Research

Whittell is a living laboratory that provides a rare opportunity for exploration and scientific discovery in the Sierra Nevada Front of Nevada.

Sarah Bisbing measuring the diameter of a tree trunk in a forest

Opportunity: Whittell Forest Graduate Research Grants

Now accepting applications through May 30, 2025!

Graduate students of all disciplines are encouraged to apply for this unique opportunity to work on research projects in the Whittell Forest & Wildlife Area. Two awards of $5,000 are available to graduate students enrolled in any academic program at the University of Nevada, Reno or the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Grant details

Publications from research at Whittell

Gary Blomquist and Claus Tittiger labs

S.J. Seybold, D.R. Quilici, J.A. Tillman, D. Vanderwel, D.L. Wood and G.J. Blomquist. De novo biosynthesis of the aggregation pheromone components ipsenol and ipsdienol by the pine bark beetle, Ips paraconfusus Lanier and Ips pini (Say)(Coleoptera: Scolytidae). Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 92:8393-8397 (1995).
P. Ivarsson, G.J. Blomquist, S.J. Seybold. In vitro production of pheromone intermediates in the bark beetles Ips pini (Say) and I. paraconfusus Lanier (Coleoptera:Scolytidae). Naturwissenschaften 84:454-457 (1997).
P. Ivarsson, C. Tittiger, C. Blomquist, C.E. Borgeson, S.J. Seybold, G.J. Blomquist and H.-E. Hogberg. Pheromone precursor synthesis is localized in the metathorax of Ips paraconfusus Lanier (Coleoptera: Scolytidae). Naturwissenschaften 85:507-511(1998).
J.A. Tillman, G.L. Holbrook, P. Dallara, C. Schal, D.L. Wood, G.J. Blomquist, and S.J. Seybold. Endocrine regulation of de novo aggregation pheromone biosynthesis in the pine engraver, Ips pini (Say) (Coleoptera: Scolytidae). Insect Biochem. Molec. Biol. 28:705-715 (1998).
C. Tittiger, G.J. Blomquist, P. Ivarsson, C.E. Borgeson and S.J. Seybold. Juvenile hormone regulation of HMG-R gene expression in the bark beetle Ips paraconfusus (Coleoptera: Scolytidae): implications for male aggregation pheromone biosynthesis. Cell. Mol. Life Sci. 55:121-127 (1999).
C. Tittiger, C. O’Keeffe, C.S. Bengoa, L. Barkawi, S.J. Seybold and G.J. Blomquist. Isolation and endocrine regulation of HMG-CoA synthase cDNA from the male Jeffrey pine beetle, Dendroctonus jeffreyi. Insect Biochem. Molec. Biol. 30:1203-1211 (2000).
G. M. Hall, C. Tittiger, G. Andrews, G. Mastick, M. Kuenzli, X. Luo, S.J. Seybold and G.J. Blomquist. Male pine engraver Beetles, Ips pini, synthesize the monoterpenoid pheromone ipsdienol de novo in midgut tissue. Naturwissenschaften 89:79-83 (2002).
G.M. Hall, C. Tittiger, G.J. Blomquist, G. Andrews, G. Mastick, L.A. Barkawi, Cody S. Bengoa, and S. J. Seybold. Male Jeffrey Pine Beetles, Dendroctonus jeffreyi, synthesize the pheromone component frontalin in anterior midgut tissue. Insect Biochem. Mol. Biol. 32:1525-1532 (2002).
J.B. Nardi, A. Gilg Young, E. Ujhelyi, C. Tittiger, M.J. Lehane and G.J. Blomquist.Specialization of midgut cells for synthesis of male isoprenoid pheromone in two scolytid beetles, Dendroctonus jeffreyi and Ips pini. Tissue and Cell. 226:221-231 (2002).
C. Tittiger, C. Bengoa, L. Barkawi, G.J. Blomquist and S.J. Seybold, Structure and juvenile hormonemediated regulation of the HMG-CoA reductase gene from the Jeffrey pine beetle, Dendroctonus jeffreyi. Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology 199:11-21 (2003).
L.S. Barkawi, W. Francke, G.J. Blomquist and S.J. Seybold. Frontalin: De novo biosynthesis of an aggregation pheromone component by Dendroctonus spp. bark beetles (Coleoptera: Scolytidae). Insect Biochem. Molec. Biol. 33:773-788 (2003).
C.I. Keeling, G.J. Blomquist and C. Tittiger. Coordinated mevalonate gene expression upon feeding in the anterior midgut of the pine engraver beetle, Ips pini (Say) (Coleoptera: Scolytidae). Naturwissenschaften 91:324-329 (2004).
J.A. Tillman, F. Lu, L.M. Goodard, Z. Donaldson, S.C. Dwinell, C. Tittiger, G.M. Hall, A. J. torer, G.J. Blomquist and S.J. Seybold. Juvenile hormone regulates de novo aggregation pheromone biosynthesis in the pine bark beetles Ips spp. (Coleoptera: Scolytidae) through transcriptional control of HMG-CoA reductase. J. Chem. Ecol. 30:2459-2494 (2004).
A.B. Gilg, J.C. Bearfield, C. Tittiger, W.H. Welch and G.J. Blomquist. Isolation and functional expression of an animal geranyl diphosphate synthase and its role in bark beetle pheromone biosynthesis. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 102:9760-9765 (2005).
C.I. Keeling, S. Young, G.J. Blomquist and C. Tittiger. Juvenile hormone-regulated gene expression in the pheromone-producing midgut of the pine engraver beetle, Ips pini. Insect Mol. Biol. 15:207- 216 (2006).

