Shashank Poudel, Ph.D. Candidate

Email: sp2489@cornell.edu

Shashank completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in Development Studies from Kathmandu University (2009) and a M.S degree in Environmental Science from Tongji University (2012). He worked as a Networking Officer for BBC Media Action and as a Conservation Officer for National Trust for Nature Conservation. Shashank’s PhD research focuses on human-leopard conflict in Nepal.

Angela Fuller, Ph.D.

Email: angela.fuller@cornell.edu

Research in our lab provides information that contributes to the conservation or management of wildlife species and influences the way species and landscapes are managed. We study the spatial ecology of species, investigating how spatial landscape patterns influence the distribution, density, or dynamics of animal populations. Much of our focus is on understanding how spatial variation in the environment influences resource use, movements, and population ecology of species. We employ methods for population estimation that incorporate spatial or landscape processes, linking population ecology and landscape ecology. We also focus on human-wildlife coexistence.

Our focus on decision science allows us to contribute to informed conservation and management decision making. We apply structured decision making (SDM) and adaptive management to guide natural resource management and policy outcomes. SDM is a process for helping to make management or policy decisions in a clear and transparent way, and involves evaluating how well alternative management strategies do at achieving objectives that have been identified by the decision maker(s) and stakeholders. This work integrates quantitative modeling to help predict outcomes of the management strategies that were developed to achieve the stated objectives.

Dr. Martin Gilbert, B.M.V.S, Ph.D.

Email: m.gilbert@cornell.edu

I am interested in pursuing health-related research that has direct relevance to the conservation of wildlife, particularly carnivores and scavengers. This includes approaches to understand how endangered species are impacted at a population level by infectious disease (such as canine distemper virus in free-ranging Amur tigers), as well non-infectious agents (such as the pharmaceutical diclofenac in Asian vultures). Health processes can also impact predator populations indirectly, in circumstances where disease influences the availability of prey resources. In each of these situations disease processes must be understood at a landscape scale, whether through the epidemiology of multi-host pathogens operating across the domestic-wild interface, or through the social drivers that influence the use of toxic compounds in the environment. The road to addressing these issues begins in the field, and requires a multi-disciplinary approach, drawing on a diversity of skills that includes (but is not limited to): ecology, pathology, clinical medicine, molecular biology, microbiology, toxicology, population modeling, spatial analytics, sociology and ultimately policy. By fostering such collaborative partnerships we gain a more complete understanding of wildlife health issues, creating a platform to identify practical measures to mitigate the conservation impact on species in the wild.

Dr. Richard Stedman, Ph.D.

Email: rcs6@cornell.edu

Richard Stedman is Professor and Chair of the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment at Cornell University, where he also is Associate Director of the Center for Conservation Social Sciences and a member of the Graduate Field of Development Sociology.

​Dr Stedman earned his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin (Sociology/Rural Sociology), his M.S. from Cornell University, and his BA from the University of Wisconsin.  Prior to his arrival at Cornell University in 2007, he served as a faculty member in the Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology at The Pennsylvania State University (2002-2007), and led the Social Science Research Group for the Canadian Forest Service in Edmonton Alberta.

​​Stedman’s research, teaching, and outreach is rooted in social-ecological systems.  An author of over 200 peer reviewed works, he is especially interested in sense of place—as the meanings and attachments that are held for particular landscapes—and the role of environmental quality in underpinning this connection.  He also focuses on the well-being of resource dependent communities, especially communities in transition.  Much of his recent work in this area targets issues related to energy transitions, ranging from shale gas to large scale renewable efforts, but he also has keen interests in water, wildlife, and fishery systems, domestically and internationally.  When not engaged in these activities, he enjoys all manner of outdoor pursuits, especially those that put food on the table, and writing mediocre poetry.

