Sara Moriarty-Graves, 2023

Thesis:

Carnivore and ungulate occurrence in a fire-prone region

In a landscape of fire in the Klamath Mountain bioregion of California, Sara is studying how burned areas influence a mammalian community (mountain lion, black bear, elk, and deer) through the use of remote game cameras. She is also interested in how various burn severities and time since fire may influence predator-prey co-occurrence. Due to climate change, fire is an ever increasing threat to humans, ecosystems, and the animals that inhabit them. Through her research, she hopes to elucidate some of these impacts in order to better aid the management of wildlife and forests.