Alex McInturff, PI
I am the Assistant Unit Leader of the Washington Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit and Assistant Professor in the School of Environmental and Forest Sciences at the University of Washington. My research uses interdisciplinary approaches to link social and ecological systems with an emphasis on large carnivores and environmental justice.
Contact: amcintur (at) uw.edu | Pronouns: he/him | Google Scholar | CV
Meggie Callahan, Postdoc
Meggie’s research focuses on characterizing different aspects of the complex human-wildlife relationship. She combines elements of anthropological inquiry, psychology-based perception work, and tenets of animal behavior and welfare. She is currently working on a project on the human dimensions of chronic wasting disease in Washington State. She credits her previous work at a wildlife rehabilitation center with helping to solidify her interest in animal-human interactions and in her free time enjoys playing basketball, swimming, reading fantasy novels, and writing.
Contact: mcallaha (at) uw.edu | Pronouns: she/her
Nikol Damato, PhD Student
Nikol is a PhD student and interdisciplinary social scientist with expertise in the human dimensions of marine conservation. Her research focuses on how people organize, collaborate, and make decisions throughout the regulatory process in pursuit of impactful and equitable conservation outcomes for endangered marine species. Nikol received an M.A. in Marine Affairs from the University of Rhode Island in 2023, where she examined recreational boaters’ compliance with vessel regulations to reduce disturbances to endangered killer whales in the Salish Sea. Prior to her graduate studies, Nikol served as an AmeriCorps Fellow with the CivicSpark Program in California and interned with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries. She received a B.A. and B.S. from Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania in 2020.
Contact: ndamato (at) uw.edu | Pronouns: she/her
Vivian Hawkinson, PhD Student
Vivian is interested in understanding how the interplay of landscape structure, predator ecology, and livestock grazing or herding practices shape species’ behavioral patterns and predator-livestock interactions at various scales. She received her MESc from the Yale School of the Environment in 2023, where she explored how changes in landscape composition and habitat connectivity impact wolf-prey-livestock interactions using agent-based modeling. Prior to beginning her graduate studies, Vivian worked as a Data Management Assistant for the Consortium for Energy Efficiency and coached high school cross country and track and field. Vivian received a BA in Environmental Policy and Classics from Colby College in 2018. Outside of academia, she enjoys trail running, cross-country skiing, cooking, and spending time with her dog, friends, and family.
Contact: vhawkin (at) uw.edu | Pronouns: she/her
Ellen Pero, Postdoc
El’s research sits broadly in the field of wildlife recovery through population restoration and assessment. Her efforts primarily center on recovering wildlife populations via conservation translocation, and she’s worked with a number of critters ranging from beach mice in Florida on up to elk in the eastern US. El earned her PhD in wildlife biology at the University of Montana, and her research has largely been ecologically focused with increasing decision science and human dimensions influence. She’s working in the PAW lab collaborators from UCSB on a feasibility study of California grizzly bear reintroduction. Outside of work, she spends most of her time gardening, mushroom foraging, and enjoying the natural playground that is her home in the Northern Rockies.
Contact: epero (at) uw.edu | Pronouns: she/her
Molly Rambeau, MS Student
Molly is interested in studying the relationship between deer behavior and forest health on tribal lands. Molly is an enrolled member of the Cheyenne River Lakota tribe and received a BS in Forestry, Fisheries, and Wildlife from the Ohio State University in 2022. Prior to joining the PAW lab, she was Cheyenne River Tribe’s science intern studying the mycobiome in Native American populations and determining if shifts in mycobiomes are a causal factor for rheumatoid arthritis. She also has experience with invasive plant work and deer management. When outside of the lab, you can find Molly painting, traveling, or cooking for family and friends.
Contact: mrambeau (at) uw.edu | Pronouns: she/her
Gretchen Sneegas, Postdoc
Gretchen Sneegas has a PhD in Human Geography and focuses on environmental governance during times of change and conflict. She uses a combination of critical discourse analysis, ethnography, and statistical analysis to trace how individuals become different types of environmental subjects, and how this in turn shapes their environmental behaviors. Gretchen’s research has included perspectives on human consumption of raw milk, the effects of shale gas development on farmer-landowners, why water-insecure cities do (or do not) adopt desalination and water recycling technologies, and the tensions and trade-offs present in Washington state’s long-term Forest and Fish Adaptive Management Program. She is an avid hiker, camper, film photographer, and speculative fiction reader.
Contact: gsneegas (at) uw.edu | Pronouns: she/her | Website | Google Scholar
Lara Volski, PhD student
Lara studies large carnivore conflict and coexistence. She currently uses social and ecological methods to understand human-wolf interactions in Washington State, and seeks to understand how wolf occupancy and human attitudes reciprocally influence each other over time. Before joining the Paw Lab as a PhD student, Lara worked as a National Park Ranger in Golden Gate National Recreation Area. She received a BS in Conservation and Resource Studies from UC Berkeley in 2019, where her thesis focused on testing the social and ecological effectiveness of a livestock protection tool to prevent coyote predation of sheep.
Contact: lavolski (at) uw.edu | Pronouns: she/her | Website
People and Wildlife Lab 