Jeffrey Bromaghin, Ph.D.
My research broadly encompasses the development and application of advanced models and statistical methods to improve our understanding of ecological processes that influence the behavior, reproduction, and survival of individual animals, and how individual-animal outcomes ultimately scale upward to shape the dynamics and demographics of entire populations and communities through time.
Biography
Education
Ph.D. 1991 University of Wyoming Statistics
M.S. 1988 University of Wyoming Statistics
B.S. 1985 University of Alaska Wildlife Management
Professional Experience
2009 - Present Research Statistician, U.S. Geological Survey, Alaska Science Center
2000 - 2009 Statistician, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Fisheries and Ecological Services, Alaska Region
1990 - 2000 Regional Biometrician, Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game, Commercial Fisheries Division
Professional Activities and/or Memberships
The International Biometric Society
The Wildlife Society
Ecological Society of America
Honors and/or Awards
2014 U. S. Geological Survey, Quality step increase for exceptional performance
2014 U. S. Geological Survey, STAR award for special achievement
2012 U. S. Geological Survey, STAR award for special achievement
2012 Stevan Phelps Award, American Fisheries Society (Bromaghin et al., 2011, TAFS 140:235-249)
2011 U. S. Geological Survey, STAR award for special achievement
2010 U. S. Geological Survey, STAR award for special achievement
2007 U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, STAR award for exceptional performance
2007 U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Regional Director’s award for Science Excellence
2004 U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, quality step increase for sustained exceptional performance
2001 U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, STAR award for outstanding performance
1993 Letter of commendation, Alaska Dept. Fish and Game
1992 Deming Award for distinguished graduate program. Dept. of Statistics, University of Wyoming
Science and Products
Polar Bear Population Dynamics
Information on the status and trends of polar bear populations are needed to inform management of polar bears under US laws and international agreements. The USGS maintains a long-term research program focused on the population dynamics of the southern Beaufort Sea polar bear population. In addition, the USGS collaborates with the US Fish and Wildlife Service in population studies in the...
Quantitative Ecology Research
The goals of the Quantitative Ecology Research Program are to develop analytical methods and statistical models that broadly advance our understanding of the ecological mechanisms that influence wildlife population dynamics and demographics. Knowing how ecological processes influence key animal outcomes, such as behavior, foraging success, survival, and reproduction, provides vital insights...
Energy-rich mesopelagic fishes revealed as a critical prey resource for a deep-diving predator using quantitative fatty acid signature analysis
Understanding the diet of deep-diving predators can provide essential insight to the trophic structure of the mesopelagic ecosystem. Comprehensive population-level diet estimates are exceptionally difficult to obtain for elusive marine predators due to the logistical challenges involved in observing their feeding behavior and collecting samples...
Goetsch, Chandra; Conners, Melinda G.; Budge, Suzanne M.; Mitani, Yoko; Walker, William A; Bromaghin, Jeffrey F.; Simmons, Samantha E.; Reichmuth, Colleen; Costa, Daniel P. QFASAR: Quantitative fatty acid signature analysis with R
Knowledge of predator diets provides essential insights into their ecology, yet diet estimation is challenging and remains an active area of research.Quantitative fatty acid signature analysis (QFASA) is a popular method of estimating diet composition that continues to be investigated and extended. However, software to implement QFASA has only...
Bromaghin, Jeffrey F. Simultaneous estimation of diet composition and calibration coefficients with fatty acid signature data
Knowledge of animal diets provides essential insights into their life history and ecology, although diet estimation is challenging and remains an active area of research. Quantitative fatty acid signature analysis (QFASA) has become a popular method of estimating diet composition, especially for marine species. A primary assumption of QFASA is...
Bromaghin, Jeffrey F.; Budge, Suzanne M.; Thiemann, Gregory W.; Rode, Karyn D. Detect and exploit hidden structure in fatty acid signature data
Estimates of predator diet composition are essential to our understanding of their ecology. Although several methods of estimating diet are practiced, methods based on biomarkers have become increasingly common. Quantitative fatty acid signature analysis (QFASA) is a popular method that continues to be refined and extended. Quantitative fatty acid...
Bromaghin, Jeffrey F.; Budge, Suzanne M.; Thiemann, Gregory W. Habitat degradation affects the summer activity of polar bears
Understanding behavioral responses of species to environmental change is critical to forecasting population-level effects. Although climate change is significantly impacting species’ distributions, few studies have examined associated changes in behavior. Polar bear (Ursus maritimus) subpopulations have varied in their near-term responses to sea...
