Melissa Schmitt

• BIOL 435: Large Mammal Ecology and Management
• BIOL 481: Fisheries & Wildlife Senior Capstone

My lab’s aim is to advance understanding of the responses of large mammal populations to ecological and environmental drivers and to use that knowledge to directly inform wildlife management and conservation. We are particularly interested in the ecological impacts of plants, herbivores, and predators of the herbivores on each other. We use aspects of behavioral ecology, physiology, evolution, and chemical ecology to address ecological questions at the population and community levels. Although a majority of my lab’s current work is conducted in African savannas, we are launching new research in the Northern Great Plains region of the United States. We are excited to facilitate cross-system comparisons between large mammal ecology and management in African savannas and North American prairies.

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Ph.D. in Ecology (2017), University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa

*M.Sc. in Ecology (Cum Laude) (2015), *M.Sc. converted to a Ph.D., upon completion of Ph.D., M.Sc. was replaced by Ph.D.

B.S. (with honors) in Ecology and Evolution (2012), University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA