Kristen Ruegg
Colorado State University-Fort Collins, CO·Ecology & Evolution
Many birds are in steep decline. Many of the most threatened live in vanishing grasslands or on cold mountaintops with nowhere higher to go.
- Fields
Ecology & Evolution
Biology
Genetics
- Topics
conservation biology
grassland birds
bird migration
- Grants
- 2 known grants, through Jun 2030
What they work on
- Measure migratory connections, genetic variation and survival and reproduction for three declining grassland bird species across their breeding and wintering grounds.
- Combine these data into a genomically informed, full-annual-cycle Integrated Population Model and build a user-friendly tool to rank grassland restoration, brush management and prescribed grazing options, then test its recommendations against monitoring data.
- Compare museum specimens with present-day field surveys to measure how Brown-capped and Sierra Nevada Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches have shifted in range, genes and behaviors such as breeding timing and diet.
- Build a hierarchical model linking genetic, physical and ecological responses to forecast how alpine Rosy-Finches will fare under climate change, and identify biomarkers of climate tolerance.
More about the research
Both projects ask how bird populations can persist under habitat loss and climate change. Each combines genetic data, field measurements of movement and reproduction, and statistical models to forecast population trends and guide wildlife managers.
Why it matters
Steeply declining grassland birds help farms and ecosystems by eating crop pests and dispersing seeds. A decision tool built from migration, genetic and breeding data could help land managers decide where restoration, brush management or grazing changes would do the most good. The Rosy-Finch forecasts and reports could help state and federal agencies in the western U.S. manage high-mountain wildlife as the climate warms.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
PACSP - Tools: Restoring Grassland Bird Populations using Genomically-Informed, Full Annual Cycle, Integrated Population Models
NSF · Jul 2025 – Jun 2030
Collaborative Research: ORCC: LIVING WITH EXTREMES - PREDICTING ECOLOGICAL AND EVOLUTIONARY RESPONSES TO CLIMATE CHANGE IN A HIGH-ALTITUDE ALPINE SONGBIRD
NSF · Jan 2023 – Dec 2026
Closest labs
Erica Stuber
Utah State University, UT·Ecology & Evolution·Early-career
Characterize the scales of effect, meaning the spatial extents at which species respond to environmental features, for hundreds of North American breeding birds, using multi-scale analyses of a large citizen-science observation database.
Stephen Keller
University of Vermont, VT·Ecology & Evolution
Reconstruct about 13,000 years of alpine plant community history at the species level using ancient DNA from lake sediment cores in the Adirondacks, Green and White Mountains, and Katahdin.
James Belthoff
Boise State University, ID·Ecology & Evolution
Examine how weather and wind conditions, shaped by a changing climate and ocean conditions, affect migrating raptors' decisions to start migration, the route and pace of travel, and survival.
The school
Colorado State University-Fort Collins: 23 labs on PI Pages, $466M a year on research, 276 research doctorates a year.
Reach out
A start for your email. Fill in the brackets.