Patrick Culbert

Graduate Student

Education

2013-present: Postdoctoral Fellow, Institute of Geography, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany

2012-2013: Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison

2012: Ph.D. Forest Ecology & Management, University of Wisconsin - Madison 2004: B.S. Forest Science, B.S. Computer Science, University of Wisconsin - Madison

Research interests

I am broadly interested in what drives spatial patterns of biodiversity and how humans affect those patterns, particularly through land use and climate change. In my dissertation, I worked to understand the drivers of bird biodiversity patterns across the United States. Currently, I am studying how the legacy effects of historical land use, especially agriculture, influence present-day biodiversity. I generally work over broad geographic extents, and therefore I make extensive use of satellite and aerial imagery, geographic information systems (GIS), and spatial analysis in the course of my research.

Teaching Interests

I greatly enjoy teaching in lecture, laboratory, and field settings. I work to maintain a highly-involved environment with active learning techniques. In order to hone my teaching skills, I have taken several courses on teaching and learning through the Delta Program at UW-Madison, and I have given over 40 guest lectures at five different colleges and universities. My teaching interests have a wide breadth including GIS, environmental remote sensing, general ecology, landscape ecology, statistics for natural sciences and environmental studies

Personal interests

I find that I am most content while standing in a forest. I try to spend as much time in the outdoors as I can, whether hiking, backpacking, bird-watching, hunting, snow-shoeing, or cross-country skiing

Where I'm From