Mary M. Conner
Department of Fishery and
Wildlife Biology
Colorado State University, Ft.
Collins
(970) 224-2061 (w); (970) 224-4714 (h);
mconner@cnr.colostate.edu
EDUCATION
Colorado State University, Ft. Collins Ph.D.
Wildlife Biology (1999)
Dissertation: “Elk movement in response to early-season
hunting in the White River area, Colorado”
University of California, Berkeley M.S. Wildland Resource Science (1995)
Thesis: “Identifying patterns of coyote predation on sheep on a northern
California ranch”
Undergraduate
Wildlife Biology (1991-92)
California Polytechnic State University, B.S. Agricultural Engineering (1984)
San Luis Obispo
RESEARCH EXPERIENCE
Wildlife Biologist, Postdoctoral Fellowship C.S.U., Ft. Collins
Study of mule deer migration and dispersal movements in
relation to spatial patterns of chronic wasting disease prevalence in
northcentral Colorado with Dr. Michael M. Miller, DVM and Dr. Gary C. White
(Colorado Division of Wildlife funded study).
Goals of this study are to determine spatial relationship between deer
locations and areas of CWD prevalence, determine whether deer movements
contribute to the spatial pattern of prevalence, and estimate population
demographic parameters for disease effects.
(1999–present)
Wildlife Biologist C.S.U., Ft. Collins
Study of elk movements in the White
River area of Colorado with Dr. Gary C. White (Colorado Division of Wildlife
funded study). Conducted a manipulative
experiment (crossover design) to isolate effects of early-season hunters on the
movements of elk off public lands onto private or protected areas. (1995-1999)
Wildlife Biologist U.C., Berkeley
Conducted study of coyote
predation on sheep at an U.C. woolgrowing research station with Dr. Dale
McCullough and Dr. Michael Jaeger (National Wildlife Research Center funded
study). Developed methods to determine
if certain coyotes are responsible for killing sheep, or if any/all coyotes
kill sheep, and evaluated effectiveness of coyote control methods to reduce
sheep depredation. (1992-1994)
Wildlife Technician D.W.R.C., Denver, CO
Observed behavior of coyotes
during denning season. Also assisted
Eric Gese (University of Wisconsin, Madison) in the capture of coyote pups and
implantation of radio transmitters.
(Summer 1992)
WORK EXPERIENCE
Research Engineer Pacific Gas & Electric, San Ramon, CA
Developed ASTM test protocols
to evaluate energy efficiency of commercial appliances. Experimental test design, instrumentation,
data collection, data analysis, presentation to industry peers, and report
writing performed in development of protocols.
(October 1994-June 1995, and 1989-1991)
Engineer II Power
Projects, Inc., Walnut Creek, CA
Responsible as primary source
of computer programming expertise.
Developed the first energy model/heat balance program used for
cogeneration system analysis, improving the accuracy and speed by which systems
are analyzed. Assisted in writing
engineering proposals and feasibility studies, preliminary project design, and
systems analysis for cogeneration and other energy related projects. (1986-1988)
Safe Home Manager Jesuit
Volunteer Corps
Women’s
Center, Coeur d’ Alene, ID
Managed a safe shelter home
for battered women. Provided
counseling, advocacy for police and court procedures, and full documentation on
clients. (1985-1986)
Engineer I Power
Projects, Inc., Walnut Creek, CA
Programmed in dBASE, designed
and drafted using AutoCAD, and modeled in Lotus while developing fire
protection plan for Southern California Edison Company. (1984-1985)
PUBLICATIONS
Conner, M. M., C. W. McCarty, and M. M. Miller. 2000.
Detection of bias in harvest-based estimates of chronic wasting disease
prevalence in mule deer. Journal of
Wildlife Diseases 36:691-699.
Conner, M. M. and G. C. White. 1999. Effects of
individual heterogeneity on estimating the persistence of small
populations. Natural Resource Modeling
12:109-127.
Conner, M. M., M. M. Jaeger, T.J. Weller, and D. R.
McCullough. 1998. Effect of coyote removal on sheep
depredation in northern California.
Journal of Wildlife Management 62:690-699.
Conner, M. M., G. C. White, and D. J. Freddy. (in press)
Elk movement in response to early-season hunting in northwest
Colorado. Journal of Wildlife Management.
Post-Vieira, M., M. M. Conner, and G. C. White. (submitted) Effect of hunter density on elk movement to
private land in northwest Colorado.
Journal of Wildlife Management.
Norman, G. W., M. M. Conner, and J. C. Pack. (submitted)
Evaluating effects of fall hunting on survival of male turkeys in
Virginia and West Virginia: a model selection approach. Journal of Wildlife Management.
Serra, G., M. M. Jaeger, M. M. Conner, R. H. Barrett, and T.
