Jennifer Wilkening
PO Box 745/195 Timberline
Nederland, CO 80466
Jennifer.Wilkening@colorado.edu
www.niferwilkening.weebly.com
Education
University of Colorado
PhD, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (EBIO)
Advisors: Drs. Sharon Collinge, Chris Ray
Boulder, CO
Expected December 2014
University of Nevada
Masters of Science, Biology
Advisor: Dr. Peter Brussard
Reno, NV
August 2007
University of Colorado
Bachelor of Arts, Environmental Biology (EPOB)
Boulder, CO
May 1999
Work Experience related to ecology and environment
Fulbright Nehru Fellowship
Wildlife Institute of India, Dehra Dun
Research Fellow in environmental science
September 2013-March 2014
Duties: Conducted research related to climate change impacts on alpine communities and water
resources in the Himalayan range of India.
Western Ecological Resource, Inc.
Boulder, CO
Biological consultant
May-August 2010, 2011, 2013
Duties: Conducted rare/endangered species surveys and biological monitoring in various ecosystems
throughout the state of Colorado.
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department (EBIO)
Univ. of Colorado, Boulder
Research assistant
June-August 2012; June-Dec. 2010 & 2011
Duties: Assisted with various aspects related to the development and implementation of a program
funded through the National Park Service (NPS) Climate Change Response Program to assess wildlife and
natural resource vulnerability in parks to predicted changes in climate.
University of California, Berkeley
Niwot Ridge Long Term Ecological Research Site, CO
Research assistant
March-August 2009
Duties: Assisted on a project examining the effects of climate change on tree line dynamics and alpine
vegetation communities.
Colorado Natural Areas Program/Colorado State Parks
Denver, CO
Biologist/inventory and monitoring
March -September2008
Duties: Conducted biological monitoring and assessment of designated special status and protected
areas throughout Colorado.
Biological Resource Research Center
Reno, NV
Biologist
August 2004-December 2007
Duties: Worked on various ecological projects related to wildlife and vegetation communities in desert
and alpine ecosystems throughout Nevada, California, Oregon.
National Park Service
Lava Beds National Monument, CA
Resource assistant
June-August 2005
Duties: Documented the distribution of and habitat related characteristics associated with a climate
sensitive species in the monument and established monitoring areas.
The Nature Conservancy
Sycan Marsh Research Station, OR
Avian ecologist
April-October 2003
Duties: Conducted habitat sampling, assessment and monitoring for a joint study undertaken by the
Nature Conservancy and US Forest Service on the relationship of forest management practices to avian
communities.
Wild Places
Boulder, CO
Wildlife technician
September 2001-2002
Duties: Conducted population assessment, translocations and wildlife monitoring of Black-tailed prairie
dogs (a designated sensitive species) and prairie ecosystem restoration in Colorado.
Iracambi Atlantic Rainforest Research Center
Minas Gerais, Brazil
Biological technician
January-June 2001
Duties: Conducted habitat sampling and population status surveys for bird and small mammal species in
the coastal rainforest of Brazil.
Work experience related to education and outreach
Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES)
Boulder, CO
Science outreach specialist
July-September 2013
Duties: Reviewed and evaluated climate change outreach and education materials for the Climate
Literacy and Energy Awareness Network (CLEAN).
Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES)
Boulder, CO
Research Fellow in science outreach and environmental education
June 2012-2013
Duties: Worked as an outreach specialist and science communicator as part of a national science
foundation (NSF) program that places STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) research fellows in
K-12 schools.
University of Colorado, EBIO Department
Lab Instructor, Teaching Assistant
Front Range Community College
Lecturer, Lab instructor
Plumas County School Readiness Program (educational non-profit)
Bilingual program coordinator and resource advocate
Boulder, CO
Fall 2009; Spring 2010, 2011, 2012
Westminster, CO
Spring 2008
Portola, CA
October 2003-May 2004
Elementary Spanish Program (educational non-profit)
Assistant Director (bilingual position)
Boulder, CO
August 2001-2002
Thorne Ecological Institute (environmental non-profit)
Environmental Educator
Boulder, CO
June-August 2001
Publications
Wilkening, J.L. and C. Ray. Parks, pikas, and physiological stress: implications for long term monitoring
of an NPS key vital sign. Submitted to Park Science, in review.
