Todd Fuller
Professor and Associate Department Head
Email: tkfuller
Phone: 413-545-4723
Office: 128 Holdsworth
Website: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Todd_Fuller
Primary Interests
Dr. Fuller’s research efforts focus on identifying factors affecting variation in mammal density and distribution. Whether a species is recognized as endangered, a nuisance, or harvestable, knowledge of its natural history and population ecology is essential in order to predict or responsibly manage population change. In order to better understand the mechanisms of this change, Dr. Fuller and his students capture, mark, and monitor a variety of carnivores, ungulates, and smaller herbivores to document their movements, habitat use, food habits, survival, reproduction, social behavior, and density, then synthesize results from their own and other studies. They survey populations through direct and indirect means (e.g., scats, tracks, calls, cameras) to assess distribution and relative abundance, and also collaborate with colleagues to investigate roles of disease, genetics, nutrition, morphology, and human activities in population regulation and species conservation.
Current Students and Their Projects
Bridget Amulike (Ph.D., ECo , co-advised with Curt Griffin) – Gray crowned crane ecology conservation in Tanzania
Carolina Sáenz Bolaños (PhD., ECo, co-advised with Eduardo Carrillo) – Factors affecting the distribution of jaguars and their prey in the humid northeast forests of Costa Rica
Juan Carlos Cruz Diaz (PhD., ECo, co-advised with Eduardo Carrillo) – Conservation of jaguars and their prey on the Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica.
Eric LeFlore (Ph.D., ECo, co-advised with Andrew Stein) – Lion ecology and conservation in Botswana
Victor Montalvo G. (PhD., ECo, co-advised with Eduardo Carrillo) – Conservation of jaguars and their prey in the dry forests of northwestern Costa Rica
Recent Publications
LeFlore, E.G., T.K. Fuller, M. Tomeletso, T.C. Dimbindo, and A.B. Stein. 2020. Human dimensions of human-lion conflict: a pre- and post-assessment of a lion conservation programme in the Okavango Delta, Botswana. Environmental Conservation, 47(3), 182-189.DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0376892920000120
Montalvo, V., T.K. Fuller, C. Saénz-Bolaños, J.C. Cruz, I. Hagnauer, H. Herrera, and E. Carrillo. 2020. Influence of sea turtle nesting on hunting behavior and movements of jaguars in the dry forest of northwest Costa Rica. Biotropica 2020; 00:1–8. https://doi.org/10.1111/btp.12803
Malatsi, P.P., T.K. Fuller, S.M. Campbell, J. Dreyer, J. Fiocchi, L.C. Fiocchi, D. Fuller, M.R. Fuller, A. Hazard, P.R. Sievert, and C.R. Griffin. 2020. Honey badger Mellivora capensis predation on an African sharptooth catfish in the Okavango Delta, Botswana. Small Carnivore Conservation 58:e58004. http://www.smallcarnivoreconservation.org/online-early2.html
Amulike, B.B., T.K. Fuller, P.W. Houlihan, and C.R. Griffin. 2020. Seasonal variation in grey crowned crane (Balearica regulorum) abundance in the Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania. African Journal of Ecology 2020; 00:1–7. https://doi.org/10.1111/aje.12738
Fuller, T.K., A.M. Silva, V.H. Montalvo, C. Sáenz-Bolaños, and E. Carrillo J. 2020. Reproduction of white-tailed deer in a seasonally dry tropical forest of Costa Rica: a test of aseasonality. Journal of Mammalogy 101:241-247. https://doi.org/10.1093/jmammal/gyz173
LeFlore, E.G., T.K. Fuller, M. Tomeletso, and A.B. Stein. 2019. Livestock depredation by large carnivores in northern Botswana. Global Ecology and Conservation. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2019.e00592
Montalvo, V.H., C. Sáenz-Bolaños, L.D. Alfaro, J.C. Cruz, F.H. Guimarães-Rodrigues, E. Carrillo, C. Sutherland, and T.K. Fuller. 2019. Seasonal use of waterholes and pathways by macrofauna in the dry forest of Costa Rica. Journal of Tropical Ecology https://doi.org/10.1017/S0266467418000457