Mandy Leach, M.S.

Biography

I grew up in the Appalachian Pocono Plateau of northeastern Pennsylvania, where I spent most of my childhood outdoors. Naturally, this lead me to seek out a degree in the natural sciences. In 2013, I earned a B.S. in Environmental Biology and a Minor in Anthropology from Bloomsburg University (BU). My undergraduate research compared behavioral partitioning between captive and free-ranging spider monkeys. At BU, I gained a lasting interest in wildlife ecology and have since secured positions studying captive and wild animals.
            Broadly speaking, my research goals fall into the field of Applied Ecology. Several key research interests include spatial ecology, predator-prey dynamics, and human-wildlife conflict regarding species in need of holistic perspective and adaptive management planning. I am also interested in researching landscape permeability and ecosystem functions related to species with ranges confined by or overlapping developed boundaries.
            At TTU, I will be studying the desert massasauga rattlesnake. Currently, little is known about this species. Therefore, my research team and I will be focusing on creating a landscape scale habitat distribution map and identifying management focal points. For my thesis, I will also be testing various methods to augment traditional presence surveys including citizen science, human dimensions, and novel techniques to detect inactive herpetofauna.