Wilkening, J.L., C. Ray and J. Varner. Relating sub-surface water resources to physiological stress in an
indicator species: implications for tracking effects of climate change in montane watersheds.
Submitted to PLOS ONE, in review.
Wilkening, J.L., C. Ray and K.L. Sweazea. Stress hormone concentration in Rocky Mountain populations
of the American pika (Ochotona princeps) Conservation Physiology 1:
doi:10.1093/conphys/cot027.
Beever, E. A. and J. L. Wilkening. 2011. Playing by new rules: altered climates are affecting some pikas
dramatically and rapidly. The Wildlife Professional 5(3):38-41.
Beever, E.A., C.Ray, J.L. Wilkening, P.F. Brussard, and P.W. Mote. 2011. Contemporary climate change
alters the pace and drivers of extinction. Global Change Biology 17(6):2054-2070.
Beever, E.A., C. Ray, J.L. Wilkening, P.W. Mote, and P.F. Brussard. 2011. Landscape-scale conservation
and management of montane wildlife: contemporary climate may be changing the rules.
Intermountain Journal of Science 17(1-4):41-42.
Wilkening, J. L., C. Ray, E.A. Beever and P.F. Brussard. 2011. Modeling contemporary range retraction
in Great Basin pikas (Ochotona princeps) using data on micro climate and micro habitat.
Quaternary International 235:77-88.
Beever, E.A., C. Ray, P.W. Mote, and J.L. Wilkening. 2010. Testing alternative models of climate
mediated extirpations. Ecological Applications 20:164-178.
Beever, E.A., J.L. Wilkening, D.E. McIvor, S.S. Weber, and P.F. Brussard. 2008. American Pikas (Ochotona
princeps) in Northwestern Nevada: a newly discovered population at a low-elevation site.
Western North American Naturalist 68:8-14.
Selected presentations
J.L. Wilkening, C. Ray and J.L. Varner. Using a metric of physiological stress to characterize favorable
microclimates in an alpine indicator species. The 99th Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of
America. Sacramento, CA. August 10-15, 2014.
J.L. Wilkening and C. Ray. Characterizing relationships between microclimate, metrics of physiological
stress and survival in a climate-sensitive mammal. American Society of Mammalogists 94th
Annual Meeting. Cox Convention Center, Oklahoma City, OK. June 6-10, 2014.
J.L. Wilkening, C. Ray and J.L. Varner. Developing a bio-indicator of hydrological and climatic change for
alpine ecosystems. YETI Meeting. Nagaland University, Lumami campus, India. December 16-19,
2013.
J.L. Wilkening, C. Ray and J.L. Varner. Pikas on ice: the presence of sub-surface water resources is
associated with lower stress in the American pika (an alpine indicator species). The 11th
International Mammalogical Congress. Queens University, Belfast, United Kingdom. August 1116, 2013.
J.L. Wilkening. Understanding projected climate change impacts on alpine mammal communities in the
Rocky Mountains. The 3rd annual meeting of the Front Range Pika Project (a citizen science
program). Denver Zoo, CO. October 25, 2012.
J. L. Wilkening, C. Ray and Karen Sweazea. Using physiological samples to measure climate related
stress in American pikas in a Rocky Mountain LTER. Long Term Ecological Research site (LTER) All
Scientists Meeting: The unique role of the LTER network in the Anthropocene: collaborative
science across Scales. Estes Park, CO. September 10-13, 2012.
J.L. Wilkening. Assessing predicted changes in climate on water and wildlife resources in alpine
ecosystems. Indian Peaks Wilderness Alliance Board Meeting. USDA Forest Service Boulder
Ranger District Office. Boulder, CO. February 6, 2012.
J.L. Wilkening. Collecting citizen science data to be incorporated into NPS climate change monitoring
programs. The National Park Service (NPS) training for “Pikas in Peril” project volunteers. Rocky
Mountain National Park, CO. June 2011 & 2012.
J.L. Wilkening and C. Ray. Estimating climate-mediated stress in a sentinel alpine species. European
Science Foundation Thermadapt Meeting; Adaptation to climate from a spatial perspective.
University of Helsinki, Finland. September 11-14, 2011.
J.L. Wilkening and C. Ray. Physiological stress response and climate change in American pikas (Ochotona
princeps). The George Wright Society Conference on Parks, Protected Areas, and Cultural Sites.
