People

Dr. Kevin Shoemaker

Dr. Shoemaker is the director of the Applied Population Ecology (A.P.E) lab at the department of Natural Resources & Environmental Science at the University of Nevada, Reno. Broadly, his research couples ecological data (e.g., mark-recapture data, telemetry data, remote sensing data) with simulation models, statistics and machine learning to support wildlife conservation and management. Visit his UNR site Publications Contact Kevin T Shoemaker Associate Professor and Graduate Program Director, Natural Resources & Environmental Science University of Nevada, Reno / mail stop 186 1664 N Virginia St, Reno NV 89557 kevinshoemaker_at_unr.edu; (775) 682-7449 Fleischmann Agriculture room 220E (lab: room 235) ...

Danielle C Miles

Danielle C Miles Danielle is a PhD student in the A.P.E. lab. She is working on measuring the broad impacts of pinyon and juniper tree removal in sagebrush ecosystems on bat, bird, reptile, small mammal and insect populations. Besides this ecological study, she is interested in exploring anthropogenic effects on the environment such as climate change and deforestation with specific emphasis on the implications for amphibians. Danielle’s previous lab: https://msu.edu/~plz/people.html Danielle’s linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-miles-79a08489 Danielle’s experience in Madagascar: http://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2016/02/05/african-voices-the-disruptors-spc-b.cnn Publications Danielle has published three natural history notes (one additional currently in prep) during her time in the A.P.E. lab so far, and will be submitting the first chapter of her dissertation soon. ...

Chris Smith

Chris Smith is a PhD student in the A.P.E. lab, where he is studying the occupancy dynamics of American pika (Ochotona princeps) in the Sierra Nevada mountains of northern NV and CA. Chris joined the A.P.E. lab in 2025.

Colton Irons

Colton Irons is an M.S. student in the A.P.E. lab, where he is studying the habitat use and thermal ecology of the great basin rattlesnake (Crotalus lutosus) at Great Basin National Park. Colton is co-advised by Dr. Bryan Hamilton (NDOW).

Mia Goldman

Mia Goldman completed her MS in the A.P.E. lab in 2022, where she studied the factors driving occupancy and detection patterns of American pika (Ochotona princeps) in the northwestern USA. Mia is currently a PhD candidate at the University of St Andrews in Scotland where she works with the Centre for Research into Ecological and Environmental Modelling (CREEM).

Nathan Cook

Nathan Cook (the first MS student in the A.P.E. lab!) studied duck movement and recruitment using light-level geolocator tags. Nathan currently works as a Biologist for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Miranda Crowell

Miranda was a PhD student who joined the Shoemaker and Matocq labs in April 2016. She came to University of Nevada, Reno from Washington State University in Pullman, WA where she completed her M.S. with Dr. Lisa Shipley investigating pygmy rabbits’ foraging ecology. Here, at UNR, Miranda studied pygmy rabbit distribution across Nevada and southeastern Oregon, focusing on demography, genetic connectivity, and key landscape characteristics that pygmy rabbits require. To learn more about Miranda, the ongoing pygmy rabbit research, and to see updates from the field, visit her website. ...

Margarete Walden

Margarete earned her PhD in the APE lab and the EECB program in Spring 2022. Her research interests include population ecology, herpetology, conservation biology, terrestrial vertebrate physiology, and species’ responses to climate change. She completed her M.S. with Dr. Nancy Karraker on the timing of hibernation in Eastern Box Turtles. Margarete’s research in the A.P.E. lab centered around understanding the environmental and climatic niche breadth of the Mojave Desert Tortoise (Gopherus agassizii). Margarete worked closely with the Hunter lab at Georgia Southern University, which is performing similar research on the Gopher Tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus). Margarete is currently a postdoctoral research associate at Cal Poly Humboldt, where she is conducting research on salmon conservation.

Dr. Elizabeth Hunter

Dr. Elizabeth Hunter was a postdoctoral researcher in the A.P.E. lab from 2016-2018 where she worked on several population modeling projects including: predicting plague outbreaks in black-tailed prairie dogs, using abundance data to predict the effects of competition on songbird responses to climate change, and simulation modeling to inform restoration of giant tortoise populations in the Galapagos Islands. She is now an Assistant Professor of Landscape Ecology at Georgia Southern University. ...