I am a behavioral ecologist with expertise in movement ecology and special interests in spatial aspects of trophic interactions and cognitive ecology. I conduct my research using a variety of tools and approaches including analytical, simulation and statistical models, lab and field experiments, and field observations.
The primary goal of my research at the University of Alberta is to develop, test and implement rigorous techniques for integrating critical behavioral and cognitive processes in predicting space-use patterns of wide-ranging animals. As a Killam postdoctoral fellow, I collaborate with Dr. Mark Lewis and Dr. Mark Boyce to address three objectives. First, to mathematically derive a behaviorally-informed mechanistic space-use model, aimed at generating expected spatial distributions of non-territorial animals based on cognitive capacities and landscape attributes. Second, to parameterize and validate this model based on the currently available dataset of elk movement and habitat composition. Third, to apply the parameterized model in predicting elk spatial distribution across the landscape as it is projected to change due to future anthropogenic effects.