Widespread environmental change affects wildlife health in complex ways, including via altered physiological processes and parasite-host interactions. Understanding the consequences and relative importance of potential stressors on wildlife health is important to prioritize conservation approaches. Accordingly, my research draws on the fields of conservation physiology and disease ecology to develop predictive, theoretical frameworks and to identify the mechanisms by which wildlife respond to change. As one example, colleagues and I have been studying growth patterns in grizzly bears to determine whether exploitation, habitat change, or climate-mediated changes in food availability most strongly influence phenotypic traits over time. As a second example, we are investigating the consequences of exploitation by hunters on disease dynamics in wildlife populations. Our approach involves comparisons with non-human predators, which may provide guidance towards novel strategies for disease management. These case studies highlight the complexity of responses by wildlife to environmental change and underscore the value of using approaches such as conservation physiology and disease ecology to understand the relative importance of interacting stressors on wildlife health.

The Natural Resources & Environmental Studies Institute (NRESi) at UNBC hosts a weekly lecture series at the Prince George campus. Anyone from the university or wider community with interest in the topic area is welcome to attend. Presentations are also made available to remote participants through Livestream (Channel 1). Go to http://www.unbc.ca/nres-institute/colloquium-webcasts to view the presentation remotely.

Past NRESi colloquium presentations and special lectures can be viewed on our video archive, available here.