Milan Vinks, PhD Student

I am a PhD student working with Dr. Sarah Sells. I am a member of the Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks grizzly bear research team. My current research aims to address the effects of forest management and wildfire disturbance on grizzly bears in the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem of northwestern Montana. Prior to my work on grizzly bears, I spent multiple years studying the effects of illegal offtake on large carnivores and their prey in central Zambia’s Greater Kafue Ecosystem. Broadly, my research interests include population ecology, spatial ecology, predator-prey dynamics, and anthropogenic impacts on species of concern.

Kaylie Durglo, MS Candidate

I am a MS student working with Dr. Sells. I am also a Wildlife Biologist for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes. I grew up on the Flathead Indian Reservation and am a member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes. I received a B.S. in Conservation Biology and Ecology from Montana State University in 2019. My current research aims to better understand how moose select habitat on the Flathead Indian Reservation and how that information can be used to make informed management decisions for moose conservation. More broadly, my research interests include decision analysis, spatial ecology and resource use, and conservation planning.

Dr. Hannah Sipe, Postdoctoral Researcher

I am a postdoctoral researcher working with Dr. Sarah Sells. My current research is focused on developing a quantitative decision framework to inform wolf management in Montana. Before joining the Montana Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit, I received my PhD at the University of Washington Cooperative Research Unit, where my research focused primarily on the development of decision-analytic tools to inform avian management and reintroduction decisions. Overall, my research aims to help natural resource managers make informed decisions through applying appropriate and informative methods. Broadly, I am interested in population dynamics and estimation methods, conservation biology, decision analysis, reintroduction science, optimization techniques, game theory, and generally using mathematical and statistical methods in application to species conservation and management decisions.