Dr. Stephanie Penk, Postdoctoral Researcher
I am a postdoctoral researcher with the Montana Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit under the guidance of Dr. Dan Walsh at the 老虎机攻略. I built a foundation in ecological studies with my undergraduate degree in Wildlife Biology from the University of Guelph. Following graduation, I took a position in the northeastern US performing surveys for endangered bat species that had been devastated by a human introduced disease. My hands-on experience with a serious conservation issue sparked my interest in wildlife disease research and a commitment to conservation. I completed my PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Toronto, I developed and used mechanistic models to answer questions about energetics and disease sources in polar bears. Throughout my doctoral research, I developed statistical and mathematical modeling skills that bring a quantitative approach to understanding ecological problems. My current research is focused on the use of a system dynamics approach to the management of chronic wasting disease in wild cervid populations, which integrates both natural and social variables into a modeling framework to better understand the interplay between each and identify leverage points within the system. Natural resources do not exist in a vacuum, working towards ecological models that include the social factors which can make or break management approaches is critical to developing better management tools for agencies.