We present here the recipients of the 2011 Legacy scholarships offered by the WFA, as well as profiles of all of the outstanding applicants for this year's scholarships. These profiles highlight some of the academic institutions, faculty, and students at the forefront of scientific investigation of wild felids today. We wish to thank all applicants for their interest in the WFA scholarships and for their dedication to furthering our understanding of wild felid ecology and conservation in the Western Hemisphere.
2011 Wild Felid Legacy Scholarship Recipients
Nicholas Caruso (nccaruso@gmail.com), PhD candidate, Departamento de Biologia, Bioquimica y Farmacia - Universidad Nacional del Sur, Argentina
Advisor: Dr. Mauro Lucherini (lucherinima@yahoo.com)
Dissertation: Co-occurrence and abundance of four carnivore species along a gradient of anthropic modification.
Objectives: Establish the occurrence probability of four carnivore species in areas of human impact; analyze how occurrence probability and abundance vary as a function of habitat variables; generate an integral model that incorporates the habitat variables and predict how the carnivore community will be affected by habitat fragmentation.
Claudia Wultsch (
wultschc@vt.edu), PhD candidate, Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg
Advisor: Dr Marcella Kelly (
makelly2@vt.edu)
Dissertation: Noninvasive tracking of jaguars and co-occurring felids in Belize by combining molecular scatology, remote camera trapping and GIS.
Objectives: My research project allows me to test and combine the newest technologies in this field and develop wildlife monitoring techniques and analyses which are efficient and widely applicable to conservation and management of elusive felids existing across fragmented landscapes.
Other Scholarship Applicants
Shesh Jhala (shesh.jhala@gmail.com), MS candidate, Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences Dept, Texas A&M University
Advisor: Dr Susan Cooper (s-cooper@tamuk.edu)
Thesis topic: Nocturnal mesopredators and their threat to quail.
Objectives:To understand how the movement patterns of nocturnal mammalian predators, specifically bobcats, affect quail mortality.
Expected completion: May 2013.
Roberta K. Newbury (
roberta.newbury@ubc.ca), PhD candidate, University of British Columbia, Okanagan, Kelowna, BC, Canada
Advisor: Dr. Karen E. Hodges (
karen.hodges@ubc.ca)
Dissertation: Movements and energetic expenditures of bobcats in a deep snow environment in NW Montana.
Expected completion: June 2012.
Rocio Palacios (
rociopalacios@gmail.com), PhD candidate, National University of Cordoba, Argentina
Advisor: R. Susan Walker (
swalker@wcs.org)
Dissertation: Role of distribution and connectivity of prey in the distribution of a specialist predator: the Andean cat and the mountain viscacha in northern Patagonia.
Aimee P Rockhill (
aimee_rockhill@ncsu.edu), PhD candidate, North Carolina State University.
Advisor: Dr. Christopher S. Deperno (
chris_deperno@ncsu.edu)
Dissertation: Bobcat ecology and management in coastal North Carolina.
Expected completion: August 2011
Barbara C Shock (
bshock@uga.edu), PhD candidate, University of Georgia, Athens
Advisor: Dr. Michael Yabsley (
myabsley@uga.edu)
Dissertation topic: I am proposing 4 field and lab-based studies to better understand disease threats: 1) better characterization and a formal description of the novel
Babesia sp; 2) field study to determine the vector of
Babesia coryi; 3) screen historical and prospectively collected samples from Florida panthers for a variety of other parasites and pathogens and examine correlations with various factors such as geographic region and proximity to suburbia; and 4) perform an analysis to determine if certain genetic profiles predispose panthers to certain infections or disease and to determine if these diseases cluster in specific spatial locations.
Expected completion: 2014
Julia B Smith (
julia.smith.b@siu.edu), MS candidate, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale
Advisors: Dr. Clayton Nielsen (
kezo92@siu.edu) and Dr. Eric Hellgren
Thesis: Implications of potential recolonization of the Midwest by large carnivores.
[See the profiles of the awardees and applicants for 2009, and 2010.]
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