I'm a passionate naturalist, ecologist, and all-around biodiversity nut! I conduct multi-taxa inventories and ecological monitoring and am particularly interested in taxa that are the best ecological indicators (e.g., lichens, amphibians, insects, plants, etc.), and I want to change how we manage our ecosystems by including often neglected groups in conservation decision-making. I have peer-reviewed publications in herpetology, lichenology, botany, ornithology, and entomology and am currently pursuing a Ph.D. at Michigan Technological University, where I am researching a rare habitat called Granite Bedrock Glades, which contains many southern, western, and northern disjunct species and could be potential source populations for many taxa with future climate warming.
I wish ecologists would work together more to ensure the organisms we care about can persist far into the future. Conservation is collaboration NOT competition. We can be better people, scientists, and conservationists by learning lessons from the symbioses that abound in nature. I post my work on Researchgate for use by other scientists and conservationists. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ryne-Rutherford