PhD Student
NSF Graduate Research Fellow
Division of Biological Sciences
226 Tucker Hall
University of Missouri
Columbia, MO 65211
e-mail: krbgyf<at>mail.missouri.edu
Education
Southern Utah University- Cedar City, Utah- BS in Biological Sciences, 2015
Research Interests:
My research interests broadly encompass several aspects of population genetics, ecology, ethology, conservation, and habitat management. My work is heavily influenced by computer programming and software and I frequently utilize Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Python programming language, R-Software Packages, QIIME, and overall population modeling in my research.
For my dissertation research, I am studying the conservation genetics of the Asian Elephant (Elephas maximus) using molecular scatology to determine connectivity between the heavily fragmented populations in Southeast Asia. The first part of my dissertation evaluated the overall range wide genetic diversity of the species by accumulating data from published studies. The next part is developing the methodology to obtain genomic quality DNA from dung samples. Lastly, I will use these new methods to determine fine scale population structure across southeast Asia including Lao PDR, Cambodia, and Myanmar. The overall objective of my research is to aid in Asian elephant conservation and management, reduce poaching for the illegal ivory trade, and combat human/elephant conflict zones.
Previously, I graduated from Southern Utah University with a B.S. in Biology and a minor in chemistry in early 2015. As an undergraduate researcher with Dr. Laurie Mauger, I studied the mating structure and mate fidelity of the American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) found in Costa Rica (Budd et al., 2015). During that time, I was also a wildlife technician with the US Forest Service at Dixie National Forest monitoring forest indicator and threatened/endangered species, such as the Northern Goshawk (Accipiter gentilis), Mexican spotted owl (Strix occidentalis lucida) and Utah prairie dog (Cynomys parvidens).
The Dung Diaries
Research Gate
Selected Publications
Budd, Kiristin; Spotila, James R.; Mauger, Laurie A. (2015). Preliminary mating analysis of American Crocodiles, Crocodylus acutus, in Las Baulas, Santa Rosa, and Palo Verde National Parks, Guanacaste, Costa Rica. South American Journal of Herpetology. 10(1): 4-9.
Check out the News page for the most up to date news about all our lab members!