Ware, Jasmine V.; Rode, Karyn D.; Bromaghin, Jeffrey F.; Douglas, David C.; Wilson, Ryan R.; Regehr, Eric V.; Amstrup, Steven C.; Durner, George M.; Pagano, Anthony M.; Olson, Jay; Robbins, Charles T.; Jansen, Heiko T Fatty acid signature data of potential yellow-billed loon prey in the Arctic coastal plain of Alaska, 2009-2011
This dataset contains fatty acid data expressed as mass percent of total fatty acids for several species potentially preyed upon by yellow-billed loons. These data were utilized in a quantitative fatty acid signature analysis to estimate the diet of yellow-billed loons nesting on the Arctic Coastal Plain of Alaska (Haynes et al. 2015).
Haynes, T B; Schmutz, Joel A.; Bromaghin, Jeffrey; Iverson, S.J.; Padula, V. M.; Rosenberger, Amanda E. Forecasting the relative influence of environmental and anthropogenic stressors on polar bears
Effective conservation planning requires understanding and ranking threats to wildlife populations. We developed a Bayesian network model to evaluate the relative influence of environmental and anthropogenic stressors, and their mitigation, on the persistence of polar bears (Ursus maritimus). Overall sea ice conditions, affected by rising global...
Atwood, Todd C.; Marcot, Bruce G.; Douglas, David C.; Amstrup, Steven C.; Rode, Karyn D.; Durner, George M.; Bromaghin, Jeffrey F. Should fatty acid signature proportions sum to 1 for diet estimation?
Knowledge of predator diets, including how diets might change through time or differ among predators, provides essential insights into their ecology. Diet estimation therefore remains an active area of research within quantitative ecology. Quantitative fatty acid signature analysis (QFASA) is an increasingly common method of diet estimation. QFASA...
Bromaghin, Jeffrey F.; Budge, Suzanne M.; Thiemann, Gregory W. Assessing the robustness of quantitative fatty acid signature analysis to assumption violations
Knowledge of animal diets can provide important insights into life history and ecology, relationships among species in a community and potential response to ecosystem change or perturbation. Quantitative fatty acid signature analysis (QFASA) is a method of estimating diets from data on the composition, or signature, of fatty acids stored...
Bromaghin, Jeffrey F.; Budge, Suzanne M.; Thiemann, Gregory W.; Rode, Karyn D. Validation of mercury tip-switch and accelerometer activity sensors for identifying resting and active behavior in bears
Activity sensors are often included in wildlife transmitters and can provide information on the behavior and activity patterns of animals remotely. However, interpreting activity-sensor data relative to animal behavior can be difficult if animals cannot be continuously observed. In this study, we examined the performance of a mercury tip-switch...
Jasmine Ware; Rode, Karyn D.; Pagano, Anthony M.; Bromaghin, Jeffrey F.; Robbins, Charles T.; Joy Erlenbach; Shannon Jensen; Amy Cutting; Nicassio-Hiskey, Nicole; Amy Hash; Owen, Megan A.; Heiko Jansen Simulating realistic predator signatures in quantitative fatty acid signature analysis
Diet estimation is an important field within quantitative ecology, providing critical insights into many aspects of ecology and community dynamics. Quantitative fatty acid signature analysis (QFASA) is a prominent method of diet estimation, particularly for marine mammal and bird species. Investigators using QFASA commonly use computer simulation...
Bromaghin, Jeffrey F. Diet of yellow-billed loons (Gavia adamsii) in Arctic lakes during the nesting season inferred from fatty acid analysis
Understanding the dietary habits of yellow-billed loons (Gavia adamsii) can give important insights into their ecology, however, studying the diet of loons is difficult when direct observation or specimen collection is impractical. We investigate the diet of yellow-billed loons nesting on the Arctic Coastal Plain of Alaska using quantitative fatty...
Haynes, T B; Schmutz, Joel A.; Bromaghin, Jeffrey F.; Iverson, S J; Padula, V. M.; Rosenberger, A E
Model selection in Cormack-Jolly-Seber mark-recapture investigations
Cormack-Jolly-Seber (CJS) mark-recapture models are widely utilized in ecology, providing estimates of vital rates and abundance that are difficult to obtain using other means.
QFASA robustness to assumption violations
Quantitative fatty acid signature analysis (QFASA; Iverson et al. 2004) has become a common method of estimating diet composition, especially for marine mammals, but the performance of the method has received limited investigation.
Quantitative Fatty Acid Signature Analysis in R (qfasar)
Quantitative fatty acid signature analysis (QFASA) is a method of diet estimation introduced over a decade ago (Iverson et al. 2004).