New Orleans, LA. March 14-18, 2011.
J.L. Wilkening, C. Ray, E. A. Beever and P.F. Brussard. Modeling contemporary range contraction in Great
Basin pikas. 1St North American Pika Conference. Teton Science School, Jackson Hole, WY. March
25-27, 2010.
Recent Grants and Awards
Physiological Ecology Section travel award; awarded June 2014, $500
American Society of Mammalogists travel award; awarded April 2014, $300
Fulbright-Nehru Scholarship; awarded August 2013, $15,709
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology One Semester Fellowship; awarded January 2014, $14,000
Joyce Gellhorn Grant; awarded June 2013, $500
American Alpine Club Research Grant; awarded May 2013, $997
American Society of Mammalogists Grant-in-Aid of Research; awarded May 2013, $1,468
Exploration Fund Grant; awarded April 2013, $2,250
CIRES Graduate Student Travel Fellowship; awarded January 2013, $500
Ecological Society of America Travel Grant; awarded June 2012, $500
Indian Peaks Wilderness Alliance Scholarship; awarded June 2012 ($1,000), May 2011 ($500)
Ecology and Evol. Biology Research Grant; awarded May 2012 ($2,268), April 2011($1,200)
Boulder County Nature Association Research Grant; awarded April 2012, $997
Colorado Mountain Club Neal B. Kindig Fellowship; awarded May 2011, $2,000
Nat’l Park Service George Wright Climate Change Fellowship; awarded June 2010, $19,927
Outreach Activities
--Scientific advisor for the Front Range Pika Project, a citizen science group which gathers inventory and
monitoring data on climate change and alpine community response; 2009-present
--Mentor for REU (research experience for undergraduates) and BURST (bioscience undergraduate
research skills and training program) students on multiple projects related to climate change and
impacts on natural resources in alpine communities; the Niwot Ridge Long Term Ecological Research Site
(LTER) and City of Boulder Watershed, 2011-2013
--Invited guest lecturer for the 6th annual National Park Service/National Geographic Society Bio-Blitz:
discussed major issues and concepts related to climate change and demonstrated wildlife survey
techniques (in Spanish and English) for high school students and wildlife reserve managers from Costa
Rica; Rocky Mountain National Park, August 2012.
--Instructor for project volunteer training sessions on wildlife monitoring and data collection protocols
for volunteers, agency employees, managers, and other stakeholders; University of Colorado, Boulder
and Rocky Mountain National Park, June 2011 & 2012.
Professional Service Activities
--Conference organizer for the 2nd North American Pika Conference scheduled for April 17-18, 2015
--Moderator for Conservation Management session at the ESA meeting (2014)
--Reviewer: Journal of Wildlife Management, Journal of Zoology
--Member of the North American Pika Consortium, which was created to facilitate information sharing
among researchers, agency biologists and other stakeholders regarding climate change and wildlife
adaptation/mitigation in alpine communities; 2009-present
--Regular contributor to the Great Basin Information Project, a collaborative effort created by federal
management agencies and environmental NGOs to provide access to biological information related to
climate change and ecosystems services in the Great Basin; 2009-present
--Judge for Boulder Valley School District Science Fair; February 2013, 2012
--Volunteer facilitator at the Consortium for Integrated Climate Research in Western Mountains
(CIRMOUNT) conference; October 1-4, 2012
--Scientific contributor (cited 18 times) for the US Fish and Wildlife Service 12-month finding on a
petition to list the American pika; 2009-2011 (http://www.fws.gov/mountainprairie/species/mammals/americanpika/02052010frtemp.pdf)
--Parks, Recreation, and Open Space Advisory Board; appointed board member 2008-2010
Additional Skills
 Fluent Spanish communication skills, intermediate Portuguese, beginning Hindi
 Experience in PC and Macintosh with word processing (Word, MS Word, others), spreadsheet
(MS Excel, MS Works), data management/statistical packages (SAS, JMP, R, MS Access), ArcGIS
(ArcMap, ArcCatalog, ArcToolbox, Spatial Analyst) and GPS (Magellan, Trimble, Garmin systems),
data loggers and associated software (iButton, HOBO)
 Wilderness First Responder certified, Level I Avalanche certified
References available upon request