2022 Cooperative Research Units Program Year in Review

  • Mission

    • Actionable Science @ Oregon State Univ.
    • Graduate Students @ University of Maine
    • Technical Assist. New Mexico State Univ.

Our researchers and Unit supervisors work with cooperators to help them identify their needs, and unit supervisors ensure that all research conducted is aligned with the USGS mission.

Year in Review

Expertise & Taxa Search


Project Search

Special Appreciation

To our friends at the  Wildlife Management Institute , with congratulations to Steve Williams on his retirement and deep appreciation to Jennifer Mock Schaeffer for her gracious assistance in helping us better understand state and regional priority conservation needs.

Wildlife Management Institute

Wildlife Management Institute | Established in 1911

How we Work

Research Priorities

Unit scientists and Unit supervisors work with cooperators to help them identify their needs, and unit supervisors ensure that all research conducted is aligned with the USGS mission. Image: BLM

Project Controls

Funds from the USGS, other DOI bureaus, or other Federal agencies are obligated via Financial Assistance into a research work order and awarded to the University for a specific research project.

Regional Partners

We work closely with USGS Center Directors and USGS Regional Directors on topics of mutual interest.

Michigan State University

Graduate Students

Graduate students are the backbone of the CRU program are leaders in the conservation workforce. Students graduate from the experience uniquely prepared to be effective members of the natural resource workforce. For example, Dr. Abby Lawson joined the New Mexico Unit as an Assistant Unit Leader of Wildlife in 2021, after working as a Postdoc at Auburn University and at the USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center. 

abby lawson

 Dr. Abby Lawson  joined the New Mexico Unit as an Assistant Unit Leader of Wildlife in 2021. She received graduate degrees from the University of Nevada, Reno and Clemson University, and later worked as a Postdoc at the Alabama CRU at Auburn University, followed by the USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center.


"It is your intellectual curiosity, your outstanding critical thinking, your dedication to learning and growth, and, most importantly, your commitment to collaborative problem-solving with our friends and partners – that truly makes our program a success." Jonathan Mawdsley

Lara Katz, University of Maine

Lara is using a combination of seine netting and environmental DNA sampling to locate the fish.  Lara is also developing a predictive habitat model to help inform future surveys, long-term monitoring, and conservation actions.

Brandon Barlow - University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Brandon will apply the skills and knowledge he gained during his graduate program as he works toward creating smart water and environmental policy for the benefit of the people of the USA.

Benjamin Miller - Utah State University

Ben's research aims to better inform managers of the potential for native fish habitat enhancement by exploiting existing and abundant nonnative woody vegetation.

University of Nevada-Reno

Map Search

We highlight a few of the ~800 current management-oriented research projects conducted with our State, Federal, and University cooperators.  Many more examples are available online . Each of these examples demonstrates the delivery of research needs to our cooperators and the invaluable decision-based science that it can yield. Click the blue icons below to learn more about our applied research.

  • Advanced Technologies

    • Burrowing owl, University of Idaho
    • Coho salmon, Humboldt State University
    • Food, University of Washington
    • Invasive fish, University of Wisconsin
  • Decision Science

    • White-tailed deer, University of Georgia
    • Wild turkey, Cornell University
  • Disease

    • Bats, University of Minnesota
    • Chronic wasting disease, Penn State
    • Disease models, University of Montana
  • Drought

    • Fish of concern, Univ. of Arkansas
    • Oceans, University of Hawai’i at Hilo
    • Water/climate, Montana State University
  • Fire

    • Mammals, New Mexico State University
    • Sage grouse, Oregon State University
  • Fish and Hunting

    • Ducks, Louisiana State University
    • Fisheries, Penn State & Mizzou
    • Hunting app, Univ. of Nebraska-Lincoln
  • Grasslands

    • Birds, Virginia Tech
    • Large-scale projects, Univ. of Arkansas
    • Pollinators, University of Georgia
  • Greatest Conservation Need

    • Atlantic salmon, University of Maine
    • Nocturnal birds, Oklahoma State
    • Piebald madtom, Mississippi State
    • Tufted puffins, Oregon State University
  • Invasive Species

    • Cheatgrass, Colorado State University
    • Crayfish, University of Washington
    • Invasive carp, Univ. of Minnesota
    • Northern pike, University of Alaska
  • Migration

    • Atlantic salmon, University of Maine
    • Bison, University of Wyoming
    • Migration, New Mexico State University
    • Trumpeter swan, University of Minnesota

To our friends at the Wildlife Management Institute, with congratulations to Steve Williams on his retirement and deep appreciation to Jennifer Mock Schaeffer for her gracious assistance in helping us better understand state and regional priority conservation needs.

