{"id":281,"date":"2015-11-17T16:52:17","date_gmt":"2015-11-17T16:52:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grad.biology.ualberta.ca\/merrill\/?page_id=281"},"modified":"2024-04-12T20:08:58","modified_gmt":"2024-04-12T20:08:58","slug":"eric-spilker","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/grad.biology.ualberta.ca\/merrill\/eric-spilker\/","title":{"rendered":"Eric Spilker, M.Sc. Student"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"eric\"<\/a>My study area is in the upper Red Deer River watershed where we are looking at how multiple species\u00a0of predators spatially interact and how distribution resulting from these interactions may translate into\u00a0gradients of predation risk to elk and other ungulates in the area. To gather my data, I used scat-detection dogs (with help from Conservation Canines) to find scats from grizzly bear, black bear, wolf,\u00a0coyote, cougar, lynx and bobcat. Using scat locations, I am creating Resource Selection Functions\u00a0(RSFs) for each individual predator species that will be based on available resources as well as the\u00a0presence of other predator\u2019s scats. I will also be using an existing data set of locations of known-predator kill sites of elk to determine how the distribution of the predator community may be affecting\u00a0risk to elk.<\/p>\n

Contact Information:<\/strong>
\nOffice: CCIS 1-238
\nEmail: spilker@ualberta.ca
\nPhone number: 587-784-7829<\/p>\n

\"eric3\"<\/a>Awards:
\n<\/strong>Best Poster, R.E. Peters Symposium (1\/17)
\nCanadian Section of the Wildlife Society Travel Award (9\/15)
\nQE2 (9\/15 \u2013 5\/16)
\nCanada Graduate Scholarship (Master’s Program) – NSERC (2014)
\nScience Graduate Scholarship – University of Alberta (2014)
\nWalter H. Johns Graduate Fellowship – University of Alberta (2014)<\/p>\n

Technical Reports:
\n<\/strong>Spilker, E., and E. Merrill. 2016. Carnivore Scat Survey in the Red Deer River Drainage. 2016 Progress Report. University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada. 11 pages.
\nBerg, J., C. Intering, E. Spilker, M. Hebblewhite, and E. Merrill. 2014. Persistence of the Ya Ha Tinda elk population: Long-term monitoring and calf survival. 2014 Parks Canada Progress Report. University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada. 55 pages.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
Presentations:\u00a0<\/strong><\/div>\n
Columbia Mountains Institute of Applied Ecology Predator\/Prey Conference, Revelstoke BC. April 2016. Presented: Spilker, E., K. MacAulay, E. Merrill, R. Steenweg, M. Hebblewhite, and J. Whittington. 2016. Assessing relative abundance and resource selection functions for predicting predation risk in a multi-species predator community.
\nUniversity of Alberta R.E. Peter Biology Conference, Edmonton AB. March 2016. Co-authored: MacAulay, K., E. Spilker, R. Steenweg, J. Whittington and E. Merrill. 2016. Do spatial differences in diet reflect predation risk for elk?: A proposal.<\/div>\n
(Provided data).
\nAlberta Chapter of the Wildlife Society Conference, Drumheller AB. March 2016. Presented: Spilker, E., E. Merrill, R. Steenweg, M. Hebblewhite, and J. Whittington. 2016. Predation risk posed to bighorn sheep by a carnivore community in the Rocky Mountains of Alberta.
\nWild Sheep Foundation of Alberta Conference, Red Deer AB. March 2016. Presented: Spilker, E., E. Merrill, R. Steenweg, M. Hebblewhite, and J. Whittington. 2016. Predation risk posed to bighorn sheep by a carnivore community in the Rocky Mountains of Alberta.
\nThe Wildlife Society Canadian Annual Conference, Winnipeg, AB. November 2015 Presented: Spilker, E., E. Merrill, J. Berg, R. Steenweg, M. Hebblewhite, and J. Whittington. 2015. Spatial interactions and predation risk in a multiple carnivore community in the Rocky Mountains of Alberta.
\nAlberta Chapter of the Wildlife Society Conference, Edmonton AB. April 2015. Presented: Spilker, E., E. Merrill, J. Berg, R. Steenweg, M. Hebblewhite, and J. Whittington. 2015. Spatial interactions and predation risk in multi-carnivore communities in the Rocky Mountains of Alberta.
\nAlberta Chapter of the Wildlife Society Conference, Edmonton AB. April 2015 Co-authored: Bohart, A., A. Skurdal, A. Beatty, E. Spilker, J. Berg, E. Merrill. 2015. Summer diet of sympatric carnivores at the Ya Ha Tinda, Alberta.<\/div>\n
(Provided data and assisted with analyses).
\nInternational Association of Bear Research & Management, Canmore AB. May 2015. Presented: Spilker, E., E. Merrill, J. Berg, R. Steenweg, M. Hebblewhite, and J. Whittington. 2015. Spatial interactions and predation risk in multi-carnivore communities in the Rocky Mountains of Alberta.
\nUndergraduate Research Conference, Thompson Rivers University. Kamloops BC. March 2014. Presented: Spilker, E. and K. Larsen. 2013. Temperature-habitat relationships of the American pika (Ochotona princeps) in an atypical environment.<\/div>\n
\n

 <\/p>\n

Funding Agencies:
\n<\/strong>Alberta Conservation Association (Grants in Biodiversity)
\n<\/strong>Safari Club International Northern Alberta Chapter
\n<\/strong><\/span>Wild Sheep Foundation of Alberta
\n<\/strong><\/span>TD Friends of the Environment Foundation
\n<\/strong><\/span>International Association for Bear Research Management<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My study area is in the upper Red Deer River watershed where we are looking at how multiple species\u00a0of predators spatially interact and how distribution resulting from these interactions may translate into\u00a0gradients of predation risk to elk and other ungulates in the area. To gather my data, I used scat-detection dogs (with help from Conservation … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"templates\/full-width.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-281","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/grad.biology.ualberta.ca\/merrill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/281","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/grad.biology.ualberta.ca\/merrill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/grad.biology.ualberta.ca\/merrill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grad.biology.ualberta.ca\/merrill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/60"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grad.biology.ualberta.ca\/merrill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=281"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/grad.biology.ualberta.ca\/merrill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/281\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1044,"href":"https:\/\/grad.biology.ualberta.ca\/merrill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/281\/revisions\/1044"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/grad.biology.ualberta.ca\/merrill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}