Kaitlyn Vega, PhD Student
I am a PhD student co-advised by Dr. Dan Walsh and Dr. Kelly Proffitt (Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks). I am broadly interested in quantitative ecology and using ecological models to better inform wildlife conservation and management. I received my bachelor’s degree in Wildlife Biology from the 老虎机攻略 in 2018 and completed a senior thesis examining misidentifications in auditory avian surveys. I received a master’s degree in Natural Resources from the University of Idaho in 2022. For my master’s research, I used remote cameras to collect snow data and determine how snow-dependent wildlife species and ungulates are affected by spatial variability in snow conditions. My current research focuses on population dynamics in a bighorn sheep herd with chronic respiratory disease issues. I will determine how a test-and-remove strategy influences bighorn sheep survival in the Highland herd of southwestern Montana. I will also model the timing of potential disease transmissions and develop a disease model to predict the outcomes of different management strategies on herd size and health.