Laura Prugh

  • Professor
  • John C. Garcia Term Professorship
    • 206-543-1588
  • Visit Laura's website

    • Laura Prugh

    • Professor
    • John C. Garcia Term Professorship

    Research areas

    Quantitative multi-species conservation and management; wildlife community ecology; conservation of endangered species and fragmented populations; human-wildlife interactions; noninvasive genetics; predator-prey interactions

    B.A. Biology, Earlham College
    Ph.D. Wildlife Ecology, University of British Columbia

    Autumn 2026-27 Admissions: Professor Laura Prugh is accepting new students for 2026-27. 

    Courses

    • ESRM 150 | Wildlife in the Modern World (5) - Autumn
    • ESRM 351 | Wildlife Research Techniques (5) - Spring
    • ESRM 453 | Biology and Conservation of Mammals (3) - Spring in odd years
    • SEFS 590 | Synthesis and Meta-analysis in Ecology (3) - Fall in odd years

    Current sponsored projects

    • Linking societal factors to the trophic and disease dynamics of urban carnivores

    • Linking seasonal snow processes to wildlife population dynamics

    • Evaluating camera traps as ground-based remote sensing networks linking snow and wildlife

    • Response of elk to recreation in the Western Cascades

    • Diet and rodenticide exposure risk of reintroduced fishers in Washington

    Selected publications

    Cunningham, CX, TA Nuñez, Y Hentati, B Sullender, C Breen, TR Ganz, SES Kreling, KA Shively, E Reese, J Miles, LR Prugh. 2022. Permanent daylight saving time would reduce deer-vehicle collisions. Current Biology.

    Sytsma, M, T Lewis, B Gardner, LR Prugh. 2022. Low levels of outdoor recreation alter wildlife behavior. People and Nature. 4: 1547– 1559.

    Davidson, SC, G Bohrer, E Gurarie, S LaPoint, PJ Mahoney, NT Boelman, JUH Eitel, LR Prugh et al. 2020. New ecological insights from the Arctic Animal Movement Archive (AAMA). Science. 370: 712-715.

    Prugh, LR and KJ Sivy. 2020. Enemies with benefits: Integrating positive and negative interactions among terrestrial carnivores. Ecology Letters. 23: 902-918.

    Kelt, DA, EJ Heske, X Lambin, MK Oli, JL Orrock, A Ozgul, JN Pauli, LR Prugh, R Sollmann, S Sommer. 2019. Advances in population biology and species interactions in mammals. Journal of Mammalogy. 100: 965-1007.

    Prugh, LR, N Deguines, JB Grinath, KN Suding, WT Bean, R Stafford, JS Brashares. 2018. Ecological winners and losers of extreme drought in California. Nature Climate Change. 8: 819-824.

    Mahoney, PJ, G Liston, S LaPoint, E Gurarie, B Mangipane, AG Wells, TJ Brinkman, JUH Eitel, N Boelman, LR Prugh. 2018. Navigating snowscapes: scale-dependent responses of mountain sheep to snowpack properties.Ecological Applications. 28: 1715-1729.