In 2012, Matt co-founded (and now directs) the Wyoming Migration Initiative (migrationinitiative.org), whose mission is to advance the understanding, appreciation, and conservation of Wyoming's migratory ungulates. He teaches graduate seminars in quantitative analysis of spatial wildlife data, community ecology of wildlife, and migration ecology.
Matthew Kauffman, PhD
Unit Leader - Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit
Matt grew up in rural southern Oregon, the son of a horse logger and an elementary schoolteacher. He received his B.S. in Biology from the University of Oregon in 1992 and his Ph.D. in Environmental Studies from the University of California, Santa Cruz in 2003. Since 2006, Matt has worked as a USGS researcher with the Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit and as faculty in the Department of Zoology and Physiology at the University of Wyoming; in 2010 he assumed leadership of the Wyoming Coop Unit. Matt leads a scientific team at the University of Wyoming that studies the long-distance migrations of large ungulates and communicates their importance to the public. His research seeks to understand how and why ungulates migrate, by evaluating the role of forage, movement, fat dynamics, reproduction and survival. Increasingly, he has sought to understand how the persistence of ungulate migration is threatened by landscape change. In 2012, Matt co-founded (and now directs) the Wyoming Migration Initiative (migrationinitiative.org), whose mission is to advance the understanding, appreciation, and conservation of Wyoming's migratory ungulates. He teaches graduate seminars in quantitative analysis of spatial wildlife data, community ecology of wildlife, and migration ecology.
Science and Products
Corridor Mapping Team: Ungulate Migrations of the West
Advancing the conservation and understanding of Wyoming's migratory hooved animals (mule deer, elk, pronghorn, etc.). The Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit is led by USGS federal researchers. The Wyoming Migration Initiative is a University of Wyoming’s Zoology and Physiology Department-based collaborative of biologists, photographers, mapmakers, and writers working to research...
Contributions to the development of the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies Sagebrush Conservation Strategy
USGS scientists are contributing to the development of the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies Sagebrush Conservation Strategy, a strategy intended to provide guidance so that efforts to conserve the iconic greater sage-grouse can be expanded to the entire sagebrush biome to benefit the people and wildlife that depend on it.
Using Genetic Analyses To Inform On-The-Ground Conservation for Multiple Sagebrush-Associated Wildlife Species
Recent analyses of greater sage-grouse genetics have delineated areas of key genetic connectivity for this species and provided a prioritization tool for conservation and restoration of habitats essential for genetic exchange.
Webinar: Ungulates and Climate Change: an Examination of the Potential Impacts
View this webinar for more information about the effects of climate change on moose, mule deer, and elk in Wyoming.
Linking Mule Deer Migration to Spring Green-Up in Wyoming
Each year, plants and animals undergo certain life cycle events, such as breeding or flowering. These phenological events are linked to weather and climate, and as temperature and precipitation patterns have changed, some spring events are occurring earlier. These changes in plant phenology can have cascading effects on wildlife such as elk, moose, and mule deer, which depend on plants...
Dr. Matthew Kauffman
In 2012, Matt co-founded (and now directs) the Wyoming Migration Initiative (migrationinitiative.org), whose mission is to advance the understanding, appreciation, and conservation of Wyoming's migratory ungulates. He teaches graduate seminars in quantitative analysis of spatial wildlife data, community ecology of wildlife, and migration ecology.
Science and Products
Corridor Mapping Team: Ungulate Migrations of the West
Advancing the conservation and understanding of Wyoming's migratory hooved animals (mule deer, elk, pronghorn, etc.). The Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit is led by USGS federal researchers. The Wyoming Migration Initiative is a University of Wyoming’s Zoology and Physiology Department-based collaborative of biologists, photographers, mapmakers, and writers working to research...
Contributions to the development of the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies Sagebrush Conservation Strategy
USGS scientists are contributing to the development of the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies Sagebrush Conservation Strategy, a strategy intended to provide guidance so that efforts to conserve the iconic greater sage-grouse can be expanded to the entire sagebrush biome to benefit the people and wildlife that depend on it.
Using Genetic Analyses To Inform On-The-Ground Conservation for Multiple Sagebrush-Associated Wildlife Species
Recent analyses of greater sage-grouse genetics have delineated areas of key genetic connectivity for this species and provided a prioritization tool for conservation and restoration of habitats essential for genetic exchange.
Webinar: Ungulates and Climate Change: an Examination of the Potential Impacts
View this webinar for more information about the effects of climate change on moose, mule deer, and elk in Wyoming.
Linking Mule Deer Migration to Spring Green-Up in Wyoming
Each year, plants and animals undergo certain life cycle events, such as breeding or flowering. These phenological events are linked to weather and climate, and as temperature and precipitation patterns have changed, some spring events are occurring earlier. These changes in plant phenology can have cascading effects on wildlife such as elk, moose, and mule deer, which depend on plants...
Dr. Matthew Kauffman
In 2012, Matt co-founded (and now directs) the Wyoming Migration Initiative (migrationinitiative.org), whose mission is to advance the understanding, appreciation, and conservation of Wyoming's migratory ungulates. He teaches graduate seminars in quantitative analysis of spatial wildlife data, community ecology of wildlife, and migration ecology.
In 2012, Matt co-founded (and now directs) the Wyoming Migration Initiative (migrationinitiative.org), whose mission is to advance the understanding, appreciation, and conservation of Wyoming's migratory ungulates. He teaches graduate seminars in quantitative analysis of spatial wildlife data, community ecology of wildlife, and migration ecology.