B&C Fellow - Daniel Morina

University of Montana – Ph.D. Student in Fish and Wildlife Biology - Projected to Graduate 2022
Project Title: Identifying the Effects of Oil and Gas Development and Activity on Movement, Resource Selection, and Demographic Processes of Elk in the Badlands of Western North Dakota

I was born in Maine and spent most of my childhood and early adult life in North Carolina, where my love for wildlife and everything outdoors began. However, my career in wildlife biology was not my initial path. I spent 7 years in construction management before pursuing my wildlife degree at North Carolina State University. During my undergraduate studies, I conducted research on mast production of different oak species, which I presented at several scientific conferences. The connections made through that process led me to my master's work at Mississippi State University. My M.S. research evaluated the accuracy of the fetal growth curve used to age white-tailed deer fetuses when used in Mississippi. Additionally, methods used for our main objective and a novel antler manipulation process we developed allowed us to evaluate female choice in cervids. I began my PhD work at the University of Montana in 2018. My goal is to continue a career involving wildlife research and management, particularly working with ungulates. I would love to be an extension professor working with the public or a research biologist for a state agency where I could conduct applied research that would inform management decisions.

Identifying the Effects of Oil and Gas Development and Activity on Movement, Resource Selection, and Demographic Processes of Elk in the Badlands of Western North Dakota

Human disturbance risk can have both direct and indirect effects on wildlife populations. Of the various sources of human disturbance risks faced by wildlife, energy development is one of the largest in the western United States and Canada and has been expanding precipitously since the late 1990s. The scale and distribution of this development creates a highly fragmented landscape with increased disturbance risk that may disrupt migration corridors, alter wildlife behavior, and affect population demographics. However, not all studies support negative impacts of energy development to wildlife, and a few have found that impacts decrease after specific phases of oil and gas extraction are completed. The purpose of my research is to provide further knowledge about the relationship between human disturbance risk from oil and gas development and wildlife through quantitative assessment of anthropogenic disturbance effects on elk movement, resource selection, and demographic processes in the western North Dakota Badlands.