SENR Speaker Series welcomes PhD Student Presentations

The School of Environment and Natural Resources Speaker Series welcomes PhD students.

Olivia Ruppert
Title: Optimizing scale in landscape genetics: Habitat models as a foundation for connectivity
Abstract: Spatial scale plays a critical role in shaping inference in landscape genetic studies, yet scale selection in habitat and connectivity modeling is often based on convention rather than biological importance. Here, I present research using gray foxes (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) to examine how scale optimization in habitat suitability models can inform genetic inference and connectivity research. I developed multiple habitat suitability models using different modeling frameworks, with environmental predictors optimized for spatial scale based on presence-absence data. These scale-optimized models indicate that most environmental predictors explain predicted species occurrence at relatively fine spatial scales, with only a small subset supported at broader spatial extents. To place these habitat models in a population genetic context, I integrated genome-wide SNP data to characterize population structure across Ohio. Genetic analyses indicate weak overall structure with subtle spatial patterning, consistent with expectations for a mobile carnivore. Although genetic analyses were not explicitly scale-optimized, observed genetic patterns provide an empirical context for interpreting optimized habitat models and motivate ongoing connectivity analyses.

Chinmayee Priyadarshini
Title: Soil Aggregation and Microbial Symbiosis in Mitigating Fusarium Wilt in Tomato

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