Connected landscapes drive ecological processes for better and for worse, resulting in disrupted migration patterns, invasive species spread, and epidemic emergence. Dr. Chalkowski uses empirical data and mechanistic models to uncover processes driving these dynamics to develop predictive frameworks to inform invasive species, land management, and disease control strategies.
In her research, she pursues three core questions:
- How can we predict animal movement and contact across heterogeneous, changing landscapes?
- How can movement models inform spatially targeted disease control in wildlife?
- How do movement processes shape parasite ecology, and vice versa?
She has pursued these questions in a number of systems, including Toxoplasma gondii spread by free-roaming domestic cats (Felis catus), wild pig (Sus scrofa) management for African Swine Fever control preparedness, permeability of protected areas in Madagascar by free-roaming domestic dogs (Canis lupus familiaris), and impacts of roads on migratory movements of Barren-ground caribou (Rangifer tarandus).
Dr. Chalkowski is from upstate New York, where she obtained her B.Sc. in Biological Sciences from Cornell University. Afterwards, she obtained her M.Sc. and PhD in Wildlife Sciences at Auburn University, followed by postdoctoral roles at the National Wildlife Research Center in Fort Collins, CO and The Wilderness Society.