Meet the team!Our team is small but mighty! We bring a diversity of research experiences and interests to the lab but the one thing we all have in common is a passion for research and wildlife conservation. Learn more about each team member and their research below.
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The Bassing Lab on a lab outing to celebrate the start of the Fall 2026 semester. You can see four grizzly bears in field behind us!
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Sarah B. Bassing, PI
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She | Her | Hers
Sarah Bassing is a quantitative ecologist who uses statistical methods to understand animal behavior and population dynamics, often integrating concepts from carnivore ecology, behavioral ecology, and predator-prey theory into her work. Her research interests are diverse but tend to focus on animal space-use, species interactions, and anthropogenic impacts on wildlife. Sarah uses a combination of fieldwork, R programming, and statistics in her research, all with the aim of answering conservation-oriented questions. She has worked across the western US and beyond, studying the effects of harvest on wolves to the impacts of wildfire smoke on free-living wildlife and more. When she's not sciencing, Sarah enjoys traveling, baking, pottery, and hiking. Education University of Washington, Seattle WA (2017 - 2022) Ph.D. Environmental and Forest Sciences University of Montana, Missoula MT (2014 - 2017) M.Sc. Wildlife Biology University of Montana, Missoula MT (2005 - 2008) B.Sc. Wildlife Biology Google Scholar | CV | GitHub | BlueSky | [email protected] |
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Chase Dart, MSc student
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Project: Drivers of group size and population dynamics in a cooperative breeding carnivore
2025 - present Chase is working on the Idaho Wolf Project with the Gray Wolf Research Group to study how external factors (e.g., prey availability, harvest pressure, and competition) and internal factors (e.g., relatedness, breeder turnover, and group composition) influence variation in group size of wolves. His research will help clarify the mechanisms that most strongly influence group dynamics which can inform conservation decisions and further our understanding of wolf population dynamics. Education Montana State University, Bozeman MT (2018) B.Sc. Biological Sciences |
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Ashlyn Hemmah, MSc student
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Project: Spatial ecology of black-tailed prairie dog colonies and testing predation risk as a tool for managing colony expansion
2025 - present Ashlyn is collaborating with the Turner Institute of Ecoagriculture to study genetic connectivity among black-tailed prairie dog colonies on the Bad River Ranch in South Dakota. She is also testing the use of raptor perches as a means of increasing predation risk on colonies to manipulate prairie dog movement and colony expansion. Her work will help managers of the Bad River Ranch identify and characterize potential movement corridors between colonies and evaluate whether raptor perches are a viable alternative to the more common methods used for managing prairie dog colonies. Education Montana State University, Bozeman MT (2021) B.Sc. Biological Sciences |
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Lauren Emerick, MSc student
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Project: Predator-predator interactions following the reintroduction of an apex predator
2026 - present Lauren is an NSF EPSCoR Graduate Fellow studying predator-predator interactions following the reintroduction of wolves in Colorado. She is collaborating with Colorado Parks and Wildlife to deploy >100 camera traps throughout the Middle Park area to quantify patterns of predator co-occurrence, activity, etc. Her work will contribute to a larger community-wide study of the impacts of wolf reintroduction in Colorado and provide the foundation for a long-term camera-based monitoring program in the region. Education Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI (2023) B.Sc. Fisheries and Wildlife |
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Undergraduate student researchers
Morgan Anderson, Prairie dog field research technician (2026)