Matthias Leu

Areas of Specialization

I am a conservation biologist with a broad interest in how human actions influence ecological processes and biodiversity.  My research focuses on large-scale approaches that model the human footprint, the cumulative effects of human actions across large-scales, and how humans affect species distributions. In addition, I am also interested in how climate variability and change affect species distribution and demography.  In all my research I strive to provide tools, in the form of spatially-explicit models, which can be implemented in conservation actions.

Teaching

• Conservation Biology
• Human-Wildlife Conflicts in the Anthropocene
• GIS for Biologists
• Marine Ecology and Conservation 
• Experimental Design

Background

Year of arrival: 2009, Professor College of William and Mary

Previous Positions:

• Conservation Biology in the Biology Department at William & Mary, 2009
• Ecologist with the USGS, 2003-2009
• Post Doctoral in Dr. Steve Knick's lab with NRC, 2002-2003
• Post Doctoral in Dr. Marzluff's lab investigating the effects of campgrounds on the distribution on songbird nest predators, 2001-2002

Education:

• Bates College, B.S. in Biology, 1998
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Ph.D. Biology, 2005
• University of Washington, Ph.D. Wildlife Management and Conservation, 2000