Principal Investigator
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Chris Schalk
Assistant Professor of Forest Wildlife Management PhD. 2016 - Texas A&M University Email: schalkc [at] sfasu [dot] edu |
Graduate Students
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Connor Adams
M.S. Student, Forestry B.S., Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences Texas A&M University |
Connor's project examines the effects of forest management practices on food-web structure and trait-based community organization in upland pine ecosystems. The objective of this research is to understand how anthropogenic influenced land-use change affects the trajectories of ecological community organization.
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David Rosenbaum
M.S. Student, Forestry B.S., Environmental Science Baylor University |
David is surveying Alligator Snapping Turtles (Macrochelys temmickii) in Texas to elucidate their current distribution, occupancy, and mercury loading in relation to various microhabitat, watershed, and landscape variables. Because the species is at high risk of extirpation in the state, these results will inform conservation strategies.
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Jake Swanson
M.S. Student, Environmental Science B.S., Natural Resource Ecology and Management Oklahoma State University |
Jake is studying role of environmental variables on fish community assembly across multiple spatial scales. Specifically, he will examine how fish functional traits correlate to environmental variables in Texas streams.
Jake is co-advised by Dr. Carmen Montaña. |
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Liam Wolff
M.S. Student, Forestry B.S., Ecology Augusta University |
Liam is studying the distribution of the Bachman’s Sparrow (Peucaea aestivalis) on the western fringe of its range using point-count surveys and passive audio sampling across a habitat quality gradient. This research aims to evaluate the species’ distribution in Texas by ground-truthing an established species distribution model.
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Undergraduate Students
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Kasey Jobe
Biology |
For the past two summers, Kasey studied the risk of snake entanglement in erosion control products.
Kasey also studied the predators of salamanders by quantifying their diversity and their predator-prey size relationships. |
Lab Alumni
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John Michael Arnett (2020)
B.S., Forestry - Forest Wildlife Management |
John Michael studied the overlap of non-native Mediterranean House Geckos (Hemidactylus turcicus) and lizards native to East Texas (Plestiodon, Scincella, Anolis) along multiple niche dimensions, including their habitat, trophic, and isotopic niches.
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Sarah Ebert (2019)
B.S., Biology - Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Minor - Forestry |
Sarah worked on a project examining snake entanglement in erosion control mesh netting. Results from this project will be used to develop best practices that minimize threats of erosion control materials on wildlife.
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Hailey Hester (2019)
B.S., Forestry - Forest Wildlife Management |
Hailey described the advertisement calls of the frogs from the Gran Chaco ecoregion of Bolivia.
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Nick Schiwitz (2019)
B.S., Forestry - Forest Wildlife Management Minor - Spatial Science |
Nick studied the activity rate - predation risk tradeoff in larval anurans. This work sought to understand how interspecific variation in activity rate corresponds to species' distributions along the pond hydroperiod gradient.
Nick also studied the risk of snake entanglement in erosion control products. |
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Dylan Thompson (2020)
B.S., Forestry - Forest Wildlife Management |
Dylan investigated the functional role of the Little Brown Skink (Scincella lateralis) in East Texas forest food webs. He quantified the abundance, biomass, and occupancy of skinks across a forest management gradient.
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Krista Ward (2019)
B.S., Biology - Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Minor - Forestry |
Krista studied the effects of installation method of erosion control blankets on snake entanglement. She also classified the diversity of available erosion control products based on their different attributes.
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Collaborators
Mike Cove - North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences
Lee Fitzgerald - Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences, Texas A&M University
Dan Leavitt - Naval Air Weapons Station, China Lake, U.S. Navy
Tom Luhring - Department of Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska
Carmen Montaña - Department of Biology, Stephen F. Austin State University
Dan Saenz - Southern Research Station, U.S. Forest Service
Ronald Sosa - Museo de Historia Natural Noel Kempff Mercado, Santa Cruz, Bolivia
Lee Fitzgerald - Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences, Texas A&M University
Dan Leavitt - Naval Air Weapons Station, China Lake, U.S. Navy
Tom Luhring - Department of Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska
Carmen Montaña - Department of Biology, Stephen F. Austin State University
Dan Saenz - Southern Research Station, U.S. Forest Service
Ronald Sosa - Museo de Historia Natural Noel Kempff Mercado, Santa Cruz, Bolivia
