Kaitlyn Gaynor

As a wildlife ecologist and conservation scientist, I am interested in better understanding the socio-ecological dynamics of ecosystems to promote human-wildlife coexistence. My research draws on behavioral and community ecology to understand the roles that humans play in ecological systems, and how humans interact with other large mammal species in shared spaces.

I am currently a PhD candidate at the University of California, Berkeley, in the interdisciplinary Environmental Science, Policy, and Management program. My dissertation research focuses on the effects of human activity on patterns of animal behavior and distribution across spatial and temporal scales. I am interested in how individual animal responses to humans influence fitness and population dynamics, and shape species interactions within communities.