Summary
Ava is an ungulate ecologist who is interested in using multifaceted approaches in applied research to inform management decisions. Her work examines how environmental factors, disease, nutrition, and trace minerals affect ungulate survival. Ava earned her B.S. in Wildlife Biology from the University of Montana (2025), where she completed an undergraduate thesis on forage utilization by elk. She is now an M.S. Student with the Nevada Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, under Dr. Brian Folt. Her current research investigates the puzzling spring-time mortality events in a northern Nevada elk population. Her work aims to help the Nevada Department of Wildlife better understand the potential factors causing this pulse in spring elk mortality, which is otherwise undocumented throughout the state.
Labs: Wildlife Decision-Support Shop, Nevada Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit
Education
B.S. Wildlife Biology, University of Montana, 2025.