Cheyenne Munson, College of Sciences and Mathematics Faculty and Staff

Short Bio

My research in Dr. Thomas Cullen's lab is centered around the paleoecology of mammals, with the intention of informing conservation efforts in the modern day. I specifically focus on understanding how mammal communities respond to changing climate by using a variety of techniques to better address this overall question. I look at how suitable habitat has changed since the Last Glacial Maximum for a variety of species and use this information to forecast predictions for how this suitable habitat will shift under the predicted warming scenarios. Further I plan to utilize stable isotopic proxies (Carbon and Nitrogen) to better understand how dietary ecology and niche partitioning of large mammals, mainly cervids and felids, has shifted since the Late Pleistocene across different latitudinal gradients. Additionally, I am involved in a multi-institutional project where I am describing the morphology and taxonomy of Cretaceous mammal fossils, which has allowed me to travel internationally to Mongolia!