People
Pernille Sporon Boving
Cand. Scient, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
boving@ucdavis.edu
As a behavioral ecologist my interests are focused on the intricate relationships between animals, plants and their environments and how the more we try to learn about these relationships the seemingly less we realize we can answer with certainty.
My work in the Post lab consists of logistic management for the Greenland fieldwork since 1991.
Brady O'Connor
B.S. in Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology, UC Davis
bcoconnor@ucdavis.edu
Arctic tundra plant phenology and nutritional ecology
Conor Higgins
B.S. in Biology (vertebrate physiology focus) with minor in psychology from Penn State University
rconorhiggins@gmail.com
My research interests lie mainly in community ecology as it relates to climate change.My time working with the Post lab began with a project studying the potential trophic mismatch occurring between Alaskan avian communities and their invertebrate prey, and I continued to assist with a similarly focused project studying caribou populations in Greenland.I am most curious about how a changing climate directly and indirectly affects communities, how populations respond to these changing conditions, and the potential consequences that a shifting climate has on community stability.
Christian John
MS in Ecology, Penn State University
cjohn@ucdavis.edu
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=R2rrihIAAAAJ&hl=en
My career as an ecologist began as an undergraduate assistant with the Post lab, where I worked on projects extending from caterpillar population assessment to caribou demographic measurements.My MS thesis focused on migration phenology in low-arctic caribou, and since beginning work in the Arctic my research interests have become more and more focused on herbivore movement and phenology in response to changing environmental conditions.Coupling cross-scale vegetation indices with population distribution can shed light on how herbivores are able to, or struggle to adapt to rapid climate change and variation.Most notably, the methodologies I employ include multiannual satellite data analysis, intra-annual change detection and photogrammetrics in UAV-derived aerial imagery, observational plant phenology monitoring, and aerial- and ground-based herbivore distribution and demographic surveying.
Julianne Pekny
BS in Biology with an emphasis on Ecology from Penn State University
jpekny@ucdavis.edu
My research focuses on the interaction between biotic and environmental factors and ultimately their impact on community dynamics and stability.I am particularly interested in behavioral plasticity in the face of climate change and its integration into wildlife conservation efforts.
Jesika Reimer
jpreimer@ucdavis.edu, http://jesikareimer.weebly.com/
Jesika Reimer received her M.Sc. in Ecology from the University of Calgary in 2013. Her research primarily focuses on the phenology and behavioral adaptations of bats at northern latitudes with a heavy emphasis on community engagement and public outreach. After graduate school she joined the Alaska Center for Conservation Science at the University of Alaska Anchorage where she diversified to study small mammals, amphibians, birds and bats from the Aleutian Islands to the North Slope of Alaska. Jesika recently joined the Department of Wildlife, Fish & Conservation Biology at the University of California Davis as an Associate Research Specialist with the Post Lab and is assisting Pernille with the APPLES logistics and outreach coordination.