My research, and to a degree my life, revolves around the stewardship of wildlife and natural resources. My current research focus is on the management of wildlife populations under pressure from hunting and harvesting activities. I am currently employed by Tetra Tech, Inc. as a senior wildlife biologist out of the Portland, OR office. I am also continuing to publish my own research, as well as collaborations, from my doctoral research on the sustainability of snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentina) populations in Virginia. My twitter feed is below for recent updates and wildlife related news, as well as a research in review video highlighting the field work associated with my snapping turtle project.
Benjamin Colteaux
Twitter Feed
Research in Review
Past Projects
Snapping Turtle Telemetry Project
Sage Grouse GIS Project
The snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentina) is an iconic large-bodied reptile native to freshwater lakes and rivers in the eastern United States. Increased commercial harvest pressure on these turtles has raised concern about the sustainability of the species. Understanding the movement patterns and home range of snapping turtles is critical for making informed conservation decisions. In particular, a snapping turtle’s home range can be used to infer size- and sex-specific movement patterns, habitat use, conspecific interactions, and population density.
The greater sage grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus), is an avian species native to thirteen U.S. states. The sage grouse has seen population reductions across its range and total extirpation from 2 states in its original range. Populations have experienced reductions due to habitat destruction, urbanization, and environmental toxicity. The states hosting the largest populations of sage grouse include Wyoming, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon and Montana. Here I focus on the state of Montana and attempt to identify, based on the metrics from current established populations, habitats across the state which would be suitable candidates for introduction of sage grouse populations and compare those to known sage grouse populations to test the power of this approach.