Dale Johnson and Wally Miller labs

Burcar, S., W.W. Miller, S.W. Tyler, and R.R. Blank. 1997. Moist- and dry-season nitrogen transport in Sierra Nevada soils. Soil Sci. Soc. Amer. J. 61: 1774-1780.
Burcar, S., W.W. Miller, S.W. Tyler, and D.W. Johnson. 1994. Seasonal preferential flow in two Sierra Nevada soils under forested and meadow cover. Soil Sci. Soc. Amer. J. 58: 1555-1561.
Johnson, D.W. 1995. Soil properties beneath Ceanothus and pine stand in the eastern Sierra Nevada. Soil Sci. Soc. Amer. J. 59: 918-924.
Johnson, D.W., W. Cheng, and I.C. Burke. 2000. Biotic and Abiotic Nitrogen Retention in a Variety of Forest Soils. Soil Sci. Soc. Amer. J. 64: 1503-1514.
Johnson, D. W., Glass, D. W., Murphy, J. D., Stein, C. M., Miller, W. W. 2010. Hot Spots and Hot Moments: Another Look at Nutrient Variability in Sierra Nevada Forest Soils. Biogeochemistry, 101, 93-103.
Johnson, D. W., W.W. Miller, R.B. Susfalk, R.A. Dahlgren, J.D. Murphy, and D.W. Glass. 2009. Biogeochemical Cycling in Forest Soils of the Eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains, USA. Forest Ecology and Management 258: 2249-2260.
Johnson, D. W., J.D. Murphy, R.F. Walker, D. Glass, and W.W. Miller. 2007. Wildfire Effects on Forest Carbon and Nutrient Budgets.. Ecological Engineering. 31: 183-192.
Johnson, D.W., R. B. Susfalk, and R.A. Dahlgren. 1997. Nutrient fluxes in forests of the eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains, USA. Global Biogeochem. Cycles 11: 673-681.
Johnson, D.W., R.B. Susfalk, R.A. Dahlgren, T.G. Caldwell and W.W. Miller. 2001. Nutrient fluxes in a snow-dominated, semi-arid forest: Spatial and temporal patterns. Biogeochemistry 55:219-245.
Johnson, D.W., R.B. Susfalk, R.A. Dahlgren, and J.M. Klopatek. 1998. Fire is more important than water for nitrogen fluxes in semi-arid forests. Environ. Sci. Pol. 1: 79-86.
Johnson, D.W., R.B. Susfalk, H.L. Gholz, and P.J. Hanson. 2001. Simulated effects of temperature and precipitation change in several forest ecosystems. J. Hydrology 235: 183-204.
Johnson, D.W., R.B. Susfalk, T.G. Caldwell, J.R. Murphy, W.W. Miller, and R.F. Walker. 2004. Fire Effects on Carbon and Nitrogen Budgets in Forests. Water, Air, and Soil Pollut. Focus 4: 263- 275.
Johnson, D.W., J.D. Murphy, R.B. Susfalk, T.G. Caldwell, W.W. Miller, R.F. Walker, and R.F. Powers. 2005. The effects of wildfire, salvage logging, and post-fire N fixation on the nutrient budgets of a Sierran forest. For. Ecol. Manag. 220: 155-165.
Miller, W. W., Johnson, D. W., Karam, S. L., Walker, R. F., Weisberg, P. J. 2010. A synthesis of Sierran forest biomass management studies and potential effects on water quality. Forests, 1, 131-153.
Stark, N.M., 1973. Nutrient cycling in a jeffrey pine ecosystem. University of Montana, Missoula, MT Stein, C. M., Johnson, D. W., Miller, W. W., Powers, R. F., Young, D. A., Glass, D. S. 2010. Snowbrush (Ceanothus velutinus Dougl) Effects on Soil Leaching and Water Quality in a Sierran Ecosystem. Ecohydrology, 3, 79-87.
Susfalk, R.B., and D.W. Johnson. 2002. Ion exchange resin based soil solution lysimeters and snowmelt collectors. Comm. Soil Sci. Plant Anal.33: 1261-1275.
Johnson, D.W., R.B. Susfalk, R.A. Dahlgren, T.G. Caldwell and W.W. Miller. 2001. Nutrient fluxes in a snow-dominated, semi-arid forest: Spatial and temporal patterns. Biogeochemistry 55:219-245.
Susfalk, R.B., and D.W. Johnson. 2002. Ion exchange resin based soil solution lysimeters and snowmelt collectors. Comm. Soil Sci. Plant Anal.33: 1261-1275.
Johnson, B.G., D.W. Johnson, W.W. Miller, E.M. Carroll-Moore, and D.I. Board. 2011. The effects of slash pile burning on soil and water macronutrients. Soil Science 176: 413-425.
Johnson, B.G., D.W. Johnson, W.W. Miller, and D.I. Board. 2012. The effects of ash influx on burned and unburned soil water-extractable nutrients using a mechanical vacuum extractor. Soil Sci, 177: 338-344).

