Kelly Klingler

Lecturer of Wildlife Conservation

NRC Undergraduate Advisor

Email:

Office: Holdsworth 216

Phone: 413-545-4723

Primary Interests

Kelly’s academic interests are focused on conservation genetics, molecular ecology, as well as non-invasive wildlife monitoring, ecology and management. As a mentor, educator and researcher, she hopes to cultivate a classroom culture that enables all students to experience a sense of belonging in the life sciences. In her teaching, Kelly emphasizes an active-learning, team-based approach often facilitated by involvement in Course Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) for research projects at both local and national scales. In addition, she is actively learning how to develop and incorporate contemplative and service-learning pedagogies into her teaching.

Kelly is a faculty fellow in the 2021-2022 Community Engagement and Service Learning program.

Kelly serves as a faculty mentor for the Forsythe-Grange Mentoring program which provides scholarships and individual mentoring for first-generation college students, Pell-eligible, and/or underrepresented students.

Kelly serves as the Faculty Advisor for the UMass Student Chapter of The Wildlife Society (Email: ; Follow us on Instagram at @umasswildlife.)

Courses Taught

Fall:

NRC 564: Wildlife Habitat Management

 

Spring:

NRC 211: Wildlife Sampling and Identification

NRC 261: Wildlife Conservation

NRC 390E: Evolution and Conservation (spring 2022 only)

Research Projects

Conservation genetics and genomics projects

  • Genetic monitoring for the Lahontan cutthroat trout (LCT) (Oncorhynchus clarkii henshawii),
  • Population connectivity of the American pika (Ochotona princeps) and
  • Population genomics of Columbia spotted frogs (Rana luteiventris) in the Great Basin.

Non-invasive Wildlife Population and Ecological Monitoring:

  • Detection and estimation of wildlife diversity across campus and conservation areas within the town of Amherst through the UMass Amherst Wildlife Camera Trapping Project. This work incorporates student-led data collection and analysis integrated within NRC coursework.
  • Using temperature loggers to characterize the fine-scale microclimates of habitat patches for comparison with patterns of occupancy in the American pika (Ochotona princeps).

Population Genomics of Host-Parasite systems:

  • Using a Neotropical host-parasite system structured along an elevational gradient in Peru, we are examining the phylogenomic and population genomic patterns between an avian host (Mionectes) andtheir obligate, parasitic chewing lice (Myrsidea).

Selected Publications & Professional Reports

Borokini, IT, KB Klingler, and MM Peacock. 2021. Life in the desert: the impact of geographic and environmental gradients on genetic diversity and population structure of Ivesia webberi. Ecology and Evolution, accepted and in revision.

Peacock MM and KB Klingler. 2021. Wild LCT Population Monitoring: Genetic Evaluation of LCT Recovery in the Truckee River, California/Nevada. Final Report to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Region 6, Reno, Nevada, Contract Agreement # F16AC00006

Dunham-Cheatham SM, KB Klingler, MV Estrada, and MS Gustin. 2021. Using a next-generation sequencing approach to DNA metabarcoding for identification of adulteration and potential sources of mercury in commercial cat and dog foods. Science of the Total Environment. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.146102

Klingler, KB, Parchman T, Ray C, Jahner J and MM Peacock. 2020. Genomic variation in the American pika: signatures of geographic isolation and implications for conservation. BMC Evolutionary Biology. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12862-020-01739-9

Westover, ML, K Lizewski,  KB Klingler, and F Smith. 2020. Isotopic niche of the American pika (Ochotona princeps) through space and time. Canadian J of Zoology. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjz-2019-0212

Dunham-Cheatham, SM, KB Klingler, MM Peacock, M Teglas, and MS Gustin. 2019. What is in commercial cat and dog food? The case for mercury and ingredient testing. Science of the Total Environment. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.05.337

Nichols, LB, KB Klingler, and MM Peacock. 2016. American pikas extirpated from Masonic Mining District. Western North American Naturalist. https://doi.org/10.3398/064.076.0203

Wilkening, JL, C Ray, N Ramsay, and K Klingler. 2015. Alpine biodiversity and assisted migration: The case of the American pika (Ochotona princeps). Biodiversity Conservancy International. https://doi.org/10.1080/14888386.2015.1112304