EMILY GELZER
Education
M.S. in Zoology, University of Wyoming, Laramie; Dr. Jerod Merkle, advisor (2022)
B.S. in Environmental and Organismic Biology, Fort Lewis College (2014)
Research background and expertise
Emily Gelzer received her Master’s in Zoology from the University of Wyoming in 2022 under Dr. Jerod Merkle. Her work at the University of Wyoming focused on how individual fidelity, habitat variability, and sampling design influence the consistency in migration corridors of mule deer. Before obtaining her Master’s degree, Emily worked across the western United States with various state and federal agencies and non-profits studying species ranging from the desert tortoise to bald eagles. Emily conducted her undergraduate research under the National Science Foundation’s Research Experience for Undergraduates program in Puerto Rico studying freshwater macroinvertebrates.
From 2022 through 2023, Emily worked as an associate researcher with the Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit where she conducted research for the western state’s USGS Corridor Mapping Team as well as analyzing and managing large ungulate GPS databases.
Hobbies
Emily enjoys rafting, biking, hiking, backpacking, fishing, snowboarding, and hunting. Her love for the outdoors initiated her passion for understanding and wanting to help conserve western landscapes and the animals that inhabit them.
Selected publications
Picardi, S., Abrahms, B., Gelzer, E., Morrison, T.A., Verzuh, T. & Merkle, J.A. 2023. Defining null expectations for animal site fidelity. Ecology Letters, 26, 157– 169. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.14148
Kauffman, M.J., Lowrey, B., Berg, J., Bergen, S., Brimeyer, D., Burke, P., Cufaude, T., Cain, J.W., Cole, J., Courtemanch, A., Cowardin, M., Cunningham, J., DeVivo, M., Diamond, J., Duvuvuei, O., Fattebert, J., Ennis, J., Finley, D., Fort, J., Fralick, G., Freeman, E., Gagnon, J., Garcia, J., Gelzer, E., Graham, M., Gray, J., Greenspan, Hall, L.E., Hendricks, C., Holland, A., Holms, B., Huggler, K., Hurley, M., Jeffreys, E., Johnson, A., Knox, L.,Krasnow, K., Lockyer, Z., Manninen, H., McDonald, M., McKee, J.L., Meacham, J., Merkle, J., Moore, B., Mong, T.W., Nielsen, C., Oates, B., Olson, K., Olson, D., Olson, L., Pieron, M., Powell, J., Prince, A., Profitt, K., Reddell, C., Riginos, C., Ritson, R., Robatcek, S., Roberts, S., Sawyer, H., Schroeder, C., Shapiro, J., Simpson, N., Sprague, S., Steingisser, A., Tatman, N., Turnock, B., Wallace, C., and Wolf, L., 2022, Ungulate migrations of the western United States—Volume 3: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P9LSKEZQ
Gelzer, E. R., Laforge, M. P., Becker, J. A., Hough, N. P., Lambert, M. S., Poulin, M.-P., Thomas-Kuzilik, R., Verzuh, T. L., and Merkle, J. A.. 2022. Getting cited early: influence of visibility strategies, structure, and focal system on early citation rates. Journal of Wildlife Management 86:e22214. https://doi-org.libproxy.uwyo.edu/10.1002/jwmg.22214
Kauffman, M.J., Copeland, H.E., Berg, J., Bergen, S., Cole, E., Cuzzocreo, M., Dewey, S., Fattebert, J., Gagnon, Gelzer, E., Geremia, C., Graves, T., Hersey, K., Hurley, M., Kaiser, J., Meacham, J., Merkle, J., Middleton, A., Nuñez, T., Oates, B., Olson, D., Olson, L., Sawyer, H., Schroeder, C., Sprague, S., Steingisser, A., Thonhoff, M. 2020. Ungulate migrations of the western United States, Volume 1: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2020–5101, 119 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20205101.