Airboat docked at a slough near the Columbia River. Researchers gaze at the swarms of gulls, terns, pelicans, and swallows on our way to a sampling site.
Sarah J Converse, PhD
Unit Leader - Washington Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit
Dr. Converse received graduate degrees from the University of Nebraska and Colorado State University. She then completed a postdoctoral position at Patuxent Wildlife Research Center before accepting a permanent position with USGS at Patuxent, where she led a research program for 10 years focused on endangered species conservation, decision science, and quantitative ecology. In 2017 she became the Unit Leader of the Washington Unit at University of Washington, where she serves as an Associate Professor. Her research focuses on the development and application of methods to understand the functioning of populations and to improve their management. She works across a broad variety of taxa: terrestrial birds, seabirds, marine mammals, amphibians, and others. Her research projects tend to reflect two primary themes: (1) development and application of quantitative methods in population ecology, particularly for small and declining populations; and (2) development and application of decision-analytic methods to inform management of populations. Sarah collaborates extensively with managers in federal and state agencies, and she works internationally, with current research projects located in Europe, New Zealand, French Polynesia, and the Arctic. Sarah teaches graduate courses in statistics and demographic analysis, and teaches professional and graduate courses on decision analysis. Sarah is active in efforts to increase equity and justice in her professional community.
RECENT HONORS AND AWARDS
- Conference Best Paper Award, Proceedings of the AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence, 2011
- Department of Interior STAR Award, for work with Outer Continental Shelf energy development team, 2011
- Department of Interior STAR Award, for work with Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership, 2009
- Department of Interior STAR Award, for work with Washington Fish and Wildlife Office, 2009
- Department of Interior STAR Award, for work with Northeast Region Fisheries Program, 2008
CURRENT TRAINING ACTIVITIES
- Instructor: Training for Effective Conservation Translocation (with IUCN Reintroduction Specialist Group), workshop venues
- Instructor: Integrated Population Modeling (with Drs. Marc Kery and Michael Schaub), workshop venues
- Instructor: Introduction to Structured Decision Making, National Conservation Training Center
ASSOCIATED POST-DOCTORAL RESEARCHERS
- Dr. Nathan Hostetter, Improved Design and Analysis of Polar Bear Population Studies (2016-Present)
- Dr. Jonathan Cummings, Landscape Level Population Modeling as a Decision Support Tool for the Lesser Prairie-Chicken (2014-Present, w/Dr. Dave Smith, USGS Leetown Science Center)
- Dr. Sabrina Servanty, Population Viability of the Eastern Migratory Population of Whooping Cranes (2009-2013, w/Dr. Larissa Bailey, Colorado State University)
ASSOCIATED STUDENTS
- Dr. Stefano Canessa, Decision Theory for Reintroductions (2011-2015, w/Drs. Mick McCarthy and Kirsten Parris, University of Melbourne)
- Ms. Megan Brown, Causes of Poor Fertility i
Education and Certifications
Ph.D. Wildlife Biology, Colorado State University (2005)
M.S. Natural Resource Sciences, University of Nebraska (1999)
B.S. Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University (1996)
Science and Products
Exploring effects of vessels on walrus behaviors using telemetry, automatic identification system data and matching
Estimating reproductive and juvenile survival rates when offspring ages are uncertain: A novel multievent mark-resight model with beluga whale case study
Age-structured Jolly-Seber model expands inference and improves parameter estimation from capture-recapture data
Estimating population-specific predation effects on Chinook salmon via data integration
Optimizing release strategies: A stepping-stone approach to reintroduction
Addressing disease risk to develop a health program for bighorn sheep in Montana
Introduction to risk analysis
Prioritizing uncertainties to improve management of a reintroduction program
Reserve network design for prairie-dependent taxa in South Puget Sound
Estimating abundance from capture-recapture data
Linking demographic and food-web models to understand management trade-offs
Decline of Beluga Whales in Cook Inlet, Alaska
Adaptive Management for Threatened and Endangered Species
Structured Decision Making: Methods, Applications, and Capacity-Building
Brown treesnake (Boiga irregularis) scanning and behavioral data collected in experimental setup in Guam for testing remote PIT-tag reader
Camera trap data of Brown Treesnakes at mouse-lure traps on Guam, 2015
Brown Treesnake detections on transects using potential attractants of live-mouse lures or fish-spray scent, Guam
Data on Zerene silverspot butterfly and early blue violet responses to herbicide treatments from 2018-2019 greenhouse experiments
Science and Products
Exploring effects of vessels on walrus behaviors using telemetry, automatic identification system data and matching
Estimating reproductive and juvenile survival rates when offspring ages are uncertain: A novel multievent mark-resight model with beluga whale case study
Age-structured Jolly-Seber model expands inference and improves parameter estimation from capture-recapture data
Estimating population-specific predation effects on Chinook salmon via data integration
Optimizing release strategies: A stepping-stone approach to reintroduction
Addressing disease risk to develop a health program for bighorn sheep in Montana
Introduction to risk analysis
Prioritizing uncertainties to improve management of a reintroduction program
Reserve network design for prairie-dependent taxa in South Puget Sound
Estimating abundance from capture-recapture data
Linking demographic and food-web models to understand management trade-offs
Decline of Beluga Whales in Cook Inlet, Alaska
Adaptive Management for Threatened and Endangered Species
Structured Decision Making: Methods, Applications, and Capacity-Building
Brown treesnake (Boiga irregularis) scanning and behavioral data collected in experimental setup in Guam for testing remote PIT-tag reader
Camera trap data of Brown Treesnakes at mouse-lure traps on Guam, 2015
Brown Treesnake detections on transects using potential attractants of live-mouse lures or fish-spray scent, Guam
Data on Zerene silverspot butterfly and early blue violet responses to herbicide treatments from 2018-2019 greenhouse experiments
Airboat docked at a slough near the Columbia River. Researchers gaze at the swarms of gulls, terns, pelicans, and swallows on our way to a sampling site.
Airboat docked at a slough near the Columbia River. Researchers gaze at the swarms of gulls, terns, pelicans, and swallows on our way to a sampling site.