Melissa Merrick
I joined the Mt. Graham red squirrel monitoring project, headed by Dr. John Koprowski, as a wildlife biologist in 2005. I am responsible for the project's spatial data sets, processing telemetry data, analyzing squirrel space use, hiring and keeping track of the telemetry research assistants, contributing to project publications, and carrying out fieldwork at our field sites on Mt. Graham and in the White Mountains. I am also fortunate to be able to help out with other research projects within our lab group. Since joining the project I have developed an inordinate fondness for squirrels, especially tree squirrels, and enjoy studying their behavioral ecology and close association with forested landscapes. I am also very interested in the ecology of sky islands and the amazing faunal diversity of the southwest.
Prior to joining the project, I received my master's degree at Idaho State University with a post-baccalaureate certificate in geotechnoloiges. My previous research projects have included the thermal ecology of burying beetles, and how burying beetle population density tracks their resource base (rodent density) in alpine meadows. I have also worked on projects monitoring birds, modeling groundwater pollution and sediment layers using spatial statistics, and creating habitat models.
