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Most of my research falls at the intersection of basic and applied science. I had a long academic career where my research focused on the physiological, behavioral, and ecological mechanisms that organisms use to cope with their environment. I am now working in private industry trying to build a new model for conservation research where we combine the cutting-edge science commonly associated with academia with the real-world application common in industry. I am especially interested in mitigation of lethal and sub-lethal effects of anthropogenic changes to the environment.
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In practice, this means we work to understand not only how anthropogenic stressors affect ecological communities, but also how we can implement changes that limit the impacts of those stressors. We work on climate change, land-use changes, disease, transportation infrastructure, power infrastructure, and light pollution.
Examples of Ongoing and Continuing Research
Light Pollution: I have long been interested in the effects of light pollution at multiple spatial and temporal scales. We have shown that even temporary light pollution has the potential to disrupt a coevolutionary arms race by changing predator-prey interactions of eared moths and bats, that artificial lights can change foraging behavior in nocturnal birds, and modeled changes in light pollution at a global scale. My interest in this realm has now turned to determining if simple changes in human behaviors regarding artificial light at night can lead to positive changes in biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in lit environments. Recently, I have built a new model of light propagation to determine how small lighting changes can impact the footprint of artificial light at night on the landscape.
Climate Change: Long-term changes in the climate, and the responses of terrestrial endotherms (mammals and birds) to those changes, has been an ongoing thread in my research for more than twenty years. I have published research on changes in thermoregulation, energetics, stress physiology, foraging behavior, and community dynamics driven by climate change. Recently, I have been using long-term weather data to model shifts in insect behavior and the knock-on effects on their predators.
Insectivorous Bats: Much of my academic research was focused on the physiology and ecology of insectivorous bats, especially related to hibernation. I have published papers on everything from energetics to behavior to population dynamics, and because of this interest, I was heavily involved with research on White-nose Syndrome for several years. My recent interest in this area is in how climate change and disease have driven large-scale geographic shifts in hibernating bat populations over the last century.