Quantitative Ecology and Conservation Science
Welcome to the Conservation Biology research group (aka the BEAST [Biodiversity, Ecosystems and Animal Studies Team] Lab) at Columbia University E3B. We tackle challenging biodiversity and conservation problems across many systems and we are taxonomically(or beastly) agnostic: from the Eastern US deciduous forests, to rugged and beautiful British Columbia, the Romanian Carpathians, the Peruvian Amazon and Western China. Our research is driven by the need for rapid and effective strategies to reverse current rates of biodiversity loss. We work with management agencies, NGOs, industry and other parties with vested interests in biodiversity conservation to provide concrete and applied solutions to real-world conservation issues, such as overexploitation of wildlife species, development of rapid biodiversity monitoring methods, tradeoffs between renewable energy and biodiversity, endangered species recovery, effects of multiple stressors on sensitive amphibians.
Lab in the news!
- We co-authored a new Letter in Science (also as a link) on lethal brown bear management in Romania asking for transparency and infusion of science into wildlife management; this is a continuation of our 10+ year work push towards evidence-based carnivore conservation which was also featured in Science in 2019 and 2021
- The Willdlife Professional, a magazine of The Wildlife Society, did a short story on my academic and non-academic upbringing as part of their wildlife scientists profiles. I am honored and humbled; read the story here
- https://phys.org/news/2023-02-livestock-predation-brown-romania.html
- https://www.ohio-forum.com/2022/08/cassandra-thompson-shows-danger-to-frogs-from-pesticide-but-points-out-a-solution/
- https://wildlife.org/coyotes-and-bobcats-coexist/
- https://wildlife.org/tws2020-protective-pesticides-for-trees-may-harm-frogs/
- https://wildlife.org/tws2020-transylvanian-carnivores-live-in-harmony/
- https://phys.org/news/2019-11-country-romania-cohabitation-strenuous.html
- https://news.yahoo.com/bear-country-romania-cohabitation-grows-strenuous-041055066.html
- https://phys.org/news/2019-11-turtles-highway-didnt-impacted.html
- https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/11/191106114200.htm
- https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-11/ou-wdt110619.php
- https://earther.gizmodo.com/a-fight-over-killing-bobcats-is-raging-across-the-midwe-1828682544
- https://www.dispatch.com/news/20180312/ohio-proposal-for-limited-bobcat-season-pits-trappers-vs-conservationists
REFERENCES for the 2021 “Fundamentals of Conservation Biology” 4th edition (Mac Hunter, James Gibbs and Viorel Popescu) textbook available for download as a .RIS file
The BEAST Lab 