EDUCATION Colorado State University Ecology Ph.D., 2018 Colorado State University Ecology M.S., 2012 The University of Texas at Austin Public Relations B.S., 2008
PROFESSIONAL APPOINTMENTS 2020-present USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture Postdoctoral Fellow, Dept. of Biology, Colorado State University 2018-2020 Postdoctoral Fellow, Dept. of Biology, Colorado State University 2017-2018 Dissertation Fellow, American Association of University Women
Other Professional Experience Research Assistant for bird & butterfly surveys, City of Fort Collins Natural Areas (May 2018- August 2018) Graduate Research Assistant, Colorado State University (Aug 2010-Jan 2016) STEP intern, Great Sand Dunes National Park (May 2010-Aug 2010)
PUBLICATIONS *Undergraduate author
2022 Hoover, D., O.L. Hajek, M.D. Smith, K. Wilkins, I.J. Slette, A.K. Knapp. 2022. Compound hydroclimatic extremes in a semi-arid grassland: Drought, deluge and the carbon cycle. Global Change Biology 28:2611– 2621. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16081
Broderick, C., K. Wilkins, M.D. Smith, J.M. Blair. 2022. Climate legacies determine grassland responses to future rainfall regimes. Global Change Biology. 28:2639-2656. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16084
Jaman, M.S., H. Wu, Q. Yu, et al. 2022. Contrasting responses of plant above and belowground biomass carbon pools to extreme drought in six grasslands spanning an aridity gradient. Plant and Soil. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-021-05258-4 2021 Wilkins, K., L. Pejchar, S. Carroll, M. Jones, S. Walker, X. Shinbrot, M. Fernández-Giménez, R. Reid. 2021. Collaborative conservation in the United States: A systematic review of motivations, goals, and outcomes. Biological Conservation 295:109165. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2021.109165
Obermueller, H.*, Wilkins, K., Pejchar, L. 2021. Activity and overlap among birds and mammals scavenging a bison carcass in shortgrass prairie. Rangeland Ecology and Management 76:69-73. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rama.2021.02.002
2019 Wilkins, K., L. Pejchar, R. Garvoille. 2019. Ecological and social consequences of bison reintroduction in Colorado. Conservation Science and Practice. 1:e9. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.9
Jimenez, M.F., T.M. Laverty, S.P. Bombaci, K. Wilkins, D.E. Bennett, L. Pejchar. 2019. Underrepresented faculty play a disproportionate role in advancing diversity and inclusion. Nature Ecology & Evolution 3:1030-1033. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-019-0911-5
Shinbrot, X., K. Wilkins, U. Gretzel, G. Bowser. 2019. Unlocking women's sustainability leadership potential: Perceptions of contributions and challenges for women in sustainable development. World Development 119:120-132. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2019.03.009
2017 Wilkins, K., G. Bowser, J. Moore. 2017. Effects of birdwatchers on Sandhill Crane behavior at a birding festival in southwest Colorado. Southwestern Naturalist 62:263-269. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1894/SWNAT-D-16-00074.1
Farr, C., D.E. Bennett, S. Bombaci, T. Gallo, A. Mangan, T. Nogeire, H. Riedl. L. Stinson, K. Wilkins, L. Pejchar. 2017. Distinguished speakers as role models: addressing the gender gap at professional conferences. BioScience 67:464-468. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/bix013
Manuscripts in prep Wilkins, K., S.L. Carroll, K.P. Davis, R. Hauptfeld, M.S. Jones, C.L. Larson, T.M. Laverty, L. Pejchar. In prep. Sexual harassment disproportionately affects historically excluded graduate students in STEM. Nature Ecology and Evolution.
Book Reviews and Outreach Publications Riedl, H., D.E. Bennett, A. Mangan, L. Stinson, K. Wilkins, T. Gallo, L. Pejchar. 2017. The Paradox of the Carnivorous Conservationist. Biological Conservation 205:111-112.
