The Wilcove Team
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Bethany A. Bradley (postdoc): My work seeks to understand how land cover is changing, identify what the drivers of change may be (e.g., land use), and predict the impacts of land cover change on ecosystems. I have a PhD in geological sciences from Brown University, where I used remote sensing and geospatial analyses as my primary tools to assess long-term land cover trends in the Great Basin desert of the western U.S. At Princeton, I am working to better understand the geography of plant invasion, as well as how different ecosystems respond to (and recover from) extreme weather events. |
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Nathan Gregory (graduate student):
My research explores the role of human-generated disturbance, namely controlled fire and livestock grazing, in structuring bird communities in the Laikipia District of Kenya. My collaborators and I hope to provide useful information to landowners considering the use of fire as a management tool in a system where fire has long been suppressed. As a Princeton Environmental Institute/ Science, Technology, and Environmental Policy Fellow, I am exploring the environmental history of central Kenya and the legacy of colonial land-use policies. I grew up in Denver, Colorado and received my BA in environmental biology from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1998. Before coming to Princeton, I worked for local and federal management agencies on wildlife and conservation issues in Colorado, Hawaii, and Alaska. I'm currently involved in Greening Princeton, an organization of undergraduate and graduate students that works with University administration to promote environmental sustainability on campus. My non-academic interests include photography and art, camping, hiking, and film. |
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Lian Pin Koh (graduate student): I graduated from the National University of Singapore with degrees in Bachelor and Master of Science. Currently at Princeton, I continue to have a keen interest in the conservation and ecology of Southeast Asian biodiversity, particularly of butterflies. For my PhD, I am investigating the impacts of land use change on Southeast Asia's biodiversity, and exploring ways to enhance the level of biodiversity in human altered landscapes (e.g., oil palm plantations). The overarching theme of my research is to reconcile human activities with biodiversity conservation. |
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Josh Hooker (postdoc): My position here involves researching the impacts of climate change on biodiversity and invasive species. I'm also interested in the impacts of climate change on spatial patterns of biodiversity as well as other eco-climatic systems (e.g. agriculture). I have a DPhil from Oxford University, UK, in remotely sensed ecology and conservation planning. During my DPhil I also worked at the Natural History Museum, London, UK, and the Dept Biology, Bergen University, Norway. Satellite imagery really can indicate significant components of biodiversity on the ground. A demonstrably effective means of using this information to identify areas for conservation is needed. This is ongoing work. |
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Emily Nicholson (postdoc): My research focuses on decision-making for conservation and environmental management using a decision theory framework, where the goals, constraints and uncertainties are made explicit. Currently David Wilcove and I are working with The Nature Conservancy to develop methods for assessing their progress in conserving biodiversity, focusing on the Florida Peninsula Ecoregion. My PhD research at the University of Queensland’s Spatial Ecology Lab was on conservation planning for the persistence of multiple species. I used metapopulation models to account for the impact on species viability of the amount, quality and spatial configuration of habitat in a reserve network. I am also interested in methods for considering uncertainty in decision-making. |
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David Pattemore (graduate student): I am just starting my graduate program here at Princeton University. I come from New Zealand, where I have been working for the last three and a half years for Forest and Bird, NZ's largest conservation NGO. Prior to that, I completed my MSc at The University of Auckland in early 2003, investigating the behavioral response and survival of some translocated North Island robin populations in their new habitat. My interests lie in the intersection between the science of ecology and conservation management practices. I hope to look into current issues of the design and management of conservation reserves, especially given our uncertain climatic future.
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Will Turner (former postdoc)
Will was a post-doctoral fellow from 2003-2006, working on issues pertaining to reserve design and management. He is now a research scientist at Conservation International, which makes the rest of us quite jealous. |
