Introductions, shall we?

Greetings!

We’re excited to get the TWS Molecular Ecology Working Group blog up and running again! Our goal is to post and discuss a suite of topics related to the role of molecular ecology in wildlife conservation. We hope to accomplish our goal by highlighting the folks that have lead the charge in molecular ecology research, discuss the techniques they employ, and demonstrate how molecular ecology is advancing wildlife conservation and management. We’d like to start off by introducing our 2018 Molecular Ecology Working Group officers.

Dr. Stacie Robinson is our battle hardened-former leader (Past Chair) and is a research ecologist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Hawaiian Monk Seal Research Program. Specifically, Stacie is a part of the Science-based Enhancement and Analytical Support (SEAS) team where she conducts research on sources of mortality and population trend for Hawaiian monk seals. 

Dr. Emily Latch is our fearless leader (Chair) and is an associate professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Her research lab is focused on the evolutionary response of species to intensive management practices, how the landscape shapes the genetic structure of a species, and the phylogeography of highly mobile species that are continuously distributed on the landscape.

Dr. Kristin Brzeski is our fearless leader-in-training (Chair-Elect) and is an Assistant Professor at Michigan Tech. Kristin’s research spans North American and includes projects on the noninvasive genetic sampling of otters in California, effects of inbreeding on red wolves in North Carolina, urbanization's role in the epigenetics of songbirds in Louisiana, and evaluating the ancestry genetics of North American canids. Kristin is also working internationally with the Biodiversity Initiative to study the effects of habitat fragmentation on biodiversity in Equatorial Guinea, Africa.

Dr. Liz Kierepka is jotting down our great ideas and counting the money (Secretary-Treasurer) while being a postdoctoral researcher at Trent University. Liz has a wide range of experience in molecular ecology research including projects on hybridization dynamics, genetic mark-recapture, phylogeography, genetic impacts of fragmentation and habitat loss, invasive species, and source-sink dynamics.

Dr. Valorie Titus ensures the MEWG message is reaching our members (Communications Director) and is an Assistant Professor at Green Mountain College. Valorie is researching the effects of natural and anthropogenic land use changes on amphibian and reptile populations. She is also interested in emerging disease impacts on reptile and amphibian communities.

Lastly, we have our board members who represent a wide array of sectors that employ and train molecular ecologists. Our board members serve as a resource to help provide leadership and participation in the working group. Dr. Kristin Brzeski is our communications enthusiasts representative. Dr. Sara Oyler-McCance represents federal and state agencies and works as a research geneticist with the USGS at the Fort Collins Science Center. Dr. Stephen Spear is our non-governmental organization representative and a scientist for The Wilds, which is a private, non-profit conservation center that combines conservation science and education programs. Dr. Randy DeYoung is an Associate Professor and Research Scientist at Texas A&M – Kingsville with molecular ecology research projects ranging from masked bobwhite quail to gray fox and mule deer. Allie DeCandia is our student representative and a Ph.D. student at Princeton University where she is researching disease susceptibility of wolves in Yellowstone National Park and assisting with the Canine Ancestry Project.

Phew! There were a few folks to introduce (and more behind the scenes serving on various committees), but we are excited to have them all working together and leading our working group to advance the field of molecular ecology. Stay tuned for future posts as in addition to the topics introduced in the beginning, we will also be previewing our workshop and symposium at the Annual TWS conference in Cleveland, OH this fall and releasing our newest in-the-works project, a podcast!