Conservation
Biology, Wildlife Ecology
Powell Research Lab
Background: Larkin A. Powell
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Welcome!
I teach courses in the School of Natural Resources: Wildlife Ecology and Management, Wildlife Management Techniques, and Vertebrate Population Analysis. I am a member of the Applied Ecology Faculty in SNR and I am the coordinator for SNR's Fisheries and Wildlife undergraduate program.
I am a population ecologist. I have a research lab for students interested in pursuing a Masters or Ph.D. Degree or undergraduate research. My students are my colleagues, and I select them carefully. We work with songbirds in forests and grasslands, waterfowl, prairie-chickens, pheasants, sandhill cranes, small and medium-sized mammals, mountain lions, and painted turtles. My graduate students can select from several MS and PhD specializations within the Natural Resource Sciences degrees. I am also associated with the Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior graduate program in UNL's School of Biological Sciences.
My interests include estimating demographic parameters (survival, productivity, movement rates) to monitor population viability, evaluating habitat effects on populations, and using various techniques (telemetry, stable isotopes, etc.) to document and study movements of wild animals. I am also interested in animal behavior–specifically how behaviors such as dispersal and mate choice have evolved. Much of my research involves decision-making processes--either providing data to improve management decisions, or investigating how better decisions can be made as we manage wildlife and habitats.
My goal is to prepare students for employment by giving them classroom and research opportunities to learn valuable and marketable skills in the fields of wildlife ecology and conservation biology.
Education
B.S., Biology, Graceland University 1990
M.S., Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Iowa State University 1992
Ph.D., Ecology, University of Georgia 1998
Prior Positions
Associate Professor, School of Natural Resources, University of Nebraska-Lincoln (2005-2010)
Assistant Professor, School of Natural Resources, University of Nebraska-Lincoln (2001-2005)
Vertebrate Ecologist (Assistant Professor), University of Dubuque (1998-2001)
Postdoctoral research associate, University of Georgia (1998)
Graduate research assistant, University of Georgia (1993-1998)
GIS technician, University of Georgia (1997).
Graduate research assistant, Iowa State University (1990-1992).