Stephen Vander Wall lab

Vander Wall, S. B. 1991. Mechanisms of cache recovery by yellow pine chipmunks. Animal Behaviour 41:851-863.
Vander Wall, S. B. 1992. The role of animals in dispersing a "wind-dispersed" pines. Ecology 73:614- 621.
Vander Wall, S. B. 1992. Establishment of Jeffrey pine seedlings from animal caches. Western Journal of Applied Forestry 7:14-20.
Vander Wall, S. B. 1993. A model of caching depth: Implications for scatter hoarders and plant dispersal. American Naturalist 141:217-232.
Vander Wall, S. B. 1993. Seed water content and the vulnerability of buried seeds to foraging rodents. American Midland Naturalist 129:272-281.
Vander Wall, S. B. 1993. Salivary water loss to seeds by yellow pine chipmunks and Merriam's kangaroo rats. Ecology 74:1307-1312.
Vander Wall, S. B. 1993. Cache site selection by chipmunks (Tamias spp.) and its influence on the effectiveness of seed dispersal in Jeffrey pine (Pinus jeffreyi). Oecologia 96:246-252.
Vander Wall, S. B. 1994. Removal of wind-dispersed pine seeds by ground-foraging vertebrates. Oikos 69:125-132.
Vander Wall, S. B. 1994. Seed fate pathways of antelope bitterbrush: Dispersal by seed-caching yellow pine chipmunks. Ecology 75:1911-1926.
Vander Wall, S. B. 1995. Influence of substrate water on the ability of rodents to find buried seeds. Journal of Mammalogy 76:851-856.
Vander Wall, S. B. 1995. Salivary water loss during seed husking in deer mice and Great Basin pocket mice. Physiological Zoology 68:878-886.
Vander Wall, S. B. 1995. Dynamics of yellow pine chipmunk (Tamias amoenus) seed caches: Underground traffic in bitterbrush seeds. Ecoscience 2:261-266.
Vander Wall, S. B. 1995. Sequential patterns of scatter hoarding in yellow pine chipmunks. American Midland Naturalist 133:312-321.
Vander Wall, S. B. 1995. The effects of seed value on the caching behavior of yellow pine chipmunks. Oikos 74:533-537.
Vander Wall, S. B., and E. Peterson. 1996. Associative learning and the use of cache markers by yellow pine chipmunks (Tamias amoenus). Southwestern Naturalist 41:88-90.
Vander Wall, S. B. 1998. Foraging success of granivorous rodents: effects of variation in seed and soil water content on olfaction. Ecology 79:233-241.
Vander Wall, S. B., and J. W. Joyner. 1998. Recaching of Jeffrey pine (Pinus jeffreyi) seeds by yellow pine chipmunks (Tamias amoenus): potential effects on plant reproductive success. Canadian Journal of Zoology 76:154-162.
Vander Wall, S. B., and J. W. Joyner. 1998. Secondary wind dispersal of winged pine seeds. American Midland Naturalist 139:365-373.
Vander Wall, S. B., and W. Longland. 1998. Cheek pouch capacities and loading rates of deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus). Great Basin Naturalist 59:278-280.
Vander Wall, S. B. 2000. The influence of environmental conditions on cache recovery and cache pilferage by yellow pine chipmunks (Tamias amoenus) and deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus). Behavioral Ecology 11:544-549.
Vander Wall, S. B., T. C. Thayer, J. S. Hodge, M. J. Beck, J. K. Roth. 2001. Scatter-hoarding behavior of deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus). Western North American Naturalist 61:109-113.
