Alumni

The Conservation Sciences Graduate Program (formerly known as Conservation Biology) was established in 1990, and our first MS students graduated in 1992. To date 318 students have received a Conservation Biology MS degree. The first Ph.D. students graduated in 1996, and to date, 253 students have received a Ph.D. from the program. Our alumni include a growing number of leaders in the field of Conservation Biology, filling important roles at universities; in federal, regional, state and local agencies; and in non-profit organizations.

We are in the process of collecting more information on our alumni, and will update this page as more data become available. If you are an alumna/alumnus and have not contributed information on your post graduate activities, please complete the Alumni Survey Form and email your photo to the program at conssci@umn.edu.

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Ph.D. Graduates

Name Year Advisor(s) PhD Thesis Title
Mark Ditmer 2014 American black bears: Strategies for living in a fragmented, agricultural landscape
Laura J. Phillips-Mao 2012 Diane Larson,
Nicholas Jordan 		Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata) Invasion &Impacts: implications for management and restoration of woodland herbs.
Genya V. Dana 2010 Anne R. Kapuscinski Testing Stakeholder Engagement in Ecological Risk Analysis: A Case Study of Genetically Modified Maize and South African Biodiversity.
David D. Huff 2010 Raymond Newman,
Bruce Vondracek 		Examining genetic diversity, outbreeding depression, and local adaptation in a native fish reintroduction program.
Kelly M. Pennington 2010 Anne R. Kapuscinski Experiments and models to understand gene flow from transgenic fish in different environments.
Anne M. Cooper 2009 Anne R. Kapuscinski The Ones that Got Away: Resource Overlap and Competition between a Non-native Fish (Oreochromis Niloticus) and Thai Native Species, and Implications for Ecological Risk Assessment.
Margaret S. Guiney 2009 Robert Blair,
Karen Oberhauser 		Caring for Nature: Motivations for and Outcomes of Conservation Volunteer Work.
Hadas Kushnir 2009 Craig Packer,
Stephen Polasky 		Lion attacks on humans in southeastern Tanzania: Risk factors and perceptions.
Erika R. L. Rivers 2009 Philip J. Regal Framing Ecological Risk: Mass Media Frames in the Monarch Butterfly / Transgenic Bt Corn Case.
Robert G. Steinmetz 2009 James L. David Smith Ecological overlap of sympatric sun bears and Asiatic black bears in tropical forest, Thailand.
Christopher L. Burdett 2008 Gerald J. Niemi,
David Mech 		Hierarchical Structure of Canada Lynx Space Use and Habitat Selection in Northeastern Minnesota.
Anthony B. Gamble 2008 Andrew Simons Origins and Diversification of New World Geckos.
Bhim B. Gurung 2008 James L. David Smith Ecological and Sociological Aspects of Human-Tiger Conflicts in Chitwan National Park, Nepal.
Olivia E. LeDee 2008 Francesca J. Cuthbert Canaries on the Coastline: Estimating Survival and Evaluating the Relationship Between Non-Breeding Shorebirds, Coastal Development and Beach Management Policy.
Michelle L. Wieland 2008 Todd Arnold,
Tamara L. Giles-Vernick 		Wildlife Conservation in Social, Economic, and Ecological Contexts: Multiple Stakeholders and Extraordinary Resource Value in a Congolese National Park.
Dawn Kathryn Glaser Patterson 2007 Kristen Nelson Landowner Decision-making, Land Retirement, and Wildlife Conservation: The Conservation Reserve Program and the Reinvest in Minnesota Program in Southeastern Minnesota.
Anne-Marie Hoskinson 2006 Claudia Neuhauser,
Anthony M. Starfield 		Additive Partitioning Reveals Spatial Patterns of Plant Species Diversity in a Sagebrush Steppe.
Daniel B. Kramer 2005 Stephen Polasky Interdisciplinary Essays in Conservation Biology.
Mark C. Myers 2005 Stephen Polasky,
James L. David Smith 		Endangered Wildlife Conservation in the Neotropics: Lessons and Strategies from Costa Rica.
Kristen L. Blann 2004 Bruce Vondracek Landscape scale analysis of stream fish communities: lessons from southeastern Minnesota
Jon R. Rosales 2004 George Spangler Renditions of Progress: United Nations Climate Change Policy and the Values of Tradable Permits.
Suzanne Savanick 2004 Jim Perry Campus Ecology Bridging the Gap Between Campus Sustainability Efforts and Urban Ecology.
Kim A. Chapman 2001 Peter Reich Conserving Regional Biodiversity: Role of Reserves, Rural Lands and Surburbs in the Prairie-Forest Transition, Minnesota, USA.
David C. Evers 2001 Francesca J. Cuthbert Common Loon Population Studies: Continental Mercury Patterns and Breeding Territory Philopatry.
Thomas E. Fish 2001 Dorothy H. Anderson Landowner Perceptions of Ecosystems Health in Upper Great Lake States Riparian Landscapes.
David F. Romo 2001 Richard E. Phillips A Computerized Sound Analysis Method for Monitoring Anuran Diversity in the Amazon Basin of Ecuador.
Mark D. Decker 2000 Kendall W. Corbin Gene Flow And Genetic Structure In A Spatially-Structured Beetle Population.
Matthew A. Etterson 2000 Francesca J. Cuthbert,
Robert M. Zink 		Spatial Ecology and Mating System of a Declining Songbird.
Paul M. Mayer 1998 Susan Galatowitsch,
John R. Tester 		Using Indicators of Community Structure and Ecosystem Function to Assess the Biological Integrity and Recovery of Restored Prarie Wetlands.
Theerapat Prayurasiddhi 1997 James L. David Smith The Ecological Separation of Gaur (Bos gaurus) and Banteng (Bos javanicus) in Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary, Thailand.

