The Thornton Lab

Prospective Students

Students interested in joining the lab should send a letter of interest to Dr. Thornton (daniel.thornton@wsu.edu), outlining your research interests and goals, and how they fit within the type of work that is conducted in this lab. Please also include a CV with relevant information (e.g., GPA/GRE scores).

Current Lab Members

Leonard Haule, PHD

Leonard is studying the distribution and habitat use of lions and wild dogs in the Selous-Nyerere National Park in Tanzania. Leo will use a combination of track surveys, GPS collar data, and camera data to examine how these two flagship species respond to environmental and anthropogenic changes. Leo’s work is a collaboration with the Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute, Tanzania National Parks, Tanzania Wildlife Authority, Lion Landscapes, and WildCRU.

Leonard Haule holding card with photo details and date, etc. for records
Male lion at night in forest. Credit: Lion Landscapes/WildCRU Tanzania Wildlive Research Institute, Tanzania National Parks/Tanzania WA, Date: 09/14/2021 at 8:14 PM.

Elizabeth Odell, MS

Liz is examining the habitat use and movement of Canada lynx in Colville National Forest. As part of an effort led by The Colville Confederated Tribes, translocated lynx from Canada were released in the area to try and enhance the population status in a historically important area for lynx. Liz is using data from collared lynx and camera traps to examine how lynx are making use this new landscape. Liz’s work is a collaboration with the Colville Confederate Tribes and the US Forest Service.

Nathan Hooven, PHD

Nate is studying the spatial ecology and conservation of snowshoe hare in the Cascade mountains of north-central Washington. Through an experimental design, Nate is investigating how pre-commercial thinning of overstocked forest stands impacts snowshoe hare abundance, survival, and movement. This work is fundamentally important to understand what tools land managers have to balance forest health, productivity, and wildlife habitat, while minimizing impacts to hares and consequently the endangered Canada lynx that depend on hare. Nate will also use this experimental design to examine methods for determining hare density, and how hare respond to shifting risk landscapes. This work was designed and conducted as part of collaboration with the Washington State Department of Natural Resources, and is funded by WADNR and Seattle City Light.

Nate with fawn in forest.
Hare near stakes painted black.

Meidina Fitriana, MS

Meidina is a Fulbright Scholar from Indonesia, examining the density of tigers and clouded leopards in the remote and globally important Leuser Ecosystem of northern Sumatra. Meidina will also examine occupancy patterns of the golden cat and other small cats, and relate patterns in occupancy and density of carnivores to gradients of human disturbance and habitat variation. Meidina’s work is a collaboration with SINTAS Indonesia, Forum Konservasi Leuser, and Panthera.

Meidina Fitriani setting camera traps in Indonesia
Clouded leopard on a camera trap

Nicolas DiPietro, MS

Nick is developing a study to examine the distribution and abundance of large carnivores in Tarangire National Park and surrounding landscapes of Tanzania. Nick will use a large-scale camera-trapping grid to determine the current density of leopards and the distribution of key and poorly known species on this landscape, including wild dogs. This work is being developed in collaboration with Bernard Kissui of the School for Field Studies in Tanzania.

Miles Hopkins, PhD

Miles is studying the distribution and ecology of badgers in Washington, with a focus on alpine environments. Badgers are extremely difficult to study, and Miles employs a combination of camera trapping and burrow surveys to examine badger occupancy in the mountains of the Cascades. His work will be some of the first to document patterns of badger occupancy at high elevations, revealing new insights into this mesocarnivore. Miles will also be examining statewide patterns of suitability, as part of an effort to better understand badger status in the state. Miles’s work is a collaboration with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Completed Students

  • Katie Van, MS (2015): Thesis title: Species distribution modeling of high-elevation pine species to examine potential impacts of climate change.
  • Arthur Scully, MS (2016): Thesis title: Influence of biotic interactions on Canada lynx distribution along their southern range edge.
  • Kyle Ebenhoch, MS (2017): Thesis title: Comparing population vital rates of resident and translocated greater sage-grouse on the Yakima Training Center, Yakima, WA.
  • Landon Charlo, MS (2018): Thesis title: Influence of artificial canopy gaps on wildlife and understory in young coastal temperate coniferous forests of the Pacific Northwest
  • Travis King, MS (2019): Thesis title: Broad-scale influence of biotic and abiotic drivers of carnivore occupancy in Washington
  • Peter Olsoy, PhD (2019): Habitat mapping and multi-scale resource selection of pgymy rabbits with unmanned aerial systems
  • Paul Jenson, MS (2020): Snowshoe hare population ecology in lynx occupied areas of Washington
  • Anna Staudenmaier, MS (2020): A comparison of the fundamental nutritional niche and realized habitat niche of sympatric mule deer and white-tailed deer in eastern Washington
  • Michelle Peziol, MS (2020): Evaluating the effects of mountain lion kills on the nitrogen cycle in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem
  • Kelsey Gump, MS (2021): Spatial and temporal effects of motorized and nonmotorized recreation on a wildlife in eastern Washington
  • Alissa Anderson MS (2022): Glacier’s Wildlife: a noninvasive investigation of a Canada lynx population and wildlife spatiotemporal response to recreation in a popular national park.
  • Erik Peterson MS (2022): A summer feast atop the Crown of the Continent: The interplay of grizzly bears and army cutworm moths across Glacier National Park’s alpine talus slopes.
  • Lucy Perera, PhD (2024): Assessing the impact of human disturbances on jaguars and terrestrial vertebrate communities in Neotropical forests: THE Maya Biosphere Reserve as a case study
  • Marwa Mahmound, MS (2025): MONTANE CARNIVORE DETECTION AND OCCUPANCY IN THE HIGH OREGON CASCADES
  • Sujay Singh, MS (2025): WILL A TALE OF TWO CATS BECOME A TALE OF ONE? CANADA LYNX AND BOBCAT DENSITY AND DYNAMIC OCCUPANCY IN A MOUNTAIN ECOSYSTEM
  • Kat Burgstahler, MS (2025):CLIMATIC ADAPTABILITY AND RESILIENCY OF NORTH AMERICAN SAGEBRUSH-STEPPE MAMMALS AND BIRDS
  • Travis King, PhD (2026): CAMERA TRAPPING AS A BASIS FOR MULTI-SPECIES ASSESSMENT OF CORRIDOR HEALTH AND CONNECTIVITY IN HONDURAS