Vander Wall, S. B. 2002. Secondary dispersal of Jeffrey pine seeds by rodent scatter hoarders: the roles of pilfering, recaching, and a variable environment. Pages 193-208 In Levey, D. J., Silva, W. R., and M. Galetti. Seed Dispersal and Frugivory: Ecology, Evolution and Conservation. CABI Publishing, Wallingford, Oxfordshire, UK.
Vander Wall, S. B. 2002. Masting in pines alters the use of cached seeds by rodents and causes increased seed survival. Ecology 83:3508-3516.
Vander Wall, S. B. 2003. Effect of seed size of wind-dispersed pines (Pinus) on secondary seed dispersal and the caching behavior of rodents. Oikos 82:25-34.
Vander Wall, S. B., M. J. Beck, J. S. Briggs, J. K. Roth, T. C. Thayer, J. L. Hollander, and J. M. Armstrong. 2003. Interspecific variation in the olfactory abilities of granivorous rodents. Journal of Mammalogy 84:159-168.
Vander Wall, S. B. 2003. How rodents smell buried seeds: a model based on the behavior of pesticides in soil. Journal of Mammalogy. 84:1089-1099.
Vander Wall, S. B., and S. H. Jenkins. 2003. Reciprocal pilfering and the evolution of food-hoarding behavior. Behavioral Ecology 14:656-667.
Briggs, J. S., and S. B. Vander Wall. 2004. Substrate type affects caching and pilferage of pine seeds by chipmunks. Behavioral Ecology 15:666-672.
Thayer, T. C., and S. B. Vander Wall. 2005. Interactions between Steller’s jays and yellow pine chipmunk over scatter-hoarded sugar pine seeds. Journal of Animal Ecology 74:365-374.
Vander Wall, S. B., K. M. Kuhn, and M. J. Beck. 2005. Seed removal, seed predation, and secondary dispersal. Ecology 86:801-806.
Vander Wall, S. B., E. C. H. Hager, and K. M. Kuhn. 2005. Pilfering of stored seeds and the relative costs of scatter hoarding versus larder hoarding in yellow pine chipmunks. Western North American Naturalist 65:248-257.
Roth, J. K., and S. B. Vander Wall. 2005. Dispersal and establishment of Sierra chinquapin (Castanopsis sempervirens) by seed-caching rodents. Ecology 86:2428-2439.
Vander Wall, S. B., K. M. Kuhn, and J. Gworek. 2005. Two phase seed dispersal: linking the effects of frugivorous birds and seed-caching rodents. Oecologia 145:282-287.
Vander Wall, S. B. (with contributions from 14 colleagues). 2005. Whittell Forest Fuel Reduction and Ecosystem Enhancement Plan. Approved and implemented by the Whittell Board of Control. 86p.
Vander Wall, S. B., J. S. Briggs, S. H. Jenkins, K. M. Kuhn, T. C. Thayer and M. J. Beck. 2006. Do food-hoarding animals have a recovery advantage? determining recovery of stored food. Animal Behaviour 72:189-197.
Gworek, J. R., S. B. Vander Wall, and P. F. Brussard. 2007. Changes in biotic interactions and climate determine recruitment of Jeffrey pine along an elevation gradient. Forest Ecology and Management 239:57-68.
Richardson, T. W., and S. B. Vander Wall. 2007. Yellow pine chipmunks cannot climb quaking aspens: implications for avian nest site selection. Western North American Naturalist 67:251-257.
Kuhn, K. M., and S. B. Vander Wall. 2007. Black bears (Ursus americanus) harvest Jeffrey pine (Pinus jeffreyi) seeds from tree canopies. Western North American Naturalist 67:384-388.