GRANTS AND FELLOWSHIPS 2020-2022 USDA NIFA Postdoctoral Fellowship: $165,000
2020-2021 NCEAS LTER Synthesis Working Group: $54,983
2017-2018 AAUW Dissertation Fellowship: $20,000 Robert L. Tate Fellowship in Wildlife Habitat Conservation: $3900 Audubon Society of Greater Denver’s Lois Webster Fund: $3000 Leadership Fellow, CSU School of Global and Environmental Sustainability Larimer County Small Grant for Community Partnering: $2000 Breniman Scholarship: $1100 Prairie Biotic Research Grant: $1000
2016-2017 James A. and Nan Bailey Wildlife Conservation Scholarship: $1000 Breniman Scholarship: $1300 Conservation Fellow, Denver Zoo: $5000 Graduate Degree Program in Ecology Student Travel Award: $441 Colorado Chapter of the Wildlife Society Research Grant: $1000 Sigma Xi Research Society Grant: $1000 Larimer County Small Grant for Community Partnering: $2000
2015-2016 One Health Research and Development Funds (CSU): $8783 Colorado Field Ornithologist Grant: $750 Prairie Biotic Research Grant: $1000
2013-2014 Natural Resource Ecology Lab Improvement Grant: $3930 Center for Collaborative Conservation Fellowship: $5000
TEACHING EXPERIENCE ECOL592: A Primer on Community Composition Analysis, Lead instructor (1 credit hour): taught graduate students how to organize and analyze data on ecological communities using R; Dept. of Biology, Colorado State University (Fall 2021)
BZ335: Ornithology, Lead Instructor: taught bird evolution, morphology, identification, and conservation to 88 students; Dept. of Biology, Colorado State University (Spring 2019)
Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology Semester Abroad in Mexico, Graduate Teaching Assistant: led RStudio labs, gave lectures, and helped students develop research projects; Dept. of Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology, Colorado State University (Spring 2017)
Life 102: Attributes of Living Systems Lab, Graduate Teaching Assistant: taught biology labs; Dept. of Biology, Colorado State University (Fall 2016)
NR400: Public Relations in Natural Resources, Graduate Teaching Assistant: worked with 40 students to help them develop a public relations campaign focused on an environmental issue; Dept. of Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology, Colorado State University (Spring 2016)
INVITED PRESENTATIONS 2020 Extreme Climate Events Symposium, York University, Toronto, CA (Feb 2020)
2020 Department of Biology Research Seminar Series, CSU Pueblo, Pueblo, CO (Jan 2020)
2019 Society of Environmental Journalists Annual Conference, Fort Collins, CO (Oct 2019)
CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS 2020 Ecological Society of America Conference (COS130), Aug 2020 Terrestrial ecosystems vary globally in response to one-year of extreme drought
2019 Ecological Society of America Conference (PS79), Aug 2019 Underrepresented faculty play disproportionate role in advancing diversity and inclusion
2018 Ecological Society of America Conference (COS137), Aug 2018 Ecological and social effects of bison reintroduction in northern Colorado
2016 North American Congress for Conservation Biology (SYM16), July 2016 Assessing the Effects of the Laramie Foothills Bison Reintroduction in Northern Colorado: A Socio-Ecological Approach
2015 America’s Grasslands Conference (Poster session), Sept-Oct 2015 Assessing Consequences of Bison Reintroduction for Birds, Mammals, and Recreationists in Northern Colorado
2015 Front Range Student Ecology Symposium (Poster session), Feb 2015 Proposed Research Assessing Consequences of Bison Reintroduction for Grassland Birds and Mammals in Northern Colorado
DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION 2021 CSU Center for Environmental Justice Advisory Council 2020-present Volunteer/Coordinator for the CSU Center for Environmental Justice
Coordinate webinars and maintain website/social media
2018-present Undergraduate Co-Advisor for Independent Research projects
Co-advising three undergraduate students on separate projects analyzing how extreme climate events affect grassland plant communities
Co-advising a first-generation undergraduate student on analyzing and publishing research related to the effects of a bison carcass on grassland scavengers
2016-present Advisor and co-founder for Strategies for Ecology Education, Diversity and Sustainability (SEEDS) student chapter at CSU
Help plan conservation-focused service projects for undergraduate students who are underrepresented in ecology
OTHER SKILLS R SQL ArcGIS Spanish, conversational GitHub NVivo