Brecken Robb, M.S. Email & Phone Number

Boise, Id, Us

Boise, Idaho, United States

Boise, Idaho, United States

Investigate the use of remote sensing and microhistology to determine the composition and quality of diet in specialist herbivores to predict habitat use and fitness. Partner with international collaborators to conduct research, analyze data, publish outcomes, and connect research priorities and practices across the globe. Manage and analyze demographic, population, geospatial, remote sensing, and chemometric data for a myriad of ongoing research efforts, including:• Capercaillie and rock ptarmigan habitat use in Norway and Iceland, respectively• Greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) behavioral ecology in the Western United States• Precision restoration of sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) in the Western United StatesTrain future generations of scientists through invited course lectures on plant-herbivore interactions and precision restoration at Boise State University. Lead the writing of peer-reviewed manuscripts for ongoing research efforts.

Arlington, Texas, United States

Provide technical science, data analysis, and data management support to internal and external partners on ecological research and monitoring projects using R, Git/GitHub, Google Earth Engine, ArcGIS, JMP, and Excel, including:• Population distribution modeling, state-and-transition simulation and ecological response modeling, remote sensing technologies, water balance modeling, climate future and scenario development, etc.Develop and use Landscape Conservation Design (LCD) tools to support conservation, restoration, and resiliency efforts across landscapes, including the Southeast Conservation Adaptation Strategy’s (SECAS) Conservation Blueprint tool to provide public and private organizations with support to connect their network of lands and waters to support thriving fish and wildlife populations. Consult with federal, state, local, Tribal, public sector, private sector, and community partners to assess needs for research and monitoring efforts. Coordinate and facilitate calls across organizations to identify individual and shared research needs and conservation priorities, and work to fill those needs directly or through partners. Provide project management, logistical, and organizational support for research, workshops, meetings, and other engagement activities. Deliver quantitative and qualitative research findings to government and state agencies, academic institutions, Tribal nations, research groups, stakeholders, and members of the community.

Fort Collins, Colorado, United States

I am a contracted research assistant with the U.S. Geological Survey North Central Climate Adaptation Science Center and National Park Service Climate Change Response Program, where we work with national parks, DOI bureaus, state fish and game agencies, and Tribes to develop climate-resource scenarios that support natural resource management in the face of climate change.https://nccasc.colorado.eduhttps://www.nps.gov/subjects/climatechange/adaptationresources.htm

Boise, Idaho

I taught the lab sections of Comparative Animal Physiology and Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy in the Biological Sciences department. This role entailed providing the students skills in anatomy, physiology, form and function, evolution, kinetics, chemistry, math, data analysis, and statistics. Moreover, it included executing intensive weekly labs, developing new labs and practicals, preparing reagents and solutions, demonstrating dissections and methods, preparing and grading assignments and exams, delegating and organizing students, and holding study sessions and office hours. Furthermore, I developed a new course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE) lab module, titled “Foraging and Digestive Phenotypes of Local Animals”, to be implemented across Idaho universities and colleges.

Boise, Idaho

This position involved working with umbilical cord blood in a Biosafety Level 2 Laboratory in order to produce efficacious products that enhanced spinal fusion procedures and patient recovery. This was done via sterile serological techniques, and included microbiology testing and quality control measures that align with federal, state, and local regulations.

Boise, Idaho Area

My responsibilities included communicating with other healthcare providers, patients, and requesting parties to quickly and efficiently provide complete and accurate medical records. I have developed more streamlined methodologies that benefit the organization, maintenance, and delivery of sound sanctioned products. I have extensive experience in the digitization of medical documentation. I am proficient at utilizing eClinicalWorks, a prevalent software solution within the medical industry, as well as all Microsoft Office applications.

