Elena West

Elena West
Teaching Assistant Professor
[email protected]
B50A Skok Hall
Education

Ph.D. University of Wisconsin-Madison

M.S. University of Michigan

B.A. Lawrence University

Areas of Interest

Avian ecology and behavior; bioacoustics; conservation; community-driven science

Teaching

FW 3108 - Field Methods in Research and Conservation of Vertebrate Populations

FW 1001 - Orientation in Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology

ESPM 3575/5575 - Wetlands

Research

I work on topics ranging from natural history to behavioral ecology, and much of my research is driven by questions related to the conservation and management of threatened species in human-influenced landscapes. My work draws upon interdisciplinary approaches, including field data, spatial analyses, landscape-scale acoustic monitoring, and quantitative tools to provide applied outcomes for pressing conservation and management issues.

Select Publications

Ng, E.M., A.M. Pidgeon, E.H. West, M.Z Peery, and K.M. Brunk. 2023. Garbage in may not equal garbage out: sex mediates effects of ‘junk food’ in a synanthropic species Journal of Urban Ecology, 9(1) juad014. https://doi.org/10.1093/jue/juad014

West, E. H. and H.H. Jones. 2022. Human food subsidies drive individual specialization and intrapopulation dietary differences in a generalist predator, the Steller’s Jay (Cyanocitta stelleri). Ecosphere. 13(9), https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.4246

Brunk, K., M.Z. Peery, E.H. West, and A.M. Pidgeon. 2022. Failed despots and the equitable distribution of fitness in a subsidized species. Behavioral Ecology arac064. https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/arac064

Brunk, K., M.Z. Peery, E.H. West, and A. M. Pidgeon. 2021. Reducing anthropogenic subsidies can curb density of overabundant predators in protected areas. Biological Conservation 256. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2021.109081

Pagel, R.K., E.H. West, A.W. Jones, and H.M. Streby. 2020. Variation in individual autumn migration and winter paths of Great Lakes red-headed woodpeckers (Melanerpes erythrocephalus) Animal Migration 7(1): 9-18

West, E.H., K. Brunk, and M.Z. Peery. 2019. When protected areas produce source populations of overabundant species. Biological Conservation 238. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2019.108220

West, E.H. and M.Z. Peery. 2017. Behavioral mechanisms leading to improved fitness in a subsidized predator. Oecologia 184(4): 787-798.

West, E.H., W.R. Henry, W. Goldenberg, and M. Z. Peery. 2016. Influence of food subsidies on the foraging ecology of a synanthropic species in protected areas. Ecosphere 7(10): 1-15.