Vander Wall, S. B. 2008. On the relative contributions of wind versus animals to seed dispersal of four Sierra Nevada pines. Ecology 89:1837-1849.
Vander Wall, S. B., C. J. Downs, M. S. Enders, and B. A. Waitman. 2008. Do yellow-pine chipmunks prefer to recover their own caches? Western North American Naturalist 68:319-325.
Kuhn, K. M., and S. B. Vander Wall. 2008. Linking summer foraging to winter survival in yellow pine chipmunks (Tamias amoenus). Oecologia 157:349-360.
Briggs, J. S., S. B. Vander Wall, and S. H. Jenkins. 2009. Forest rodents provide directed dispersal of Jeffrey pine seeds. Ecology 90:675-687.
Vander Wall, S. B., M. S. Enders and B. A. Waitman. 2009. Asymmetrical cache pilfering between yellow pine chipmunks and golden-mantled ground squirrels. Animal Behaviour 78:555-561.
Kuhn, K. M., and S. B. Vander Wall. 2009. Formation and contents of yellow-pine chipmunk (Tamias amoenus) winter larders. Western North American Naturalist 69:309-318.
Downs, C. J., and S. B. Vander Wall. 2009. High relative humidity increases pilfering success of yellow pine chipmunks. Journal of Mammalogy 90:796-802.
Legras, E. C., S. B. Vander Wall and D. I. Board. 2010. The role of germination microsite in the establishment of sugar pine and Jeffrey pine seedlings. Forest Ecology and Management 260:806-813.
Vander Wall, S. B. and S. H. Jenkins. 2011. Plant-animal interactions and climate: why do yellow pine chipmunks (Tamias amoenus) and eastern chipmunks (Tamias striatus) have such different effects on plants? Ecoscience 18:130-137.
Vander Wall, S. B. and Beck, M. J. 2012. Frugivory versus food-hoarding dispersal syndromes. Botanical Review 78:10-31.
Enders, M. S. and S. B. Vander Wall. 2012. Black bears are effective dispersers of seeds, with a little help from their friends. Oikos 121:589-596.
Hollander, J. L., S. B. Vander Wall, and W. S. Longland. 2012. A comparison of the detectability of wildland and cultivated seeds by foraging rodents. Western North American Naturalist 73:339-347.
Barga, S. C. and S. B. Vander Wall. 2013. Dispersal of an herbaceous perennial, Paeonia brownii, by scatter-hoarding rodent. Ecoscience 20:172-181.
Moore, C. M., and S. B. Vander Wall. 2015. Scatter-hoarding rodents disperse seeds to safe sites in a fire-prone ecosystem. Plant Ecology 216:1137-1153.
Vander Wall, S. B., and C. M. Moore. 2016. Interaction diversity of North American seed-dispersal mutualisms. Global Ecology and Biogeography 25:1377-1386.
Vander Wall, S. C. Barga, and A. E. Seaman. 2017. The geographic distribution of seed-dispersal mutualisms in North America. Evolutionary Ecology 31:725-740.
Dittel, J. W., R. Perea, and S. B. Vander Wall. 2017. Pilfering dynamics in a seed-caching rodent community. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 71:1-8.
Dittel, J. W. and S. B. Vander Wall. 2018. The effects of rodent abundance and richness on cache pilfering. Integrative Zoology 13:328-335.
Dittel, J. W., C. M. Moore, and S. B. Vander Wall. 2018. The mismatch in distributions of vertebrates and the plants that they disperse. Ecography 42:565-575.
Vander Wall, S. B. Seed harvest by a scatter-hoarding rodent. Journal of Mammalogy in press