E. Kucera. (submitted, in
revision) Photographic mark-resight
surveys to census bobcat (Lynx rufus)
populations. Wildlife Society Bulletin.
Conner, M. M. and G. C. White. (in prep.) Evaluating
techniques to determine temporal attraction or avoidance between animals. Ecological Applications.
Conner, M. M., and D. L. Baker. (in prep.) Effects of
Lupron, a chemo-contraceptive, on the reproductive behavior of elk and mule
deer during the breeding season.
Journal of Wildlife Management.
First author on 11 peer
reviewed engineering research reports. One
example follows; full list available on request.
Conner, M. M., D.A. Fisher, and R. Young. (1991).
American Society of Testing Materials (ASTM) Standard Test Method
F1260-91. Standard test method for the
energy performance of open deep fat fryers.
FINANCIAL AWARDS AND
CERTIFICATES
National Wildlife Research Outstanding Publication Award (1999) –
“Effect of coyote removal on sheep depredation in northern California”
Jack H. Berryman Institute Research Award (1999) – “Effect of
coyote removal on sheep depredation in northern California” was one of four
papers recognized by this award
Colorado Habitat Partners Program (1997) – research grant for elk
movement study
Colorado State University Ecology Symposium Award (1997) - honorable mention for oral presentation
Colorado Habitat Partners Program (1996) – research grant for elk
movement study
Colorado State University Ecology Symposium Award (1996) - second
place for oral presentation
Mountain Lion Handling Certificate (1994) - California Department
of Fish and Game
U.C. Berkeley Graduate Student Fund Grant (1993) - research grant
for coyote study
Outstanding Volunteer Award (1986) - Women’s Center, Coeur d’
Alene, ID
SELECTED PRESENTATIONS AND
REPORTS
Population Viability Analysis Conference (1999) "Effects of individual heterogeneity in population
viability models”
Wildlife Society National Conference
(1998) - “Do hunters move
elk? A large-scale field experiment”
Ecological Society of America
(1998) - “Effects of individual
heterogeneity on estimating the persistence of small populations”
Deer and Elk Workshop (1997)
- “Elk movements in response to archery hunting”
Colorado State University Ecology Symposium (1997)
- “Elk movements in the White River area: 1996 project update”
Colorado Bowhunters Association (1997) – “Review of 1992-1996 elk
movements in relation to early-season hunting”
Colorado Chapter of The Wildlife Society (1997) - “Elk
movements in response to archery hunting”
Colorado State Habitat Partners Program (1996, 1997) - “Review of
1992-1996 elk movements in relation to early-season hunting”
Colorado State University Ecology Symposium (1996)
- “Identifying the coyote who kills on a northern California sheep
ranch”
Wildlife Society National Conference
(1995) - “Identifying the
coyote who kills on a northern California sheep ranch”
National Advisory Council (1989-1991) - 10 presentations while at
PG&E on research projects to industry peers including; Electric Power
Research Institute, Underwriters Laboratory, Gas Research Institute, and
Pennsylvania State University
Conner, M. M.
1999. Mule deer movement and
dispersal in relation to spatial patterns of chronic wasting disease prevalence
in northcentral Colorado: study plan.
Report to Colorado Division of Wildlife, Fort Collins, CO. 28pp.
Conner, M. M.
1998. Elk movements in response
to early-season hunting in the White River area: 1996 and 1997 preliminary
results. Report to Colorado Division of
Wildlife, Fort Collins, CO. 20pp.
Conner, M. M.
1996. Elk movements in response
to early-season hunting in the White River area: 1996 project update. Report to Colorado Division of Wildlife,
Fort Collins, CO. 46pp.
Conner, M. M.
1996. Elk movements in response
to early-season hunting in the White River area: study plan. Report to Colorado Division of Wildlife,
Fort Collins, CO. 58pp.
COMPUTER AND MODELING
EXPERIENCE
SAS – 6 years experience in data analysis, parameter estimation,
modeling population dynamics, model building/averaging, and simulations.
dBASE - 15 years experience in general programming for a variety of
tasks including data manipulation for exchange between SAS, GIS, and
spreadsheet programs, GIS analyses, heat balance models, power plant control,
and power plant quality assurance.
from energy transducers,
thermocouples, flow meters etc., and save the information in an ASCII file.
FORTRAN - 4 years experience use for a variety of engineering
assignments, most commonly optimization problems.
QuickBasic - 3 years experience in input-output programs that
allowed the computer to receive input data
PC Applications - Excel (any spreadsheet) - 15 years experience in
a variety of data analyses and model building tasks, ArcView and Atlas GIS - 5
years experience in spatial data analyses of wildlife biology problems, Stella
(a dynamic population modeling software) - 1 year experience in population
dynamics problems, AutoCAD - 3 years experience drafting and designing
mechanical and electrical diagrams, Primavera - 1 year experience in scheduling
and costing for power plant construction.
