Sarah Carter, PhD
Sarah Carter is an ecologist at the Fort Collins Science Center, whose interests lie in landscape, widlife, and community ecology, as well as conservation planning and evaluation.
Sarah Carter is an ecologist at the Fort Collins Science Center. Her interests lie in landscape, wildlife, and community ecology, and in conservation planning and evaluation. Sarah is interested in how we can manage landscapes to accommodate diverse resource values and uses, informed by monitoring the integrity of landscapes, the effectiveness of planning and management actions, and the potential effects of development on species, ecosystems, and landscapes. Sarah is also interested in finding ways to bridge the research-management gap by involving managers in all stages of producing applied science that is both useful for and used by managers.
Sarah joined the USGS in 2015 and is currently working on a number of projects to help inform management of multiple-use lands in the western US, including developing multiscale assessments and analyses to support implementation of a landscape approach to resource management in the Bureau of Land Management, identifying core, broad-scale indicators, methods, and datasets for quantifying the structure, composition, and function of ecosystems, and developing a framework and process for using broad- and fine-scale monitoring data together to quantify the ecological integrity of rangelands across the west.
Professional Experience
Ecologist (2015 – present), USGS, Fort Collins Science Center, Fort Collins, Colorado
Post-doctoral Research Associate, Landscape Ecology (2014 –2015), University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming
Research Assistant, Conservation planning and evaluation (2010 –2014), Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin - Madison
Conservation Biologist (2007-2010), Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Madison, Wisconsin
Regional Ecologist (2004-2006), Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Fitchburg, Wisconsin
Assistant Director (2000-2004), Center for Limnology, University of Wisconsin – Madison, Wisconsin
Karner Blue Butterfly Habitat Conservation Plan Data Manager (2001-2002), Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Madison, Wisconsin
Wildlife Damage Biologist (1999-2001), Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Madison, Wisconsin
Research Assistant, Community Ecology (1995-1999), School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
Research Assistant, Marine Mammals (1995), University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Fulbright Scholar, Wildlife Biology (1993-1994), National Institute of Amazon Research (INPA), Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil
Education and Certifications
Ph.D. in Forestry, Department of Forest & Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2014
M.S. in Fisheries, School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, University of Washington, 1999
B.S. in Mathematics, Lewis and Clark College, 1992
Science and Products
Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative: Effectiveness Monitoring
Landscape and Habitat Assessment
The Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative (WLCI)
Pygmy Rabbit Distribution and Abundance Relative to Ongoing Energy Development in Wyoming
Bridging the research-management gap: Landscape ecology in practice on public lands in the western United States
Evaluating and using existing models to map probable suitable habitat for rare plants to inform management of multiple-use public lands in the California desert
Quantifying ecological integrity of terrestrial systems to inform management of multiple-use public lands in the United States
Assessing vulnerability and threat from housing development to Conservation Opportunity Areas in State Wildlife Action Plans across the United States
Annotated bibliography of scientific research on greater sage-grouse published since January 2015
Evidence and opportunities for integrating landscape ecology into natural resource planning across multiple-use landscapes
Relationships between gas field development and the presence and abundance of pygmy rabbits in southwestern Wyoming
Multiscale guidance and tools for implementing a landscape approach to resource management in the Bureau of Land Management
Non-USGS Publications**
**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.
Science and Products
Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative: Effectiveness Monitoring
Landscape and Habitat Assessment
The Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative (WLCI)
Pygmy Rabbit Distribution and Abundance Relative to Ongoing Energy Development in Wyoming
Bridging the research-management gap: Landscape ecology in practice on public lands in the western United States
Evaluating and using existing models to map probable suitable habitat for rare plants to inform management of multiple-use public lands in the California desert
Quantifying ecological integrity of terrestrial systems to inform management of multiple-use public lands in the United States
Assessing vulnerability and threat from housing development to Conservation Opportunity Areas in State Wildlife Action Plans across the United States
Annotated bibliography of scientific research on greater sage-grouse published since January 2015
Evidence and opportunities for integrating landscape ecology into natural resource planning across multiple-use landscapes
Relationships between gas field development and the presence and abundance of pygmy rabbits in southwestern Wyoming
Multiscale guidance and tools for implementing a landscape approach to resource management in the Bureau of Land Management
Non-USGS Publications**
**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.