B&C Fellow - Madison Crane

University of Montana - M.S. Wildlife Biology - Projected to Graduate 2023
Project Title: In the Pursuit of Greener Pastures: How Changes in Vegetation Influence Diet and Resource Selection of Pronghorn in Montana

I was born and raised in Connecticut. With both my parents being teachers, I was pushed from a young age to engage in education and follow my passions. I was active from a young age in both 4-H and FFA, competing in local, state, and national competitions. I attended Unity College in Maine to complete my B.S. in 2017. I double majored in wildlife biology and wildlife and fisheries management as well as was a member of the honors program. I then moved on to work a variety of technician positions with the US Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management before starting my master's program in 2020. My thesis focuses on fine scale resource selection of pronghorn in central Montana as part of the larger Montana Pronghorn Project. In addition to my school and professional work, I also enjoy hiking, camping, fishing, and getting outside with my dog.

In the Pursuit of Greener Pastures: How Changes in Vegetation Influence Diet and Resource Selection of Pronghorn in Montana

Patterns of resource selection can give wildlife researchers and managers valuable information about the effect of habitat on animals. Patterns of seasonal pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) fine-scale selection are not well known, especially during the nutritionally expensive period of late gestation through late lactation. Additionally, pronghorn diets show variation spatially and temporally. I plan to use resource selection functions as well as dietary analyses to identify seasonal shifts in both pronghorn fine scale resource selection and food habits. In addition to understanding seasonal fine-scale resource selection, it is important for managers to be able to predict out pronghorn resource use over space and time. Recent developments in remote sensing, including the development of the Rangeland Analysis Platform (RAP) tool, can be leveraged to predict pronghorn use. My research will focus on both understanding pronghorn fine-scale resource selection as well as leverage remote sensing technologies to predict out pronghorn use patterns over space and time using data from a population of pronghorn in central Montana.