Dr. Jeffery Larkin
Assistant Professor, Biology Department
Project Title: Fisher Study And Predicting High Quality Habitat for Woodrats
Dr. Jeffery Larkin is an assistant professor of conservation biology and has been a member of the IUP faculty since 2005. Previous to that, he was a post-doctoral scholar at the University of Kentucky . He has also completed research at Yellowstone National Park, the Pennsylvania State University, and Ithaca College. Dr. Larkin has published extensively in journals and has contributed chapters to several books, as well as editing Large Mammal Restoration: Ecological and Sociological Challenges in the 21st Century , which won the 2002 TWS book award. Dr. Larkin has organized and presented at numerous symposia and conventions. He promotes active scholarship and applied research within the Biology Department. He is also a member of The Wildlife Society, The Society for Conservation Biology, and the Cerulean Warbler Technical Committee.
Dr. Larkin has been successfully awarded seven externally funded grants in his two years at IUP and has four more currently in submission. In 2006, he received funding from the Pennsylvania Game Commission to collect and assess basic information regarding Fisher population size, structure, and management needs within the Commonwealth. This work has led to a successful second phase of study in 2007. In addition to the Fisher study, Dr. Larkin also received a 2006 grant from the Pennsylvania Game Commission to map the high quality habitats of the Allegheny Woodrat within the Chestnut and Laurel Ridge systems and evaluate the demographic trends found there. He also received a grant from the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation to study elk habitat use in northcentral Pennsylvania (Elk, Cameron, Clearfield, Clinton and Potter Counties). His grants have also supported many graduate student researchers.
His research interests extend beyond Pennsylvania . In 2005, he received a grant from the University of Kentucky to study colonizing Black Bear populations in Eastern Kentucky as well as a grant from the National Council for Air and Stream Improvement, Inc. to examine the impact of forest management practices on Cerulean Warbler ecology across in the Daniel Boone National Forest, Kentucky. He continues to actively seek new external funding to support his diverse research interests.