Hovick
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Rangeland Wildlife Ecology Lab
Torre Hovick
Torre is an Associate Professor in Range Science in the School of Natural Resource Sciences. He earned his Ph.D. in Wildlife Ecology at Oklahoma State University (2014), his M.S. in Wildlife Ecology at Iowa State University (2010), and his B.A. in Biology at the University of Northern Iowa (2005).
Hailey Keen
Hailey is currently a Master’s student in the Range Science program at NDSU. She grew up in Neenah, WI and obtained her B.S. in Biology and Natural Resources (Ecological Restoration) from Northland College. Her current research focuses on honey bee use of shelterbelts as early-season resources and UAV quantification of floral resources. Her research interests include sustainable agriculture, ecological restoration, land management, and remote sensing. In her free time, she enjoys cross country skiing and backpacking.
Email: hailey.keen@ndsu.edu
Justin Clarke
Justin is from Factoryville, PA and is currently a PhD student in the Range Science program. He obtained his BS in Biology at Keystone College and an MS in Biology at East Stroudsburg University. His Master’s thesis research was on the distribution of a declining songbird, the Northern Waterthrush, in eastern Pennsylvania. He is currently working on the impacts that a modified twice-over rest-rotation grazing system has on nest abundances and nest success as an alternative to fire-based management in areas where managers are hesitant to use fire. He is also investigating the impacts the interaction of fire and grazing has on arthropod communities and the cascading effects on avian territory size and quality. His primary research interests are disturbance ecology, avian ecology, community ecology, and grassland ecology. His hobbies including birding, running, reading, and playing with his pet macaw, Elliott.
Email: justin.r.clarke@ndsu.edu
Jacob Yetter
Jacob is a master’s student in Natural Resources Management. He completed his undergraduate degree in Zoology with a focus on Wildlife Biology and Conservation at Southern Illinois University Carbondale and has previously worked with grassland birds, waterfowl, wetlands, and restoration ecology. He is currently working as a research assistant investigating the influence of landscape use and change in management practices on the ecology of upland gamebirds and other organisms of cultural and economic importance. His research interests include gamebird ecology, thermal ecology, habitat selection, and survival analyses. He is an avid outdoorsman and can often be found hunting, fishing, or hiking.
Email: jacob.yetter@ndsu.edu
Research Specialist
Ellysa Johnson
Ellysa is a college graduate from the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota where she earned her B.S. in Environmental Science (biology concentration) and minors in both sustainability and Spanish. She is now pursuing a M.S. in Natural Resource Management at North Dakota State University. Her main interests lie with conservation (particularly that of native bees, monarch butterflies, and preserving natural plant communities), and public outreach/education. She has performed research involving monarch butterfly oviposition, climate changes' impact on birds, pollinator abundance along roads of various habitats in the Twin Cities, climate change adaptation and land management of Pine Pend Bluff SSA (Inver Grove Heights, MN), and more. Her current research involves milkweed abundance and densities in several patch burn and grazing treatments, as well as monarch oviposition and larvae presence. After obtaining her M.S., Ellysa is eager to get involved in conservation and hopes to begin a career with an environmental organization such as the DNR or the Nature Conservancy.
Email: Ellysa.Johnson@ndsu.edu
Tucker Lutter
Tucker is currently pursuing a Master's in Natural Resources Management. He obtained his undergraduate degree in Anthropology at Franciscan University and received post-graduate certificates in GIS and Museum and Archive Studies. He worked as a field archaeologist for six field seasons and decided to change career paths to study birds, his passion from the time he was eight years old growing up in Iowa. He is currently studying urban ecosystems with an emphasis on what variables in urban green spaces affect bird populations. His research takes place at Urban Woods and Prairies Initiative sites in Fargo, ND-Moorhead, MN. He loves birding, photography, hiking, reading, working cattle at his in-law's farm in central North Dakota, and being a father and husband.
Email: tucker.lutter@ndsu.edu
Evalynn Trumbo
Evalynn is a research specialist for the Hovick Lab. She obtained a B.S. from the University of Missouri at Columbia in Fisheries and Wildlife Science in 2014, and an M.S. in Natural Resources and Environmental Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2019. Her expertise lies within avian and habitat ecology and research, with additional experience in insects, diet availability for different bird species, spatial movement, and avian behavior. She currently assists graduate students with research design, field implementation, statistical analysis and writing. She also collaborates with Torre and other colleagues to pursue grant funded opportunities to conduct more research within rangeland ecology on topics including, but not limited to pollinator ecology and rangeland wildlife ecology. In her spare time she enjoys running, drawing, birding, camping, and ultimate frisbee.
Email: evalynn.trumbo@ndus.edu
Current Lab Members
PhD Students
Master's Students
Past Students
C. K. Pei, PhD 2022 - Impacts of Exotic Plants on Native Bee Communities and Interactions in Novel Northern Great Plains Grasslands
Kim Zralka, MS 2022 - Promoting butterfly and floral resource populations in post-CRP lands through patch-burn grazing and over-seeding
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Cameron Duquette, PhD 2021 - Influence of fire and grazing on bird and bumble bee communities
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Savannah Adams-Ricks, MS 2021 - Enhancing dry bean production with adjacent pollinator habitats: Quantifying the range and extent of benefits
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Alex Rischette, MS 2020 - Game bird management in southwestern North Dakota
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Brooke Karasch, MS 2020 - Butterfly community responses to interacting fire and grazing
Jasmine Cutter, MS 2020 - Pollinator response to fire, grazing, and native over-seeding
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Katherine Kral-O'brien, PhD 2018 - Factors influencing butterfly diversity and abundance in North Dakota
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Cayla Bendel, MS 2017- Pollinator responses to different grazing management systems
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Joseph Orr, MS 2017 - Multi-scale assessment of factors affecting marshbird abundance in the Northern Great Plains