People
Staff
Research Lab Manager
Department of Fish and Wildlife Sciences
Research Interests:
My research interests are focused on the use of molecular tools to aid the conservation and management of imperiled populations and species. I have worked with two populations of wolves each threatened with extinction but for different reasons. It was my study of these populations, which fueled my interest in pedigree reconstruction, inbreeding and hybridization. I am also interested in using molecular tools to better understand the evolution of large canids in North America. I am interested in developing genetic tools to assist in answering basic questions, like what is the distribution of a species, which could not be readily answered using traditional means. Finally, I am interested in the non-invasive detection of wildlife diseases using molecular methods.
Publications:
Torstrom SM, Adams JR, Waits LP (in press) Detecting pygmy rabbits (Brachylagus idahoensis) using DNA extracted from fecal pellets of mixed species groups. Wildlife Society Bulletin.
Bohling JH, Adams JR, Waits LP (2013) Evaluating the ability of Bayesian clustering methods to detect hybridization and introgression using an empirical red wolf dataset. Molecular Ecology, 22, 74-86.
Sparkman AM, Adams JR, Steury TD, Waits LP, Murray DL (2012) Pack social dynamics and inbreeding avoidance in the cooperatively breeding red wolf. Behavioral Ecology, 23, 1186-1194.
Marucco F, Vucetich LM, Peterson RO, Adams JR, Vucetich JA (2012) Evaluating the efficacy of non-invasive genetic methods and estimating wolf survival during a ten-year period. Conservation Genetics, 13, 1611-1622.
Sparkman AM, Adams J, Steury TD, Waits L, Murray DL (2012) Evidence for a genetic basis for delayed dispersal in a cooperatively breeding canid. Animal Behavior, 83, 1091-1098.
Geffen E, Kam M, Hefner R, Hersteinsson P, Angerbjörn A, Dalèn L, Fuglei E, Norèn K, Adams JR, Vucetich J, Meier TJ, Mech LD, vonHoldt BM, Stahler DR, Wayne RI (2011) Kin encounter rate and inbreeding avoidance in canids. Molecular Ecology, 20, 5348-5358.
Hedrick PW, Adams JR, Vucetich JA (2011) Reevaluating and broadening the definition of genetic rescue. Conservation Biology, 25, 1069-1070.
Adams JR, Vucetich LM, Hedrick PH, Peterson RO, Vucetich JA (2011) Genomic sweep and potential genetic rescue during limiting environmental conditions in an isolated wolf population. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences, 278, 3336-3344.
Adams JR, Goldberg CS, Bosworth WR, Rachlow JL, Waits LP (2011) Rapid species identification of pygmy rabbits (Brachylagus idahoensis) from fecal pellet DNA. Molecular Ecology Resources, 11, 808-812.
Sparkman AM, Adams J, Steury TD, Waits LW, Murray DL (2011) Direct fitness benefits for delayed dispersal in the cooperatively breeding red wolf, Canis rufus. Behavioral Ecology, 22, 199-205.
Sparkman AM, Adams JR, Beyer A, Steury TD, Waits LW, Murray DL (2011) Helper effects on pup lifetime fitness in the cooperatively breeding red wolf (Canis rufus). Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences, 278, 1381-1389.
Adams JR, Lucash C, Schutte L, Waits LP (2007) Locating hybrid individuals in the red wolf (Canis rufus) experimental population area using a spatially targeted sampling strategy and faecal DNA genotyping. Molecular Ecology, 16, 1823-1834.
Adams JR, Waits LP (2007) Genetic monitoring of the endangered red wolf (Canis rufus) population using fecal DNA genotyping. Conservation Genetics, 8, 123-131.
Miller CR, Adams JR, Waits LP (2003) Pedigree based assignment tests for reversing coyote (Canis latrans) introgression into the wild red wolf (Canis rufus) population. Molecular Ecology, 12, 3287-3301.
Adams JR, Kelly BT, Waits LP (2003) Using faecal DNA sampling and GIS to monitor for the presence of hybridization between red wolves (Canis rufus) and coyotes (Canis latrans). Molecular Ecology, 12, 2175-2186.
Adams JR, Leonard JA, Waits LP (2003) Widespread occurrence of a domestic dog mitochondrial DNA haplotype in southeastern coyotes. Molecular Ecology, 12, 541-546.
