Eric Wood
Graduate Student
Education
2011: PhD Forest Ecology & Management, University of Wisconsin - Madison
2006: M.S. Wildlife Ecology, Humboldt State University
2001: B.S. Biological Sciences, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
Research interests
I am broadly interested in wildlife habitat ecology and applied biodiversity conservation. My core research investigates the impacts of land use and climate change on species interactions with their environment. I specialize in avian ecology and explore questions related to spring and fall migration and the breeding period. Furthermore, I study butterflies and use them - along with birds - as focal taxa to better understand species-habitat interactions, community and landscape ecology, ecosystem services, and phenology. Much of my work involves field data collection with most of that happening in Wisconsin, California, and Hawaii. However I often apply remote sensing methods and GIS (spatial modeling) techniques, coupled with my field data, to fully explore processes and patterns across multiple spatial extents.
Personal interests
I aspire to be a well-rounded naturalist. Thus I spend much of my free time birding, butterflying, odonating, botanizing, and so on. I travel often with my friends and although I don't surf or snowboard much anymore, I still consider those, along with making music, some of my favorite hobbies. Otherwise, I am often seen running, swimming, playing soccer, or biking around Madison. Like any true native northern Californian, I'll eat Mexican food three times a day, every day of the year.