Assistant Professor
Email: justinesmith@ucdavis.edu
Office: 1073 Academic Surge
Personal Professional Website:
https://smithlab.faculty.ucdavis.edu/
Research:
Predator-prey interactions, movement behavior, foraging ecology, wildlife restoration, and human-wildlife interactions.
Research in the Smith Lab focuses on how to best preserve the ecological roles of mammalian carnivores and herbivores in shared landscapes by investigating human-wildlife interactions and risk effects in both predator and prey. We explore the spatial patterns of animal behavior to understand ecological processes and improve the outcomes of wildlife recovery. We specialize in applying foraging theory to study antipredator behavior, species interactions, and responses to anthropogenic disturbances in large mammals. Our group seeks to inform conservation initiatives and management action in landscapes utilized by both humans and wildlife.
Education and Experience:
- BA: University of Colorado – Boulder, 2010 (Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Anthropology)
- PhD: University of California – Santa Cruz, 2017 (Environmental Studies)
- Postdoctoral Researcher: University of California – Berkeley, 2017-2019
Current Projects:
- Human-wildlife coexistence, large vertebrate recovery, and restoration of degraded rangelands in Patagonia
- Spatiotemporal predator-prey interactions and disease ecology in the Andean steppe
- Anthropogenic impacts on puma ecology and conservation in coastal California
- Global patterns and management applications of the ecology of fear