Jobs & Salary

Jobs

Each CRU scientist supports 8-10 graduate students, postdocs, and research technicians, on average which collectively amounts to approximately 1,000 university positions supported per year.

University Positions

Each USGS CRU scientist supports 8-10 graduate students, postdocs, and research technicians, on average which collectively amounts to approximately 1,000 university positions supported per year.

Budget

Our budget of $26M brought in approximately $40M in reimbursable research funds to the host universities who provided more than $20 million through in-kind support, tuition, and reduced overhead.

Salary

Federal salary dollars are matched on a 1:3 basis by State and host university contributions and grant funds.

chinook salmon

Technical Assistance

A few common forms of technical assistance include: involvement in species status assessment (Alexander Archipelago wolves, grey wolves, western gray squirrel bluestripe darter, Plains spotted skunk, and snail kite); facilitating structured decision making events for decision makers (candy darters, rosy finch, mountain lions, fish passage projects); participation on recovery teams (Mexican wolf, Flatwoods salamander, sharpnose and smalleye shiners, and Niangua darter); and conducting data analysis for a number of state and federal agency cooperators.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility

We are actively involved in many activities related to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility. Efforts to change dialog and hiring practices are underway as well as a strong commitment to  recruit and train  graduate students from diverse backgrounds.

Storytelling

Doris Duke Program

1

Christina Contreras - University of Idaho

Christina is a senior majoring in Wildlife Sciences with a minor in Rangeland Ecology and Management at the University of Idaho

2

Malvika Someshwar - University of Massachusetts

Mylvika’s Blog: Rhinos at the Woodland Park Zoo, Seattle, Washington - Maya's internship work was centered around animal behavior research, where I was primarily working with rhinos. Both rhinos had developed Chronic Foot Disease, and it was my responsibility to help develop a quantitate scoring system for a qualitative measure of discomfort.

3

Maya Encinosa - University of Florida

Maya Encinosa is a senior majoring in wildlife ecology and conservation (pre-veterinary) and minoring in pathogenesis at the University of Florida.

Diversity Awards

Dawn Childs

Secretary (Deb Haaland) Diversity Award, Department of the Interior and USGS.

dawn childs

Michael McInturff

Outstanding Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, University of Washington

Michael McInturff

Sarah Converse

Outstanding Diversity Commitment Award, University of Washington College of the Environment

sarah converse

DEIA Committee

Notes from the Field

loggerhead sea turtle

Citizen Science

Projects that citizens are helping with range from detection of birds (Utah Unit) and  mammals  (New York Unit), bighorn sheep respiratory disease (Iowa Unit), herring passage (Massachusetts Unit), jaguar and ocelots (Arizona Unit), to abundance of sea turtles (Minnesota Unit), standardized surveys of endangered mussels (Massachusetts Unit), and habitat characters of bumblebees (Utah Unit).

Prairie Fishes Initiative

The Prairie Streams and Fishes Collaborative (PSFC) is a geographically-diverse group of fisheries professionals who share an interest in prairie streams and associated prairie stream fishes.

graduate student with telemetry

Resist-Accept-Direct (RAD)

The  resist-accept-direct  (RAD) framework includes the decision space managers consider when addressing climate in local systems; to decide among strategies, managers must understand how specific systems are influenced by climate change.

cornell university students and black bear

Snapshot USA

A network of scientists launched  Snapshot USA , a collaborative survey of terrestrial wildlife using cameras across the United States.

Research Awards

CRU Scientists for excellence in their publication record

Christina Murphy

Christina Murphy

Craig Paukert

One of the top 10% most downloaded papers in calendar year 2021 (American Fisheries Society).

Craig Paukert (center), Lisa Webb (left), and Amanda Rosenberger (right)

David Andersen

Best Journal Article (The Wildlife Society)

david andersen

David Haukos

Morgart Scientific Publication Award (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Morgart Scientific Publication Award)

David Haukos

Lillian Raz

Finalist for the best paper in Functional Ecology by an early-career author (British Ecological Society)

Connect

Graduate students use telemetry to gather data in Arizona.

Contacts

Jonathan Mawdsley, Program Chief

jmawdsley@usgs.gov

Dawn Childs, Geonarrative Design

dchilds@usgs.gov

Elise Irwin, Editor, 2022 Year in Review Circular 1505

eirwin@usgs.gov

All photographs by U.S. Geological Survey unless otherwise noted.

Wildlife Management Institute | Established in 1911

 Dr. Abby Lawson  joined the New Mexico Unit as an Assistant Unit Leader of Wildlife in 2021. She received graduate degrees from the University of Nevada, Reno and Clemson University, and later worked as a Postdoc at the Alabama CRU at Auburn University, followed by the USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center.

Graduate students use telemetry to gather data in Arizona.