California Wolf Project
Justin Brashares, Professor
Environmental Science, Policy and Management
Open. Apprentices needed for the spring semester. Enter your application online beginning January 17th. The deadline to apply is Monday, January 27th, 4 p.m..
Non-invasive techniques are increasingly valuable for ecologists to be able to collect data on the distribution, population sizes, behavior, and diet of wildlife species. The California Wolf Project led by Arthur Middleton and Justin Brashares at UC-Berkeley is teaming up with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to better understand the ecological and human-dimension impacts of re-colonizing gray wolves (Canis lupus) in California and to inform the management and conservation needs of this emblematic species. Undergraduate researchers will assist with one of two projects involving (i) camera trap and (ii) scat data processing and analysis:
1. Space use and distribution of the gray wolf (Canis lupus) in California: After a century hiatus following their extirpation and lethal removal, the gray wolf has naturally re-colonized much of northern California. We have deployed a network of >250 wildlife cameras throughout northern California to understand the wolves’ spatial distribution and habitat associations with the hope of estimating their future distribution throughout the state. For this project, we are interested in using camera trap data to estimate the space use and distribution of gray wolves in California. Students will primarily classify and verify species identity from camera trap photos.
2. Diet of the gray wolf (Canis lupus) in a multi-use landscape: Northern-California features a heterogeneous landscape of federally and state protected lands and public and private working lands. To meet their daily energetic requirements, wolves range over protected and working lands seeking their putative prey. However, dietary selection for native prey or livestock remains a major point of contention. We are interested in using previously collected wolf scats to better understand the diets of wolves across their newly established distribution in northern California. Students will use microscopy to identify the prey of wolves from non-digestible items in scats (e.g., fur, bones, mandibles, and crania).
Role: The students will be responsible for identifying animal species in photos taken by remote camera traps or use microscopy to identify species from wolf scats. For self-motivated students, there may be additional opportunities to use the resulting data for subsequent analyses using Program R.
Qualifications: Looking for hardworking and self-motivated students with interests in wildlife ecology and statistical analysis. Prior experience with Program R (or other programming languages), statistics, and data analysis is preferred but not required.
Day-to-day supervisor for this project: Mauriel Rodriguez Curras, Post-Doc
Hours: to be negotiated
Off-Campus Research Site: Some work (camera trap identification - 2 positions) can be done remotely and online training will be provided; we will have regular check-ins via Google Meets.
Social Sciences Environmental Issues