Curtice GriffinCurtice Griffin

Professor

Email: cgriffin

Office: 128 Holdsworth

Phone: 413-545-2640

Primary Interests

My teaching and research interests are in biodiversity conservation, wetland wildlife ecology and management, and integrated natural resources management issues. Although my research program addresses both applied and basic ecological questions, it focuses primarily on the conservation of biological diversity and providing a strong science base for management decisions. Thus, my overall research program is very applied and is largely driven by the resource conservation needs of local, state and federal agencies, NGOs, and international organizations. My research and conservation efforts have spanned five continents, from work with elephants in Africa and Southeast Asia to sea turtles and whale sharks in the Caribbean. My current research efforts with my grad students focus on assessing the effects of climate change and offshore wind energy facilities on wildlife, elephant ecology and conservation in southern Africa, and whale shark ecology and ecotourism. I also have a strong commitment to and involvement in development of local, state, national, and international policies relating to wetlands protection, endangered species management, and conservation of biological diversity.

Projects

Current Students

Allyn, Andrew (Ph.D.)- A theoretical and applied investigation of quantitative methods for understanding species habitat use patters (w/Kevin McGarigal)

Amulike, Bridget (Ph.D.) – Assessing the factors causing the population declines of grey crowned cranes in Tanzania (w/Todd Fuller)

Estes, Jason (Ph.D.) – Elephant ecology and conservation

Iaquinto, Kate (M.S.) – Factors affecting the distribution, abundance and behavior of breeding piping plovers in southern New England

Lamas, Tanya (M.S.) – Botswana’s elephant-back safari industry – stress-response in working African elephants and analysis of their post-release movements

Massey, Blake (Ph.D.) – Movement models of Bald Eagles in Maine (w/Kevin McGarigal)

Winiarski, Kris (Ph.D.) – A climate dependent metapopulation model of marbled salamanders (Ambystoma opacum) in western Massachusetts (w/Kevin McGarigal)

Recent Grants

2016-present – PI, $469,000 Mechanisms for species responses to climate change: Are there biological thresholds? USGS.

2015-present – Co-PI, $358,000 – REU Site: Offshore wind energy: Solving the engineering, environmental & socio-economic challenges. NSF.

2011-present – Co-PI, $7,500,000 – Northeast Climate Science Center.  U.S. Dept. of Interior.

2011-present – Co-PI, $3,200,000 – IGERT Offshore Wind Energy Engineering, Environmental Science, and Policy. NSF.

Past Grants 

Recent Publications (2012-Present)

Schlossberg S., Chase M.J., Griffin C.R. 2016. Testing the Accuracy of Aerial Surveys for Large Mammals: An Experiment with African Savanna Elephants (Loxodonta africana). PLoS ONE 11(10): e0164904. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0164904

Chase M.J., S. Schlossberg, C.R. Griffin, P.J.C. Bouché, S.W. Djene, P.W. Elkan, S. Ferreira, F. Grossman, E.M. Kohi, K. Landen, P. Omondi, A. Peltier, S.A.J. Selier, R. Sutcliffe. 2016. Continent-wide survey reveals massive decline in African savannah elephants. PeerJ 4:e2354 https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.2354

Loring, P.H., C.R. Griffin, P.R. Sievert, C.S. Spiegel. 2016. Comparing satellite and digital VHF telemetry to estimate length of stay, home ranges, and habitat use of American Oystercatchers (Haematopus palliatus) in Massachusetts. Waterbirds in press.

Lamarre-DeJesus, A.S. and C.R. Griffin. 2015. Habanero pepper powder as a potential deterrent to nest predation of turtle nests: a response to Burke et al. Chelonian Conservation and Biology 14(2):203-204.

Allyn, A.J., A. McKnight, K. McGarigal, C.R. Griffin, K.J. Kuletz, D.A. Cushing and D.B. Irons. 2015. Assessing a paired logistic regression model of presence-only data to map important habitat areas of the rare Kittlitz’s murrelet Brachyramphus brevirostris. Marine Ornithology 43:65-76.

Lamb, J.S., C.S. Hall, S. Kress, and C.R. Griffin. 2014. Comparison of burning and weed barriers for restoring common tern (Sterna hirundo) nesting habitat in the Gulf of Maine. Waterbirds 37(3):286-297.

Lamarre-DeJesus, A.S. and C.R. Griffin. 2013. Use of Habanero Pepper Powder to Reduce Depredation of Loggerhead Sea Turtle Nests. Chelonian Conservation & Biology 12(2):262-267.

Sitompul, A.F., C.R. Griffin, N.D. Rayl & T.K. Fuller. 2013. Spatial and Temporal Habitat Use of an Asian Elephant in Sumatra. Animals 2013(3):670-679.

Bellis, M.A., C.R. Griffin, P. Warren & S.D. Jackson. 2013. Utilizing a Multi-Technique, Multi-Taxa Approach to Monitoring Wildlife Passageways in Southern Vermont. Oecologia Australis 17(1):111-128.

Sitompul, A. F., C.R. Griffin & T.K. Fuller. 2013. Sumatran elephant ranging behavior in a fragmented rainforest landscape. International Journal of Biodiversity and Conservation Vol. 5(2):66-72.

Allyn, A.J., A. McKnight, K. McGarigal, C.R. Griffin, K.J. Kuletz and D.B. Irons. 2012. Relationships among Kittlitz’s Murrelet habitat use, temperature-depth profiles, and landscape features in Prince William Sound, Alaska, USA. Marine Ecology Progress Series 466:233-247.

Sitompul, A.F., W. Wardana, C.R. Griffin, T.K. Fuller & Nazarudin. 2012. Use of Tame Elephants to Find, Immobilize, and Collar Wild Elephants in a Sumatran Rainforest. Gajah 37 (2012):11-15.

Other Publications