A group stands in a circle at an animal capture site. There is snow on the ground with grasses peeking out and there are three vehicles and a trailer in the background.

The Shop

We are a research group focused on providing a scientific basis for management and conservation of ungulates. Often through individual-based research and intensive field studies, we connect individual animals to their environment to learn what influences their behavior, growth, reproduction, and survival in the face of a changing world. Our aim and our motto are to “advance science and management one data point at a time.” Learning about these species in a way that can shape on-the-ground decisions is contingent upon long-term, empirical data, which are hard to come by.

Through comprehensive field studies, scientific output, and active engagement with scientists, stakeholders, and the general public, the overarching goal of our group is to provide meaningful contributions to the field of wildlife ecology while effectively informing management decisions.

Leader:

Kevin Monteith shows one of his taxidermy projects to the viewer. Behind him, many deer mounts hang on the wall.

Kevin Monteith

Hometown: Bristol, SD
Degrees: Kevin earned a BSc in Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences and an MSc in Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences from South Dakota State University. He earned his PhD in Biological Sciences from Idaho State University.
Projects: All of them…

Graduate students:

BeckyBarbier_resized

Becky Barbier

Hometown: Centennial, WY
Degrees: Becky is pursuing an MSc in Environment and Natural Resources with the Shop. Before this, she earned a BSc in Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology, with a minor in Ecological Restoration, from Colorado State University.
Project: Moose Habitat Project (page forthcoming!)

Jack marvels at a small frog.

Jack Gavin

Hometown: Wenatchee, WA
Degrees: Jack is pursuing an MSc in Zoology and Physiology with the Shop. Before this, he earned a BSc in Environmental Science and GIS from Western Washington University.
Projects: Wyoming Bighorn Sheep Nutrition and Disease Project

TyHults_resized

Ty Hults

Hometown: Knob Noster, Missouri
Degrees: Ty is pursuing an MSc in Zoology and Physiology with the Shop. Before this, he earned a BSc in Wildlife and Fisheries Biology and Management from the University of Wyoming.
Projects: Wyoming Bighorn Sheep Nutrition and Disease Project

MacyJacobson

Macy Jacobson

Hometown: Lander, WY
Degrees: Macy is pursuing an MSc in Environment and Natural Resources with the Shop. Before this, she earned an AS in Wildlife Biology from Casper College and a BSc in Wildlife and Fisheries Biology and Management, with a concurrent major in Environment and Natural Resources, from the University of Wyoming.
Projects: Beaver-Ungulate Interaction Project (page forthcoming!)

Rebekah doing field work alongside her pup.

Rebekah Rafferty

Hometown: Solvang, California
Degrees: Rebekah is pursuing a PhD in Zoology and Physiology with the Shop. Before this, she earned BAs in both Environmental Studies and Modern Literature from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and an MA in Social Science, Environment, and Community from Humboldt State University.
Projects: Wyoming Range Mule Deer Project

Seth holding a bird during field work.

Seth Rankins

Hometown: Cusseta, Alabama
Degrees: Seth is pursuing a PhD in Zoology and Physiology with the Shop. Before this, he earned a BSc in Wildlife Ecology and Management from Auburn University and an MSc in Rangeland and Wildlife Management from Texas A&M University – Kingsville.
Projects: Sierra Nevada Bighorn Sheep Project

Yasaman Shakeri holding mule deer antlers up to her head.

Yasaman Shakeri

Hometown: San Jose, California
Degrees: Yasaman is pursuing a PhD in Zoology and Physiology with the Shop. Before this, she earned a BA in Environmental Studies from University of California Santa Cruz and an MSc in Fisheries and Wildlife Science from Oregon State University.
Projects: Sierra Nevada Bighorn Sheep Project

Staff:

Rebecca is thrilled by a sheep skull.

Rebecca Levine

Hometown: Providence, RI
Degrees: Before starting as a research scientist, Rebecca earned a BA in Biology from Swarthmore College and an MSc in Environment and Natural Resources from the University of Wyoming.
Projects: Meeteetse Moose Project

Ben smiles and looks at the camera, with a large backpack on his back.

Ben Regan

Hometown: Reno, NV
Degrees: Before starting as a research scientist, Ben earned a BSc in Fisheries and Wildlife Management from Montana State University.
Projects: All of them!

