I am a carnivore ecologist, author, and photographer. I was born and raised in central Vermont, and I have lived throughout the American West and New Zealand. I was awarded my Ph.D. in Conservation Biology from Victoria University of Wellington in 2014 for my dissertation entitled The Ecology and Behaviour of Pumas (Puma concolor) in Northern California. I also completed postdoctoral research at the University of Wisconsin at Madison and the Santa Cruz Puma Project.
I am currently an assistant research professor with the Illinois Natural History Survey and Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois. I am also the curator of the University’s Mammal Collection, Editor-in-Chief of the INHS Bulletin, and an Associate Editor for the journal of the IUCN Felid Research Group.

My research focuses on the ecology and behavior of carnivores. My current research focuses on:
- population estimation and dynamics of carnivores
- scent-marking behavior in solitary felids
- interspecific interactions among carnivores
- the effects large carnivores have on their ecosystems
My graduate research focused on pumas, including their feeding ecology, communication, and effects on the scavenger community. I completed a 2-year post-doc with Chris Wilmers and the Santa Cruz Puma Project, and another 2-year post-doc with Tim Van Deelen focused on population monitoring methods for black bears and bobcats.
I am currently collaborating with projects focusing on:
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- Furbearer management and abundance estimation in Illinois and Michigan
- The carnivore guild in Japan with Shinsuke Koike and Akino Inagaki
- Leopards in Namibia with Miha Krofel
- Tigers and leopards in India with Randeep Singh, Sujeet Singh, and Debashish Panda
- Mammal distribution and abundance in the USA with Austin Green
- Brown Bears on Kodiak Island with Shannon Finnegan
- Pumas in California with Chris Wilmers
- Population modeling with Andrew Norton
- Eurasian lynx and brown bears in Eastern Europe with Miha Krofel
- Tigers and the carnivore community in Sumatra
- The carnivore guild in Bangladesh with Muntasir Akash
- Pumas in Nebraska
I spend most of my spare time exploring wild areas, long-distance running, or photographing animals. I have published over 130 peer-reviewed scientific articles. As a photographer, I specialize in documentary and action photographs of North American wildlife. More photos can be found on my Photography Site and my first photography book was published in 2010.