022) – Genomic Analysis Divergence and Secondary Contact in Red Foxes (Vulpes vulpes) and Gray Foxes (Urocyon cinereoargenteus)

Cody Aylward (PhD, 2022) – Genomic Applications to Salt Marsh Harvest Mouse Conservation: Distribution, Divergence, and Dietary Niche

Carly White (MS, 2022) – Before-After-Control-Impact (BACI) Study of Large-Scale Wildfire Effects on Deer Diet Using DNA Metabarcoding

Tom Batter (PhD, 2020) – Development and Implementation of DNA-Based Survey Methods for Population Monitoring of Tule Elk (Cervus canadensis nannodes) in the Interior Coast Ranges of Northern California

Carolyn Whitesell (PhD, 2019) – Movements of Lions and Other Carnivores in Relation to Domestic and Wild Prey in Northwestern Botswana

Cate Quinn (PhD, 2018) – Noninvasive Conservation Genetics of the Sierra Nevada Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes necator) in California and Oregon

Jennifer Brazeal (PhD, 2018) – Utilization of Spatial Capture-Recapture and Non-Invasive Sampling Methods for Monitoring Ungulate Populations

Jocelyn Akins (PhD, 2017) – Connectivity and habitat use of remnant populations of the Washington Cascade fox (F2010-W2017) – National Science and Engineering Research Council fellow 2010-2011

Preston Alden (MS, 2017)  – Sage grouse predation and expanding red fox populations in the Great Basin  (F2013-W2017)

Yi-Hung Kuo (Forensics MS, 2017) – Application of Ancestry-informative SNP Markers to Estimate Genomic Introgression from European Red Foxes (Vulpes vulpes) into North American Red Foxes of the Eastern United States

Kris Kluepfel (MS, 2016) – Y chromosome markers for red foxes (2014-2016)

Kathleen Miles (MS, 2015) – Habitat use of the Sacramento Valley red fox (F2013-2015)

Mourad Gabriel (PhD, 2013) – Population Health of California Fishers (UC Davis, F2008-F2013)

Greta Wengert (PhD, 2013) – Ecology of Intraguild Predation on Fishers (Martes pennanti) in California (UC Davis, F2008-F2013)

Sini Reponen (MS, 2013) – Origins and Population Structure of Feral Dogs on Isabela Island, Galápagos (UC Davis, S2012-S2013)

MaryJo Olegario (MS, 2013) – Development of a short tandem repeat multiplex for Columbian black-tailed deer (UC Davis, S2013)

Donna Imes (MS, 2012) – Identification of single nucleotide polymorphisms within the mtDNA genome of the domestic dog to discriminate individuals with common HVI haplotypes (UC Davis, S2012)

Karen Converse (MS, 2012) – Genetic mating system and territory inheritance in the Sacramento Valley red fox (California State University, Sacramento, Dec 2012)

Sarah Brown (PhD, 2011) – The Use of Genetic Markers to Study the Human-Assisted Dispersal of California Black Bears and Old-World Indigenous Dogs (UC Davis, F2008-W2011)

Katherine Marquez (MS, 2011) – Connectivity of two urban coyote (Canis latrans) populations (Sacramento and San Francisco) to surrounding rural populations (California State University, Sacramento, May 2011)

Marcelle Moore (MS, 2009) – Impacts of encroaching non-native red foxes on the native Sacramento Valley red fox (California State University, Sacramento, Aug 2009)

Marika Ichiyanagi (MS, 2009) – The adaptive context of ultraviolet induced reflectance and fluorescence patterns within the order Rodentia (California State University, Sacramento, Dec 2009)

 

GRADUATE STUDENT COLLABORATORS

Kristyn Schulte (MS, California State University, Sacramento) – Genetic analyses of ringtails in Northern California (2018-2023)

Chelsea Smith (PhD, UC Davis, Anthropology)

Adrienne Egge (University of New Orleans) – Origins and Landscape Genetics of the Eastern Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes) (2010–2016)

Carrie Merson (Texas A & M) – Genetics of a hybrid zone between native and nonnative red foxes of the Rocky Mountains (2011–2016)

Logan Volkmann (Simon Fraser University, BC, Canada, MS Thesis collaborator) – Genetics of a hybrid zone between native and nonnative red foxes of the Rocky Mountains (2011–2014)

Brian Luke (California State University, Sacramento) – Population genetics of California ringtails (2008–2014)

William Gulsby (University of Georgia, PhD Dissertation collaborator) –Estimating coyote abundance through genetic fecal mark-recapture in response to predator management in two deer herds (2010–2014)

 

MECU POST-DOCTORAL SCHOLARS

Dr. Cate Quinn (2018–2023)

Dr. Liz Kierepka (2018–2019)

Dr. Sarah Brown (2011–2014)

Dr. Karin Norén (2011–2015)

 

VISITING SCHOLARS

Dr. Javier Monzon (Sabbatical 2022-2023, Pepperdine University Natural Science Division, Seaver College)

Hira Fatima, Department of Wildlife Management, PMAS-Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi, Pakistan (Fall 2018 – Spring 2019)

Professor Shannon Datwyler (Sabbatical Fall 2011, California State University, Sacramento)

Dr. Lorna Kennedy (Spring 2012, University of Manchester, Centre for Integrated Genomic Medical Research)