Projects based on research and creative activities at Whittell

Whittell Forest Graduate Research Grant projects
Name	Date	Degree	Project
Joselyn Annet Atuhairwe	2024	Ph.D., Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology	Habitat complexity, aquatic invertebrate community diversity and mosquito abundance in ephemeral habitats and mesocosm experiments
Sydney Corcoran	2024	M.S., Hydrologic Sciences	How is water availability in Great Basin ecosystems responding to the effects of wildfire disturbances?
Yasi Raeofy	2024	Ph.D., Atmospheric Sciences	Investigation of chemical compounds in post-fire wildfire landscapes that drive soil hydrophobicity
Hanna Grock	2023	M.S., Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences	Effects of anthropogenic disturbance on diet selection and stress levels of black bears in the wildland versus wildland-urban interface
Bobby Lee	2023	M.F.A., Art	Whittell Forest photography
Johanne Albrigtsen	2023	Ph.D., Hydrologic Sciences	Quantifying the role of forest litter in controlling the forest soil-water balance
Pamela Pearce	2022	M.S., Anthropology	Honing sustainable practices for heritage management in the Whittell Management and Wildlife Area
Kenneth Hickenbottom	2022	Ph.D., Environmental Engineering	Wildfire effects on drinking water supplies
Johanne Albrigtsen	2022	Ph.D., Hydrologic Sciences	Quantifying the role of forest litter in controlling the forest soil-water balance
Kerri Minatre	2021	Ph.D., Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology; Hydrology	Reconstructing charring intensity using infrared imaging microscopy of charcoal materials
Chanchanok (Saw) Sudta	2021	Ph.D., Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology	Expanding a time series for understanding fire effects on plant-arthropod networks in the Whittell Forest
Madeline Fontaine	2020	M.S., Hydrology	Where has the water gone? Results from a watershed model with dendroclimatic inputs
Kelly Loria	2020	Ph.D., Environmental Science	Expectations for montane stream metabolism given climate driven shifts in hydrologic regimes
Jane Dell	2016	Ph.D., Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology	The return of fire to the ecosystem: Quantifying arthropod diversity after 150 years of fire exclusion
Jacob Francis	2016	Ph.D., Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology	Do nectary plants make good neighbors? Facilitation and competition between Lupinus and co-flowering communities
Devin Picklum	2016	Ph.D., Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology	Is pollination facilitated by mulit-trait floral similarity in two alpine plant species?
Alexandra Urza	2016	Ph.D., Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology	Effects of prescribed fire on plant communities and tree survival in Little Valley meadows and forests.
Zachary Carter	2015	M.S., Hydrology	The Role of Charcoal in Nutrient Cycling Following Prescribed Fire
Kira Hefty	2015	M.S., Biology	Assessing the Behavioral Conflict of a Larder-Hoarding Rodent
Jacob William Dittell	2013	Ph.D., Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology	Investigating community level resource trade-offs and reciprocal pilfering of four Little Valley rodent species
Meredith Lieurance	2013	M.S., Biology	Story of a structure: the evolution and ecological impacts of the rodent cheek pouch
Britt Johnson	2011	Ph.D., Hydrology	Simulated Climate Change Effects on Snowpack Duration, Litter Decomposition and Water Quality in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of Northern Nevada
Britt Johnson	2010	Ph.D., Hydrology	Simulated Climate Change Effects on Snowpack Duration, Litter Decomposition and Water Quality in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of Northern Nevada
Mark Ender	2008	M.S., Biology	Secondary dispersal of fleshy-fruited plants by seed-caching rodents and ants