Students
Ph.D. Student
Advisor: Jodi Johnson-Maynard
Department of Plant, Soil & Entomological Sciences
Research Interests:
Chris Baugher is a graduate student pursuing a Ph.D. in Soil Science, in the Plant, Entomological, and Soil Sciences Department of the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences at the University of Idaho. He is an IGERT-NSF fellow studying the social-ecological resilience of Palouse prairie remnants and the ecology of the Giant Palouse earthworm.
The Giant Palouse earthworm, Driloleirus americanus, is the only known earthworm native to the Palouse prairie. Once believed to be abundant in the region, it has become a rare species due to land conversion of prairie to agriculture. Very little is known about the abundance, extent, or life history of this native earthworm. As part of a team of researchers and with funding from both IGERT-NSF and USFW, I am developing a non-invasive, non-destructive molecular method for measuring the presence/absence of the Giant Palouse earthworm in Palouse prairie remnants. This species is also found in Washington and Oregon and it is believed that all three populations are the same species. I will conduct a phylogenetic analysis to answer that question.
Ph.D. Candidate
Advisor: Lisette Waits
Department of Fish and Wildlife Sciences
clea7901@vandals.uidaho.edu
Research Interests:
My PhD research employs a landscape genetics approach to determine functional connectivity of the San Juan-La Selva biological corridor in Costa Rica for nectivorous and frugivorous bats. I use a combination of established field methods and innovative genetic techniques to assess functional connectivity at both the community and species level. My genetic work focuses on two frugivorous bat species, Artibeus jamaicensis and Carollia castanea; since these species are important seed dispersers in the SJLS, preserving functional connectivity for them will also preserve connectivity for the many plants they disperse.
As an NSF IGERT student, I also have a strong interdisciplinary component to my research. Our IGERT student team includes three plant ecologists and a sociologist; over the past two years we have worked with an interdisciplinary faculty team to develop an overarching interdisciplinary question on how agricultural intensification in the SJLS corridor affects social and ecological resilience. My disciplinary research is a key piece of this larger interdisciplinary project.
Before beginning my PhD, I earned my MSc in Wildlife Biology from Colorado State University through the Peace Corps Master’s International Program. During my time as a Peace Corps volunteer in Guatemala, I completed my Master’s thesis on the composition and distribution of bird communities in a forest reserve owned by the Maya Q’uiche community of Totonicapán. I also worked in the protected area El Aprisco, where I taught environmental education and produced a formal guide to the birds of Totonicapán.
Publications:
Cleary, K. 2010. Species richness, density, habitat relationships, and conservation of the bird community of the high-altitude forests of Totonicapán, Guatemala. Published online at CSU library and at Peace Corps Masters International website.
Cleary, K. 2009. Las aves de los bosques comunales de Totonicapán. A formal guide to the 94 bird species found in the forests of Totonicapán, with names of each bird in Spanish, English, and Maya K’iche.
Ph.D. Candidate
Advisor: Lisette Waits
Department of Fish and Wildlife Sciences
mpviteri@uidaho.edu | Curriculum Vitae
Research Interests:
I want to develop theory and methods to study and conserve biodiversity in our planet. In 2003 I completed my undergraduate education in Biology at the University San Francisco de Quito in Ecuador. In 2007 I obtained a Master degree in Environmental Sciences from the University of Idaho in USA. My MS thesis contains information on genetic diversity and population size of Andean (spectacled) bears (Tremarctos ornatus) in Northeastern Ecuador using non-invasive genetic sampling (Viteri 2007, Viteri et al. 2009). In August 2007 I started the PhD program in Natural Resources at the University of Idaho. I use genetics, spatial modeling and social sciences to address conservation of Andean bears and mountain forest and Paramo ecosystems in the Andes region. My dissertation contains three chapters: 1) Phylogeography of Andean bears using ecological niche models and sequence data. 2) Landscape genetics of Andean bears in three protected areas in Northeastern Ecuador, and 3) Effectiveness of collaborative approaches in conservation: integrating science and Traditional Ecological knowledge (TEK) in conservation efforts in Northeastern Ecuador.
Since 2008, I am serving on the Andean Bear Expert Team as a member of the Species Survival Commission of the IUCN. Recently, I co-authored the National Strategy for Andean bear conservation in Ecuador (Castellanos et al. 2010). In the future, I want to expand my research to other types of ecosystems and species in Ecuador and the tropics. I also want to promote environmental justice, conservation policy and education, especially for Ecuadorian women.
Ph.D. Student
Advisors: Sanford Eigenbrode and Lisette Waits
Department of Plant, Soil, and Entomological Sciences
Lisette Waits, Ph.D.
Distinguished Professor of Wildlife Resources
