Karyn Rode, Ph.D.
Nutritional, physiological and population ecology of large mammals with particular focus on polar bears, black bears, grizzly bears, and Pacific walrus and anthropogenic effects on large mammals.
Biography
Education
Ph.D. Washington State University Zoology
M.S. Washington State University Zoology
B.S. Colorado State University Wildlife Biology
Professional Experience
Mar 2012 - Present Research Wildlife Biologist, Alaska Science Center, US Geological Survey
Oct 2006 - Feb 2012 Wildlife Biologist, US Fish and Wildlife Service Polar Bear Program, Anchorage, Alaska
Jan 2006 - Oct 2006 Research Associate, Cornell University, Forest Elephant program
June 2002 - Dec 2005 Contract wildlife biologist - Alaska Department of Fish and Game/PhD candidate - Washington State University
Professional Activities and/or Memberships
2020 - present Vice President- Americas, International Association of Bear Research and Management
2017 - present International Association of Bear Research and Management Grants Review Committee
2017 - present Member of the American Zoological Association’s Polar Bear Research Council
2015 - present Member of Science/TEK working group of the US Fish and Wildlife Service Polar Bear Recovery Team
2009 - 2010 Secretary/Treasurer of the Alaska chapter of the Wildlife Society
2008 - present Member of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) Polar bear specialist group
2007 - present Member of the Scientific/TEK working group under the US-Russia polar bear commission
Science and Products
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 JansenGene transcription in polar bears (Ursus maritimus) from disparate populations
Polar bears in the Beaufort (SB) and Chukchi (CS) Seas experience different environments due primarily to a longer history of sea ice loss in the Beaufort Sea. Ecological differences have been identified as a possible reason for the generally poorer body condition and reproduction of Beaufort polar bears compared to those from the Chukchi, but the...
Bowen, Lizabeth; Miles, A. Keith; Waters, Shannon C.; Meyerson, Randi; Rode, Karyn D.; Atwood, Todd C.Changing Arctic Ecosystems: Updated forecast: Reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions required to improve polar bear outlook
The Arctic is warming faster than other regions of the world due to the loss of snow and ice, which increases the amount of solar energy absorbed by the region. The most visible consequence has been the rapid decline in sea ice over the last 3 decades-a decline projected to bring long ice-free summers if greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are not...
Oakley, Karen L.; Atwood, Todd C.; Mugel, Douglas N.; Rode, Karyn D.; Whalen, Mary E.Can polar bears use terrestrial foods to offset lost ice-based hunting opportunities?
Increased land use by polar bears (Ursus maritimus) due to climate-change-induced reduction of their sea-ice habitat illustrates the impact of climate change on species distributions and the difficulty of conserving a large, highly specialized carnivore in the face of this global threat. Some authors have suggested that terrestrial food...
Rode, Karyn D.; Robbins, Charles T.; Nelson, Lynne; Amstrup, Steven C.Resilience and risk: a demographic model to inform conservation planning for polar bears
Climate change is having widespread ecological effects, including loss of Arctic sea ice. This has led to listing of the polar bear (Ursus maritimus) and other ice-dependent marine mammals under the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA). Methods are needed to evaluate the effects of climate change on population persistence to inform recovery planning...
Regehr, Eric V.; Wilson, Ryan R.; Rode, Karyn D.; Runge, Michael C.Distance measures and optimization spaces in quantitative fatty acid signature analysis
Quantitative fatty acid signature analysis has become an important method of diet estimation in ecology, especially marine ecology. Controlled feeding trials to validate the method and estimate the calibration coefficients necessary to account for differential metabolism of individual fatty acids have been conducted with several species from...
Bromaghin, Jeffrey F.; Rode, Karyn D.; Budge, Suzanne M.; Thiemann, Gregory W.Evaluating and ranking threats to the long-term persistence of polar bears
The polar bear (Ursus maritimus) was listed as a globally threatened species under the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) in 2008, mostly due to the significant threat to their future population viability from rapidly declining Arctic sea ice. A core mandate of the ESA is the development of a recovery plan that identifies steps to maintain viable...
Atwood, Todd C.; Marcot, Bruce G.; Douglas, David C.; Amstrup, Steven C.; Rode, Karyn D.; Durner, George M.; Bromaghin, Jeffrey F.Effects of capturing and collaring on polar bears: findings from long-term research on the southern Beaufort Sea population
Context: The potential for research methods to affect wildlife is an increasing concern among both scientists and the public. This topic has a particular urgency for polar bears because additional research is needed to monitor and understand population responses to rapid loss of sea ice habitat.Aims: This study used data collected from...
Rode, Karyn D.; Pagano, Anthony M.; Bromaghin, Jeffrey F.; Atwood, Todd C.; Durner, George M.; Simac, Kristin S.; Amstrup, Steven C.Identifying polar bear resource selection patterns to inform offshore development in a dynamic and changing Arctic
Although sea ice loss is the primary threat to polar bears (Ursus maritimus), little can be done to mitigate its effects without global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Other factors, however, could exacerbate the impacts of sea ice loss on polar bears, such as exposure to increased industrial activity. The Arctic Ocean has enormous oil...
Wilson, Ryan R.; Horne, Jon S.; Rode, Karyn D.; Regehr, Eric V.; Durner, George M.Polar bears exhibit genome-wide signatures of bioenergetic adaptation to life in the Arctic environment
Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) face extremely cold temperatures and periods of fasting, which might result in more severe energetic challenges than those experienced by their sister species, the brown bear (U. arctos). We have examined the mitochondrial and nuclear genomes of polar and brown bears to investigate if polar bears demonstrate lineage-...
Welch, Andreanna J.; Bedoya-Reina, Oscar C.; Carretero-Paulet, Lorenzo; Miller, Webb; Rode, Karyn D.; Lindqvist, CharlotteVariation in the response of an Arctic top predator experiencing habitat loss: Feeding and reproductive ecology of two polar bear populations
Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) have experienced substantial changes in the seasonal availability of sea ice habitat in parts of their range, including the Beaufort, Chukchi, and Bering Seas. In this study, we compared the body size, condition, and recruitment of polar bears captured in the Chukchi and Bering Seas (CS) between two periods (1986–1994...
Rode, Karyn D.; Regehr, Eric V.; Douglas, David C.; Durner, George M.; Derocher, Andrew E.; Thiemann, Gregory W.; Budge, Suzanne M.Carbon routing in the polar bear: insights from the lipid and protein pathways
No abstract available.
Striker, C.A.; Rode, Karyn D.; Erlenbach, J.; Robbins, C.T.