Beth O’Hara
Division of Biological Sciences
226 Tucker Hall
University of Missouri
Columbia, MO 65211
e-mail: ecof3f<at>mail.mizzou.edu
Research Interests
As I begin my Masters degree my research interests are becoming more defined. The use of noninvasive sampling to address population questions in species of conservation concern is my foremost goal. I have worked previously in collaboration with the National Park Service, the US Forest Service and the department of Fisheries and Wildlife here at the University of Missouri. The opportunity to analyze samples in the lab that I collect in the field brings these projects together in a very exciting way for me. Using genetics has allowed me to examine a correlation between relatedness and parasite load in raccoons, to test paternity of feral horses to aid in removal recommendations, and to examine the roosting proximities of related red bats. In the future I hope to apply these techniques to threatened and endangered species to aid in their conservation.