Undergraduate Interns:

Lucy Cheeley

Email: ljc245@cornell.edu

My name is Lucy Cheeley, and I am a junior studying animal science and education at Cornell University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. My goal after university is to work as an ornithologist. Some of my hobbies include birdwatching, playing drums in the Cornell Big Red Marching Band and exploring the outdoors! During my first year of undergrad, I lived in Bar Harbor, Maine, studying birds in Acadia National Park where I spent most mornings surveying for the Maine Bird Atlas, a citizen science project documenting wide-scale nesting behavior. I am particularly interested in large birds of prey, and I am heavily involved as a volunteer with the Cornell Raptor Program, a wildlife rehab facility that houses over 30 hawks, falcons, owls, vultures, and more. I also serve as the student representative of the New York State Chapter of The Wildlife Society, a large network of wildlife biologists and conservationists from NYS and beyond. I am very excited to learn about new species in Nepal. My independent project is about finding a correlation, if any, between Red Jungle Fowl, Black Francolin, and leopards. I will be looking at the camera trapping data from the spring of 2022 and seeing how the distribution between these species compare. I will also be conducting a point count to get a sense of what birds are in the area, and potentially start a long term population analysis of Baghmara Community Forest with the Bird Eductation Society. 

Laura Bernert

Email: lab363@cornell.edu

My name is Laura Bernert, I’m an incoming student in the College of Veterinary Medicine and former CALS Animal Science undergraduate. While in undergrad, I worked in a sled dog lab and served as Fundraising Chair for the Cornell chapter of Guiding Eyes for the Blind, a service dog nonprofit for the visually impaired. Having previously interned at the PennVet Working Dog Center, I also helped train and condition three working K9s—two of which are now CWD detection dogs in the state of PA. In Nepal, I am primarily interested in the intersection of wildlife and domestic animal health. I see the role of working K9s in population health monitoring as a promising frontier in conservation. However, I also hope to explore pathogenic interactions between domestic and wildlife species, particularly as it relates to leopard conservation. Recent literature has described the presence of canine distemper virus (CDV) in the blood of wild tigers and leopards in Chitwan National Park. A common hypothesis is that CDV is being transmitted from domestic dogs in the buffer zone to wildlife, as the presence of CDV has also been confirmed in domestic dogs surrounding the park. With this research in mind, I aim to conduct a dog census to estimate the population of free-roaming dogs in Sauraha, Chitwan, Nepal. This data will be shared with local NGO partners as baseline data for a spay/neuter/anti-rabies campaign aimed to control the dog population in the Chitwan buffer zone.

Nigel Williams

Email: ngw38@cornell.edu

Namaste! My name is Nigel Williams, I am a rising junior majoring in Biological Sciences with a concentration in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and a minor in Marine Biology in Cornell University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. As a McNair scholar, I aspire to pursue my doctorate degree in Wildlife Conservation to work as an international wildlife conservationist with a focus on intersectionality. I am currently working in the Reed Lab as a butterfly caretaker and in the Flecker Lab as a freshwater bioacoustics researcher, in which I use Raven Pro software to analyze bioacoustic soundscapes within the Adirondack Lakes and deepen my understanding of freshwater community dynamics. As the VP of Social Affairs for the Biology Scholars Program and VP of External Affairs for the S.W.A.G. Club, I aim to foster a sense of community with biology scholars and provide opportunities to address systemic barriers, promote inclusivity, and make a positive impact on underrepresented communities. Last summer, I became a UCSC Doris Duke Conservation Scholar, in which I took part in an immersive and field-based program in California that focused on collaborative research and interaction with leaders in conservation and science. It was during this program that I realized the importance of considering systemic racism in the conservation field and its impact on the natural world. Participating in DEI workshops further broadened my understanding of the historical challenges faced by underrepresented conservationists and the need to contribute to large-scale animal conservation efforts worldwide.

In Nepal, I am particularly interested in the socio-ecological aspect of leopard conservation. Through group-focused discussions and key informant interviews with the indigenous Tharu, Kumal, and Bote communities, I aim to gather valuable information on cultural beliefs related to leopards, observed changes in leopard behavior and population, awareness of conservation measures, suggestions for reducing human-leopard conflicts, and willingness to support leopard conservation efforts. By incorporating their perspectives, cultural beliefs, and traditional knowledge, I plan to contribute to the development of culturally sensitive and inclusive conservation strategies within the broader “Living with Leopards” project.