Who is this nut?

Fair enough. I'm currently a Ph.D. candidate in the Natural Resources program of the Department of Forestry, Wildlife, and Fisheries at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. There's a mouthful.

I came here in May of 2000 as a research technician for UT's long-term black bear ecology project in the nearby Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Soon thereafter I accepted a position as a graduate student at UT under the direction of Dr. Frank van Manen. My thesis research was on the spatial ecology of black bears prior to construction of a new, 4-lane highway in eastern North Carolina.

Currently, I'm investigating the genetics, social structure, and landscape-scale habitat use of reintroduced elk (Cervus elaphus manitobensis) in the Cumberland Mountains of eastern Tennessee under the direction of Dr. Lisa I. Muller. More information about my research can be found on my 'research' pages via the link below...

In general, my professional interests are habitat modeling, GIS, predator ecology (yeah, I dig carnage...), and mammalian ecology.

JLK