Ghana

This volunteer position formally involved teaching mathematics, integrated science, information and communications technology (ICT), and literacy at a local middle school. Additionally, the position included community and youth development in areas of life skills, education, health, and agriculture. Living in a small rural African village in the tropical mountains for two years allowed me to carry out projects, beyond formal education, including a mass structural renovation of my junior high school building, holding a community-wide eye exam and reading spectacles distribution, teaching academic and communal ICT literacy at the local computer lab, conducting community-wide ruminant and fowl vaccinations with the local veterinarian, holding activity-based camps about malaria and HIV/AIDS awareness and stigmatization, discussing female reproductive health and sewing reusable menstrual pads with female and male youth, and holding reward-based ‘accelerated reading’ programs with female and male youth. I also created a school 4-H club where we grew and sold staple crops and vegetables via a school garden, performed communal fowl vaccinations, made and sold local soap, upcycled ground pollution, and held community cleanup/environmental cleanliness campaigns. See my Peace Corps Description of Service (DOS) in the public record for for more details.

Boise, Idaho Area

This project investigated the responses of herbivores, specifically the pygmy rabbit (Brachylagus idahoensis) and greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus), to plant chemical defenses found in sagebrush, as a function of avoidance, absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion and toxicity. I was responsible for developing, executing, statistically analyzing, and reporting lab- and fieldwork. This included quantifying chemical content within sagebrush and examining physiological and behavioral responses of herbivores to these noxious chemicals. Chemical assays: monoterpenes (gas chromatography (GC)), phenolics (high performance liquid chromatography mass spectroscopy (HPLC-MS), gallic acid equivalence), tannins (radial diffusion protein precipitation), antioxidants (trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity), coumarins (% fluorescence), nitrogen (sample preparation for Kjeldahl method), and near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) spectra for chemical quantification and food-scape mapping. Physiological assays: glucuronic acid (GA) for detoxification levels (GA equivalence), metabolic stability of herbivores to noxious chemicals (GC), and lab and field dissections for mapping digestive and excretory chemical content (GC). Behavioral/field studies: trapping and handling animals for captive research, executing field feeding trials for risk-scape behavior, collecting in natura animal-use measurements, as well as plant samples, feces, and vegetative/ecological measurements.We found that these two herbivores behaviorally select to forage on less chemically defended and more nutritious plants, and that greater sage-grouse utilize physiological mechanisms to avoid the deleterious effects of consumed toxins, such as through regulated absorption. We also found that there is individual variation in how these organisms use their habitats, in terms of foraging quality and refuge.

Boise, Idaho Area

This project investigated how the dietary quality of balsam fir trees (Abies balsamea) influences the foraging ecology, habitat use, and trophic cascades involving moose (Alces alces) on Isle Royale National Park. I was responsible for quantifying chemical and nutritional content in the balsam fir samples, and for statistically analyzing and reporting results. This included running chemical assays for monoterpenes, phenolics, tannins, and nitrogen, as well as obtaining spectral profiles through NIRS for food-scape mapping. Preliminary data indicated that chemical and nutritional content did not differ between foraged and non-foraged samples, but did geographically between ends of the island, where habitat structure was drastically different. This may, first, suggest moose utilizing other mechanisms to avoid toxins and, second, the importance of tradeoffs between food quality and refuge when considering moose habitat use. Future investigations include monitoring habitat use of moose, quantifying individual phenolics in fir, and running physiological assays for moose responses to fir.

Boise, Idaho Area

This position involved providing personalized vision therapy to symptomatic patients for 6-14 months. It encompassed establishing, monitoring, and tracking patient progress while integrating needed changes, teaching patients about their visual system, demonstrating techniques, periodically lecturing at weekly staff meetings, training new therapists and externs, developing training materials and manuals, collaborating with the physician and office therapists, developing new therapy exercises, and operating advanced optometric equipment.

Master'S Degree, Biology/Biological Sciences, General

Activities and Societies: Ecological Research Association; Graduate Student Association; Idaho Chapter of the Wildlife Society.

Bachelor'S Degree, Biology/Biological Sciences, General, Cum Laude

Activities and Societies: Biology Club; Idaho Chapter of the Wildlife SocietyHighest Honors, Dean's List ID Robert R. Lee Promise.