Brittany smiles at the camera, gleefully showing off a cylinder of ungulate poop.

Brittany Wagler

Hometown: Cody, WY
Degrees: Before starting as a research scientist, Brittany earned a BSc in Zoology and Physiology and an MSc in Zoology and Physiology, both from the University of Wyoming.
Projects: Wyoming Bighorn Sheep Nutrition and Disease Project
Link to CV

Taylor happily emerges from a creek.

Taylor Wagstaff

Hometown: Hulett, WY
Degrees: Before starting as a research scientist and lab coordinator, Taylor earned an AS in Science from Eastern Wyoming College and a BSc in Wildlife and Fisheries Biology and Management, with minors in Honors and Creative Writing, from the University of Wyoming.
Projects: All of them!

Alumni:

Heather excitedly points at a white-tailed deer.

Heather Abernathy
Postdoctoral researcher on Deer-Elk Ecology Research Project

Ellen Aikens sits in a blue hammock in a green forest environment. A black dog looks back at her as if to say, "What are you doing?"

Ellen Aikens
PhD student on Wyoming Range Mule Deer Project

Mitch stands in a wetsuit, wearing goggles and a snorkel. Behind him is water and a bird flying by.

Mitch Brunet
Master’s student, followed by research scientist, on Deer-Elk Ecology Research Project

Kristen stands in a green pen habitat, looking back and smiling at a collared caribou sniffing her elbow.

Kristin Denryter
Postdoctoral researcher on Sierra Nevada Desert Bighorn Sheep Project

Sam Dwinnel stands with her back to the viewer, looking back and smiling. She appears to be at the edge of a snowy, rocky slope and is wearing skis and a large green backpack.

Sam Dwinnell
Master’s student, followed by research scientist, on Wyoming Range Mule Deer Project

Matt Hayes looks past the camera, covered in deer hair during adult captures.

Matt Hayes
Research scientist on Deer-Elk Ecology Research Project

Katey Huggler stands in a sagebrush steppe environment, smiling at the camera. Her small puppy is zipped into her green jacket with her.

Kristin Denryter
Master’s student on Deer-Elk Ecology Research Project

Rhiannon Jakopak sits on a giant saddled jackalope, staring majesticly into the distance.

Rhiannon Jakopak
Master’s student on Wyoming Range Mule Deer Project, followed by research scientist on Casper Mule Deer Project

Jaron Kolek on the river.

Jaron Kolek
Master’s student on Sierra Nevada Bighorn Sheep Project

A man and a child, both wearing florescent orange, pose with a recently aharvested mule deer buck.

Bryan Lamont
Master’s student on Sierra Madre Elk Project

Tayler LaSharr smiles at the camera, turned to show that her puppy Ovis is sitting inside her pink backpack.

Tayler LaSharr
Master’s student on Harvest Records Project, then PhD student and research scientist on Wyoming Range Mule Deer Project

Alex May stirs a skillet full of food on a camp stove with tents and red rocks in the background.

Alex May
Master’s student on Snowy Range Moose Project

Emily Reed smiles at the camera in a selfie from her car. Her pup leans their head on her shoulder.

Emily Reed
Undergraduate student on Ungulate Compendium project

Rachel stands in a field of snow, using a pole to help balance her. Behind her is a very rocky outcrop, showing that she is in very high elevation, steep terrain.

Rachel Smiley
PhD student on Wyoming Bighorn Sheep Nutrition and Disease Project

A man wearing a ball cap sits in the driver's seat of a vehicle, and is taking a selfie with a bison walking along a paved road.

Lee Tafelmeyer
Master’s student on Pronghorn Harvest Project

Tana stands on the rocky banks of a river, holding a very small frog.

Tana Verzuh
Master’s student on Snowy Range Moose Project

Shop Friends:

Hayduke, a corgi with black, white, and brown, takes a break in some sagebrush. She looks tired, as though she has been running through the sagebrush for days.

Hayduke
Person: Rebekah Rafferty

A black dog with his tongue out sits in the snow, holding a red frisbee.

Koda
Person: Brittany Wagler

A black dog looks majestically over an Alaskan landscape.

Kohda
Person: Yasaman Shakeri

A brown cat with an orange streak on her forehead reclines in a cozy cat tower.

Remi
Person: Taylor Wagstaff