Elizabeth Peacock

 

Education:

B.S.	Biology University of California, Berkeley Berkeley, CA

 

 

 

Research Interests:

My research is at the interface of molecular biology and behavioral ecology. I am using individual black bear (Ursus americanus) microsatellite signatures to study the spatial segregation in black bear populations. I study black bears on an island in Southeast Alaska which fish for Pacific salmon Oncorhynchus spp. in the summer and fall. Salmon is an important resource for the bears, as they must acquire sufficient lipids and proteins for their winter topor. However, the salmon streams are dangerous places to be, precisely because there are so many bears! Thus, females with dependent young are likely to segregate themselves from male bears, known for infanticidal behavior, and use different parts of the stream and/or at different times. With barbed wire hair snares strung up and down the salmon stream banks, I can collect hair samples non-invasively from bears passing by. In this way I can document the spatial patterning of the bear populations using individual microsatellite signatures. Using these genetic data gives me the opportunity to study movement, population structure and spatial arrangements using high sample sizes rather than the sample sizes of traditional expensive collaring studies. Understanding how bears use salmon streams will provide forest and fisheries managers information about appropriate riparian buffers in logging areas and the importance of healthy salmon populations for terrestrial wildlife.

My funding agency is Division of Wildlife Conservation, Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Southeast Region.

 

NEW !!! You can download IDENTITY or run the IDENTITY program in your browser. IDENTITY sorts multilocus genotypes into identical indivdiuals. Click on the image below to download or run the program.