Brian Folt, Ph.D.

Dr. Brian Folt is a wildlife population biologist who is interested in supporting good decisions in natural resource management. He has a degrees from Ohio University (B.S.), Auburn University (Ph.D.), and post-doctoral experience at Auburn University and University of Florida. 

In 2024, he joined the Nevada Unit as the Assistant Unit Leader of Wildlife. His work interests include using field research, quantitative methods, and structured decision-making approaches to help understand how landscapes influence wildlife populations and support value-based wildlife management decisions in an inclusive and transparent framework. His work often estimates how habitat or landscapes influence demographic vital rates (survival, growth, reproduction) which allows for building predictive models for how populations function and might be influenced by management options being considered by agencies. Decision analysis is a core focus of his program and all of Brian's work seeks to support relevant decision problems faced by management agencies. 

To this end, he works closely with cooperating wildlife agencies to co-produce science that can support management decisions that they are facing. Relevant research projects include applied management problems related to wild horses (estimation of population dynamics, predictive population modeling, and decision-support tools), Mojave desert tortoises (demographic estimation, population viability analysis), and ungulates (migration corridors and land-use planning) in the Great Basin ecoregion.

Previously, at the USGS Fort Collins Science Center, Brian worked with the Wild Horse and Burro Research Team to build population modeling tools to support management decisions for wild horses, largely in collaboration with the Bureau of Land Management. He also is interested in using population viability analyses to inform Species Status Assessments and listing decisions for imperiled species, such as the Gopher Tortoise and Eastern Indigo Snake.