Julie Koop	2008	M.S., Biology	Documenting male killing of pseudoscorpions by Wolbachia, an endosymbiont bacteria, and the phylogeny of two different Wolbachia strains
Cynthia Downs	2006	Ph.D., Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology	How rodents use landmarks in the field to locate buried food
Robert Monnar	2006	M.S., Geography	Daily Cycles of Leaf Water Stable Isotopes in Two Pine Species
Will Richardson	2006	Ph.D., Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology	Chipmunk Vagility in Aspen Versus Pine
Jennifer Gworek	2004	M.S., Biology	Effects of Climate Change on Plant-Animal Interactions along an Elevation Gradient in the Carson Range western Nevada
Elaine Hager	2004	M.S., Biology	The Effects of Nurse Plants on Emergence and Establishment of Sugar Pine (Pirrus lambertiana) and Jeffrey Pine (Pirrus jeffreyi) Seedlings
Jennifer Hollander	2004	Ph.D., Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology	Differences in the ability of rodents to detect caches made with native vs. non-native seeds using olfaction
Kellie Kuhn	2004	M.S., Biology	Patterns of time allocation & winter hoarder provisioning of yellow pine chipmunks
Jennifer Gworek	2003	M.S., Biology	Effects of Climate Change on Plant-Animal Interactions along an Elevation Gradient in the Carson Range western Nevada
Elaine Hager	2003	M.S., Biology	The Effects of Nurse Plants on Emergence and Establishment of Sugar Pine and Jeffrey Pine Seedling
Kellie Kuhn	2003	M.S., Biology	Patterns of time allocation & winter hoarder provisioning of yellow pine chipmunks
Chad Stein	2003	M.S., Hydrologic Sciences	Effects of post-fire vegetation on soil fertility and water quality
John Tull	2003	Ph.D., Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology	Determining the Effects of Seed Moisture on Rodent Capture Rates
Jenny Briggs	2002	Ph.D., Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology	Comparative study of the food-caching behavior of 4 species of rodents
Christopher Lopez	2002	M.S., Geology	Document and describe the faults and Quaternary features in Little Valley
Elizabeth Peacock/Helen Neville	2001	Ph.D., Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology	Quantification of cache pilfering rates in yellow pine chipmunks
Julie Roth	2000	M.S., Biology	Dispersal of sierra chinquapin by scatter hoarding animals
Christine Wilcox	2000	Ph.D., Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology	Conservation genetics & ecology of sub-alpine riparian obligate, the western jumping mouse, in Nevada
Lisa Crampton	1999	Ph.D., Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology	Influence of inter-and intraspecific interactions on food hoarding behavior of yellow pine and golden-mantled ground squirrels
Jen Hodge	1999	Ph.D., Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology	The effects of natural disturbance & patch dynamics on the dispersal of Jeffrey pine by rodents
Julie Roth	1999	M.S., Biology	Dispersal of sierra chinquapin by scatter hoarding animals
Ted Thayer	1999	Ph.D., Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology	Dispersal of Sugar Pine by Steller’s Jays & Yellow Pine Chipmunks: A Comparison of Effectiveness
Kyle Comanor	1997	M.S. , Hydrologic Sciences	Comparison of riparian bank storage flux rates and solute transport in grazed and un-grazed areas

Research

Opportunity: Whittell Forest Graduate Research Grants

Publications from research at Whittell

Bark beetles

Gary Blomquist and Claus Tittiger labs

Soils and nutrient cycling from Little Valley

Dale Johnson and Wally Miller labs

Rodent foraging and seed dispersal

Stephen Vander Wall lab

Beavers and other rodents

Stephen Jenkins lab

Miscellaneous publications

Theses and dissertations related to Whittell

Projects based on research and creative activities at Whittell

Graduate Research Grant projects