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M.S. Graduates

Name Year Advisor(s) Thesis Title
Brandon M. Breen 2011 Francesca J. Cuthbert Sheep farmers and turkey vultures (Cathartes aura) in the Falkland Islands: From conflict to coexistence.
Bonnie Sample 2008 Robert Blair Restored Urban Prairies as Habitat for Grassland Birds: If You Build it, Who Will Come?
Jessica J. Koehle 2006 Ira R. Adelman The Effects of High Temperature, Low Dissolved Oxygen, and Asian Tapeworm Infection on Growth and Survival of the Topeka shiner, Notropis topeka.
Sara M. Simmers 2006 Susan Galatowitsch Recovery of Semi-arid Grassland on Recontoured and Revegetated Oil Access Roads.
Margaret S. Guiney 2005 David A. Andow Population Dynamics and Nectar Preference of the Karner Blue Butterfly, Lycaeides Melissa Samuelis (Nabokov) (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae).
Olivia E. LeDee 2005 Francesca J. Cuthbert Winter Distribution of Piping Plovers on the U.S. Gulf of Mexico: An Analysis of Habitat Characteristics at Major Wintering Sites.
Jeanine M. Refsnider 2005 Andrew Simons Reproductive Ecology of Blanding's Turtles (Emydoidea blandingii) in East-Central Minnesota.
Grant D. Spickelmier 2005 David Fulton The New Zoo?: Construction and Validation of a Scale Measuring Zoo Visitor Beliefs about the Function of Zoos.
Jacquelyn N. Bacigalupi 2004 Ira R. Adelman Effects of Estrogenic Compounds on Walleye, Sander Vitreus, Near the Metropolitan Sewage Treatment Plant, Saint Paul, Minnesota.
Kari A. Jacobson 2004 Diane Larson,
Nicholas Jordan 		Smooth Brome (Bromus inermis) Invasions in Restored Prairies: Effects of Native Functional Group Composition and Richness, and Soil Disturbance.
Robert G. Steinmetz 2004 James L. David Smith The Ecology of Gaur (Bos gaurus) and Banteng (B. javanicus) in Xe Pian Protected Area, Lao PDR and Collaborative Conservation and Monitoring of Wildlife in Protected Areas of Lao PDR.
Anthony B. Gamble 2003 Jeffrey Lang,
Andrew Simons 		Commercial Harvest of Painted Turtles in Minnesota.
Bhim B. Gurung 2003 James L. David Smith Mapping the Meta-Population Structure of Tigers Throughout Nepal By Establishing a Tiger Monitoring Network of "Village Rangers."
Mark C. Myers 2002 Baird's Tapir (Tapirus Bairdii) Conservation in the Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica: Lessons from the Natural and Policymaking Environments.
Brent J. Sewall 2002 Diane Larson,
Anthony M. Starfield 		Fruit Bat Ecology and Conservation in the Comoros Islands
David S. Wilsey 2002 Kristen Nelson Business or Pleasure: Factors Motivating Nothern Minnesota Non-Timber Forest Product Harvesters.
Kristen L. Blann 2000 Bruce Vondracek Catchment And Riparian Scale Influences On Coldwater Streams And Stream Fish In Southeastern Minnesota.
Emily K. Green 2000 Susan Galatowitsch Effects of Nitrate-N Addition on Wetland Plant Community Establishment and Competition with Invasive Species.
Jennifer A. Szymanski 1999 Francesca J. Cuthbert,
Karen Oberhauser 		Population and Spatial Ecology of the Mitchell's Satyr Butterfly Neonympha m. mitchelli French in Southwestern Michigan.
Karen G. Schik 1998 Susan Galatowitsch,
John R. Tester 		The Impact of Agricultural Land Uses Impacts on Wetland Avian Communities: The Usefulness of Avian Guilds and Evaluation of Inpacts of Different Landscape Scales.
Richard M. Lehtinen 1997 Susan Galatowitsch,
John R. Tester 		Factors Affecting the Distribution of Amphibians in Depressional Wetlands.
Douglas M. Mensing 1997 Susan Galatowitsch,
John R. Tester 		Anthropogenic Effects on the Biodiversity of Riparian Wetlands of Central Minnesota Streams.
Eric W. Hanson 1996 Donald Siniff Monitoring the Common Loon Population in Minnesota: Assessment of the 1994 and 1995 Survey Results, the Accuracy of Volunteers and Aerial Surveys, and the Power of Detecting Trends.

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