My pronouns are she/her
My DPhil explores the Environmental History of Yellowstone National Park. Yellowstone is one of the most studied areas on the planet, but relatively little is known about the composition of the ecosystem prior to its designation as a national park in 1872. Due to its historical importance, museums and archives contain data starting in the 1800s. These resources have been used to study the creation and management of National Parks by historians in the field of environmental history. There has been little exploration of the value of museum collections and historical literature of Yellowstone from a biological perspective. I use historical data from museum specimens, literature, photographs, and art, to recreate the historical Yellowstone ecosystem. I examine every mammal species in Yellowstone (with a particular focus on beavers!) and examine how populations and distributions have changed over time. My supervisors are Professor Tim Coulson (Biology) and Dr Stephen Tuffnell (History).
