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We are Hiring a Researcher!

The Road Ecology Center is looking for a researcher to help with our various projects. The position covers data collection and analysis, field and/or computational work, writing reports and publications, and working with diverse organizations.  Lots of opportunities for diverse work experience and professional advancement.

What’s Wrong with (Most) Connectivity Modeling?

(The author has carried out and published most of the connectivity modeling described here, with some of the earliest (e.g., for CA) and largest (e.g., for China) connectivity models. Over the same period, he has also collected and published wildlife connectivity data/evidence, including using camera traps, wildlife-vehicle collision, opportunistic and transect observation, animal sign, GPS-collars, and genetic approaches. The opinions here are based on this experience.)

2023 Year-in-Review & 2024 What’s Next?

Bad News: It’s been a year of many firsts around the world. Most heat records were broken, including for the hottest year on record and highest ocean-surface temperatures. There were consequences of this heat for things we know how to measure (like wildfires, sea-ice cover and glacial melting) and many unknown consequences for myriad microbial, plant, and animal species and communities.

New Road Ecology Center Article: Large-Extent Evaluation of Linkage Models

"Linkage" models are usually developed based on human assumptions about wildlife response to disturbance, and assume perfect knowledge of landscapes by wildlife.  They also result in idealized "linkages" or similar emphasis areas for connectivity conservation.  They are rarely developed based on occurrence or movement information for multiple species, or validated using wildlife occurrence or movement data. In this paper we evaluated 4 connectivity models at the California extent (424,000 km2) and one at a quarter of that extent (Mojave desert).

Happy Easter/Ostara

Hi Road Ecology Center friends. What a wonderful Spring its turning out to be. This is a quick message to wish you a belated Ostara and an early Easter. 

Southern California Mountain Lions Face Major Risks from Highways, New Funding will help

In this recent news special from San Diego, the traffic impact facing mountain lions (Puma concolor) in both urbanized and rural areas is highlighted. With incredible footage from REC colleague Dr. Winston Vickers (UC Davis Vet-Med), the various threats and possible solutions are described, especially important with the advent of new funding from the Wildlife Conservation Board.