Rebecca Minor
My ecological interests are broad, and include applied and research science. My masters research focuses on competition between two species of tree squirrel in the Pinaleño Mountains of southeastern Arizona. One of the many sky islands in southern Arizona, the Pinaleño Mountains harbor a suite of species unique from those found in the surrounding Sonoran Desert. Among these is the Mount Graham red squirrel, a subspecies that has been isolated on this particular sky island range since the last glacial maximum. This population is endangered and vulnerable to multiple threats, such as habitat loss through catastrophic fire, insect infestation, and human disturbance. Further complicating the system, the non-native Abert's squirrel was introduced on the mountain in the 1940s. The intersection of two populations of interest (endangered and non-native), the sky island phenomena, and the management and functional implications of interspecific competition invigorates this work.
