Apryle Craig

I earned a BS in BioEngineering from the University of Pittsburgh and masters in Ecology at Colorado State University.  I am interested in trophic cascades. During my master's research, I worked with Dr. Liba Pejchar to investigate the impacts of elk browsing and riparian willow restoration on bird communities in Rocky Mountain National Park. Throughout my masters, I also worked at the national park supervising data collection for the park's Elk and Vegetation Management Plan, overseeing vegetation monitoring, elk exclosures, and elk counts. My PhD research with Dr. Aaron Wirsing is exploring possible trophic cascades that may be occurring with the recolonization of grey wolves in north central Washington. I am interested in learning how this coursing predator may influence deer foraging behavior, diet composition, and plant browse which may lead to changes in vegetation structure or composition. I am passionate about citizen science, environmental education, and science communication.

Website:  http://apryledcraig.wordpress.com/ 

Laurel Peelle

I am a Ph.D student investigating the characteristics of foraging habitat for the state-endangered Canada lynx, the drivers of survival for snowshoe hares (the main prey of lynx), and how predator type and prey characteristics relate to kill-site habitat in Washington state's southern boreal forests. The methods I used to collect data over my several years in the field included using forensics to determine the responsible predator at kill sites, live-trapping hares, telemetry monitoring, camera trapping, forest measurements, pellet surveys, and snow tracking.

I received my M.S. at UW examining the effectiveness of a saliva-swabbing technique at wildlife kill sites with minimal prey remains. Prior to graduate school, I obtained my Bachelor's from UCLA, studied abroad in Tasmania, worked as a field technician, and spent a few years as a biologist for an environmental consulting firm, all of which gave me experience with many taxonomic groups. Although I have numerous research interests, I am most interested in predator-prey interactions, sensitive species, and how behavioral ecology can inform conservation and management decisions. I am also passionate about teaching, outreach, and encouraging people of all backgrounds to not be intimidated by ecology or science in general.

Dylan Hubl

​I am a Masters student investigating the status of the Pacific marten population on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington. I am co-advised by Dr. Aaron Wirsing and Dr. Robert Long and will be collaborating with staff from the National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, and the Woodland Park Zoo. Pacific marten historically occupied the forests of the Olympic Peninsula from the coast to the subalpine. However, in recent decades intensive camera studies have resulted in few detections of martens, of which all have been limited to high elevation forests. I will be surveying these high elevation forests to gather more complete data on marten resource selection, population distribution and connectivity as well as assessing population status via genetic data.

​I earned a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Nebraska in 2013 and have held a wide variety of technician/research positions since then. Prior to entering the Predator Ecology Lab, I spent seven years working for the University of Washington on Dr. Renee Ha’s Rota Avian Behavioral Ecology Project on the island of Rota, CNMI. As a staff member on that project, I helped lead research on the critically endangered Mariana crow. I am passionate about the conservation of threatened and endangered species and conducting applied research aimed at understanding causes of decline and how to better manage species in decline.