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
- Publications
Filter Total Items: 70
Exploring effects of vessels on walrus behaviors using telemetry, automatic identification system data and matching
Arctic marine mammals have had little exposure to vessel traffic and potential associated disturbance, but sea ice loss has increased accessibility of Arctic waters to vessels. Vessel disturbance could influence marine mammal population dynamics by altering behavioral activity budgets that affect energy balance, which in turn can affect birth and death rates. As an initial step in studying these lAuthorsRebecca L. Taylor, Chadwick V. Jay, William S. Beatty, Anthony S. Fischbach, Lori T. Quakenbush, Justin A. CrawfordEstimating reproductive and juvenile survival rates when offspring ages are uncertain: A novel multievent mark-resight model with beluga whale case study
Understanding the survival and reproductive rates of a population is critical to determining its long-term dynamics and viability. Mark-resight models are often used to estimate these demographic rates, but estimation of survival and reproductive rates is challenging, especially for wide-ranging, patchily distributed, or cryptic species. In particular, existing mark-resight models cannot accommodaAuthorsGina K Himes Boor, Tamara L McGuire, Amanda J. Warlick, Rebecca L. Taylor, Sarah J. Converse, John R McClung, Amber D StephensAge-structured Jolly-Seber model expands inference and improves parameter estimation from capture-recapture data
Understanding the influence of individual attributes on demographic processes is a key objective of wildlife population studies. Capture-recapture and age data are commonly collected to investigate hypotheses about survival, reproduction, and viability. We present a novel age-structured Jolly-Seber model that incorporates age and capture-recapture data to provide comprehensive information on populAuthorsNathan J. Hostetter, Nicholas J. Lunn, Evan S. Richardson, Eric V. Regehr, Sarah J. ConverseEstimating population-specific predation effects on Chinook salmon via data integration
Recent success in the conservation of many marine mammals has resulted in new management challenges due to increasing conflict with fisheries. Increasing predation by pinnipeds on threatened salmon is of particular concern. Seemingly, pinniped conservation is now in conflict with the recovery of threatened salmon, creating a dilemma for managers.We use the Lower Columbia River as a case study forAuthorsMark H. Sorel, Richard W. Zabel, Devin S. Johnson, A. Michelle Wargo Rub, Sarah J. ConverseOptimizing release strategies: A stepping-stone approach to reintroduction
Evaluation of alternative management strategies enables informed decisions to accelerate species recovery. For reintroductions, post-release survival to reproductive age is a key parameter influencing population growth. Here we trial a ‘stepping-stone’ method to maximize the success of captive-bred animals when the availability of more suitable wild-born release candidates is limited. Our approachAuthorsN.A. Lloyd, Nathan J. Hostetter, C.L. Jackson, Sarah J. Converse, A. MoehrenschlagerAddressing disease risk to develop a health program for bighorn sheep in Montana
No abstract available.AuthorsSarah N. Sells, Michael S. Mitchell, Justin A. GudeIntroduction to risk analysis
Many decisions are made in the face of uncertainty that either cannot or will not be reduced, and the challenge to the decision maker is how to manage the risk imposed by that uncertainty. This chapter will introduce the field of risk analysis, focusing on both the scientific tasks (estimating the probabilities and magnitudes of possible outcomes) and the policy-relevant value judgments needed (unAuthorsMichael C. Runge, Sarah J. ConversePrioritizing uncertainties to improve management of a reintroduction program
The success of wildlife reintroduction efforts rests on the demographic performance of released animals. Whooping Cranes in the eastern migratory population—reintroduced beginning in 2001—demonstrate adequate survival but poor reproduction. Managers and scientists have used an iterative process of learning and management to respond to this management challenge, but by 2015, uncertainty about the cAuthorsSarah J. ConverseReserve network design for prairie-dependent taxa in South Puget Sound
Conserving species requires managing threats, including habitat loss. One approach to managing habitat loss is to identify and protect habitat in networks of reserves. Reserve network design is a type of resource allocation problem: how can we choose the most effective reserve network design given available resources? We undertook development and implementation of a patch dynamics model to allow uAuthorsSarah J. Converse, Beth Gardner, Steve MoreyEstimating abundance from capture-recapture data
No abstract available.AuthorsSarah J. Converse, J. Andrew RoyleLinking demographic and food-web models to understand management trade-offs
Alternatives in ecosystem-based management often differ with respect to trade-offs between ecosystem values. Ecosystem or food-web models and demographic models are typically employed to evaluate alternatives, but the approaches are rarely integrated to uncover conflicts between values. We applied multi-state models to a capture-recapture dataset on common guillemots Uria aalge breeding in the BalAuthorsMartina Kadin, Morten Frederiksen, Susa Niiranen, Sarah J. Converse - Science
Decline of Beluga Whales in Cook Inlet, Alaska
In conjunction with the Cook Inlet PhotoID Project and federal agencies, the USGS Washington Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit is aiming to learn more about the fundamental factors that drive changes in beluga whale population dynamics, specifically what affects the rates at which individuals survive and reproduce. Understanding this piece of the puzzle is critical to future conservation...Adaptive Management for Threatened and Endangered Species
The Challenge: Threatened and endangered species have to be managed in the face of uncertainty, but traditionally, there has been reluctance to think about adaptive management of listed species. Management agencies with responsibility for threatened and endangered species need tools to help manage in the face of uncertainty, with the hope of reducing that uncertainty.Structured Decision Making: Methods, Applications, and Capacity-Building
The Challenge: The field of decision analysis is a rich and mature discipline that provides robust methods for helping decision makers understand the nature of their decisions, involve stakeholders and scientists in appropriate steps of the process, and develop transparent records for the public. The use of these structured approaches is emerging in natural resource management, and there is strong... - Data
Brown treesnake (Boiga irregularis) scanning and behavioral data collected in experimental setup in Guam for testing remote PIT-tag reader
Data fall into three types: 1) individual snake scanning data (PIT tag ID, time stamp, and device) downloaded from readers, 2) individual trait data (sex, size, etc) of tested brown treesnakes, and 3) detailed transcripts of videos of behavioral trial data as snakes interacted with the readers. All data were collected in an experimental arena in Dededo, Guam in August 2021.Camera trap data of Brown Treesnakes at mouse-lure traps on Guam, 2015
Manually photo-processed remote camera trap data of Brown Treesnakes on Guam at snake traps with live mouse lures. Records of snakes entering the field of view (FOV) and exiting the FOV by day, time, and trap location. Photos were further processed to retain only detections of snakes up to 1.83 meters from the camera, i.e., only records of snakes that were on or in front of the mouse-lure trap areBrown Treesnake detections on transects using potential attractants of live-mouse lures or fish-spray scent, Guam
Nocturnal visual encounter surveys for Brown Treesnakes were collected and summarized into 4 plain text files (csv format): CapturesLure, SurveysLure, CapturesScent, and SurveysScent. Capture files contain unique Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) tag identification and measurements of snakes with dates and locations of capture. Survey files contain the dates of transect sampling and treatment aData on Zerene silverspot butterfly and early blue violet responses to herbicide treatments from 2018-2019 greenhouse experiments
Herbicide treatments were applied to Zerene silverspot (Speyeria = Argynnis zerene zerene) post-diapause larvae and early blue violets (Viola adunca), the larval host plant of the Zerene silverspot butterfly, in two greenhouse experiments in 2018-2019. Treatments included distilled water for untreated (U), Agri-Dex (A), Nu Film IR (N), clopyralid (C), clopyralid with Agri-Dex (CA), clopyralid with - Multimedia
Airboat
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.
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