We are ecologists based at the Sierra Nevada Aquatic Research Laboratory who study lakes in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains. We conduct rigorous science to solve management challenges in this iconic mountain range. Our research includes studies at the population, community, and ecosystem levels. To provide the information necessary for sound management decisions, we employ long-term capture-mark-recapture studies, whole-lake experiments, and large-scale lake surveys. Working closely with agency scientists, we use results from these studies to guide the development and implementation of lake restoration and amphibian conservation actions.
Our Partners
We are fortunate to partner with scientists from state and federal agencies, non-profit organizations, and universities. Our agency partners include California Department of Fish and Wildlife, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Yosemite and Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, and multiple forests within the U.S. Forest Service. We collaborate with both the San Francisco Zoo and Oakland Zoo for amphibian rearing, reintroductions, and research on amphibian immune function.
Beginning in 2022, we are active members of the Resilience Institute Bridging Biological Training and Research (RIBBiTR). RIBBiTR, a Biology Integration Institute funded by the National Science Foundation, was created to “conduct research and training that integrates across sub-disciplines in the biological sciences to better understand how living systems achieve resilience to emerging infectious diseases and other global change stressors.”
News
2022 MLRG Annual Wrap-up and Newsletter
Our annual newsletter highlights our 2022 accomplishments in frog recovery, disease ecology research, and mentoring of next-generation scientists! This year, our newsletter shares their voices and views on working in wilderness, learning research skills, and being part of an ongoing conservation project. In short, it takes a village. You can learn how we fund mountain-yellow legged …
Apply to work as a 2023 Summer Field Technician
Over the past quarter century, we have documented dramatic, disease-driven declines of mountain yellow-legged frogs across California’s Sierra Nevada. But we have also documented the beginning of their recovery in recent years. In 2023, we will hire up to four field technicians to conduct capture-mark-recapture surveys, collect diagnostic disease samples, and assist with translocations and …
Continue reading “Apply to work as a 2023 Summer Field Technician”
2022 Publications
Here are some of the papers that MLRG members contributed to in 2022: [PDF] Host density has limited effects on pathogen invasion, disease-induced declines, and within-host infection dynamics across a landscape of disease. Journal of Animal Ecology. Wilber, M. Q., R. A. Knapp, T. C. Smith, and C. J. Briggs. [PDF] Rana sierrae (Sierra Nevada Yellow-legged …