Jennifer Lee Wilkening

Nifer Wilkening has worked on wildlife conservation projects in Asia and South America, and in numerous ecoregions throughout the western United States including the Rocky Mountains, Sierra Nevada, Cascades, Great Basin, Coastal Sagescrub, and the Mojave Desert. She has trapped and handled animals, conducted vegetation and habitat surveys, analyzed physiological samples, and collaborated with local communities to manage wildlife populations and preserve habitat for a variety of species. She currently serves as a research ecologist for the USFWS Natural Resource Program Center in Ft Collins, Colorado. She received her BS and PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from the University of Colorado, Boulder and her MS in Biology from the University of Nevada, Reno. Her research has focused on climate change in desert and mountain ecosystems, with particular emphasis on the use of a habitat specialist species to identify, interpret and model climate change impacts. She is a member of the IUCN Climate Change Specialist Group, a chapter author for the 5th National Climate Assessment currently in development, and an Associate Editor for PLOS Climate and the Journal of Wildlife Management.