Jennifer E. Smith, Evolutionary Ecology of Social Mammals
J.E. Smith Lab
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Welcome, we study social mammals! Our inclusive lab integrates evolutionary ecology, animal behavior, and physiology to understand how natural selection and current conditions shape decision-making in mammals. We combine long-term observations with field experiments, genetic and endocrine analyses, and quantitative tools (i.e., social networks, phylogenetics) to test evolutionary theory.
LAB NEWs and STUDENT SUCCESSES - Go Blugolds!
Social Network Conservation
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Phil Trans special issue on culture conservation! - includes our open access paper using long-term baboon, dolphin & elephant networks to uncover the role of conservation interventions in protecting critical individuals in group-living animals. The article was featured on the cover the theme issue, “‘Animal culture: conservation in a changing world’” and covered in popular news piece by Science magazine.

Goldwater Scholarship Winner!
Jada Wahl wins a Barry Goldwater Scholarship, one of the most prestigious national undergraduate scholarships in STEM, to puruse research in our social mammal lab!
Carnivorous squirrels in CA!
CNN, The Guardian, Cosmos, Mercury News, VICE, Yale E360, BBC News, NPR, WWDTM, The Telegraph, USA Today, IFL Science, LA Times, SF Gate, San Francisco Chronicle, KQED, WQQW News 18, Washington Post, Smithsonian & more on squirrel paper & YouTube video!
Hispanic Access Foundation
Blugold & team squirrel alumna, Alyssa Corder, blogs about her recent experiences as a Pollinator Conservation and Outreach Intern at the MN-WI Ecological Services
NEW paper @ Animal Behaviour!
Soon to be Dr. Erin Person published our research with Eileen Lacey on space use and social networks in California ground squirrels at Animal Behaviour!​
Tia @ McNair Research Summit!
Tia Ravara gave an outstanding oral presentation on, "Vole hunting: First video and photographic evidence of novel predatory and carnivorous behavior by California ground squirrels" at the McNair Research Summit: UW-Superior.
New Paper @ Phil Trans B!
Network indicators of cultural resilience to anthropogenic removals in animal societies - using long-term data on baboons, dolphins, & elephants - forthcoming issue – Animal Culture: Conservation in a Changing World (personal copy)​
Erin @ Biology's EDI seminar!
Hosted Erin Person's (go Team Squirrel!) , "Who you know matters: The importance of community for squirrels and scientists" for Biology's EDI seminar at UWEC. ​
Cameron Award Winner!
Dr. Sonja Wild named this year's postdoctoral recipient of the Guy N. Cameron Rodent Research Award from the American Society of Mammalogists for her research on social learning pathways and strategies in California ground squirrels!
Collaboration with UC-Davis
Leader-Telegram Newspaper, Wisconsin Public Radio, & UWEC News report on Team Squirrel's ongoing collaboration in field research with University of California-Davis
Norwegian Beaver Project
New KD grant in Ecology to fund climate change research with Frank Rosell on his long-term Norwegian Beaver Project via LEEB! at the University of Southern Norway
DIVERSITY MENTORING GRANTS
Diversity Mentoring Grants! - Morgan Aldana, Jada Wahl, Tia Ravara, Mackenzie Miner & Grace Wainwright for representation & inclusion on team squirrel - Go Blugolds!
NEW PAPER @Proc B!
New Proc B paper co-authored with undergraduate collaborators on sensory integration of predator cues explains the fear of a quiet coyote
RONALD E. MCNAIR SCHOLAR
Congratulations to Tia Ravara for securing funded for our ground squirrel project from U.S. Department of Education via the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire
NEW PAPER @PNAS!
Smith joins Cody Ross, Paul Hooper, and Monique Borgerhoff Mulder​ in leading a HUGE collaborative, transdisciplinary effort to reveal patterns of, "Reproductive inequality in humans and other mammals." 
LARSON COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH
Maddie Mueller continues collaborative research @UWEC with funding from our Vicki Lord Larson and James Larson Collaborative Research on Behavioral Endocrinology ​
DIVERSITY MENTORING GRANTS
Alyssa Corder, Tia Ravara, and Ginseng Vang all won Diversity Mentoring Grants to increase representation and inclusion on team squirrel - Go Blugolds!
NEW PAPER @Phil Trans B!
First paper with an UWEC undergrad - Maddie Mueller - "Mechanisms of equality and inequality in mammalian societies" at Phil Trans B!
NEW COLLABORATION
Excited to collaborate with Joseph Bump and Dani Freund of the Voyageurs Wolf Project on behavioral endocrinology of beaver and wolf predator-prey interactions.
Team Squirrel Dissertation
First team squirrel dissertation - "Fear, Fleeing, and Survival: Human impacts on ground squirrels in an urban-adjacent park." Congratulations to Dr. Chelsea Ortiz-Jimenez who is co-mentored by Andy Sih at the University of California Davis. 
NEW PAPER @ JMAMM!
First publication by Erin Person on ground squirrel microbial diversity - w. Eileen Lacey & undergrads - Kianna von Maydell & Jada Baldoza!
NEW COLLABORATION
Dr. Sonja Wild started to co-lead the squirrel project in Summer 2023 after winning a Postdoctoral Fellowship from the Swiss National Science Foundation to study the effects of human presence on social network properties and learning strategies.
NEW PAPER AT PHIL TRANS!
"Sex bias in intergroup conflict and collective movement among social mammals: male warriors and female guides" at Phil Trans (YouTube)

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