Dr. Elizabeth Orning is an ecologist at the Fort Collins Science Center and part of a large collaborative research team focused on conservation and management of sage-grouse and their habitats.
Dr. Orning's (she/her) research focuses on using field methodology and remote sensing to better understand the intersection of spatial dynamics, population demography, competition, predator-prey relationships, and applied research to facilitate management of species of conservation concern. She currently works on applied research in the sagebrush biome that supports the conservation of sage-grouse and their habitats. Beth recently completed a postdoc with SUNY ESF where she organized data collection and field monitoring efforts to characterize social group formation and summer predation patterns for wolves introduced to Isle Royale National Park. She received her Ph.D. from Oregon State University applying principles of intraguild relationships, spatial ecology, and animal movement to understand how competition between cougars and recolonizing wolf populations could influence impacts to their shared prey populations in Oregon. She earned her M.S. from Utah State University, where she examined the effect of coyote removal on greater sage-grouse demography in the Bighorn Basin of Wyoming, and her B.S. in Animal Ecology from Iowa State University.