Pika Researchers
Dr. Liesl P. Erb is a Professor of Conservation Biology in the Department of Biology and Department of Environmental Sciences at Warren Wilson College. Her broad research interests are in how humans impact wildlife through changes in land use and climate change. Her current research focuses on the impacts of climate change on pikas in the southern Rocky Mountains. Her field sites range from Santa Fe, NM to Laramie, WY and span the entire Colorado Rockies.
Dr. Chris Ray is a researcher at the University of Colorado – Boulder. Her research focuses on how populations of threatened species respond to disease, climate, and other human impacts. Her current research focuses climate-related impacts on American pika health, behavior, and survival. She has studied pikas for 20+ years, and currently tracks populations in Montana’s Gallatin National Forest and at the University of Colorado’s Long-Term Ecological Research Station, Niwot Ridge, near Boulder, CO.
Matthew Waterhouse is a Ph.D. student at the Biology Department of the University of British Columbia Okanagan campus. His research interests are primarily in conservation and ecological genetics. His current research focus on determining possible genetic adaptations to climate of pika populations in northern Washington and British Columbia. This research has important implications for the resilience of pika populations in the face of a rapidly changing climate.