Senior Wildlife Research Scientist, Carnivores

Current or Recent Research Projects

Using Non-Invasive Genetic Sampling to Estimate Mountain Lion and Bobcat Abundance, Age Structure and Diet
Mountain Lion Demographics and Human Interactions Along the Urban-Exurban Front Range

Areas of Interest and Expertise

My research interest focuses on large carnivore and ungulate ecology, population parameter estimation, habitat use, avian ecology and population sampling.

Streaming Videos

Mountain lions in Colorado – a 4 part series

Select Publications

Crews, S., N. D. Rayl, M. W. Alldredge, E. J. Bergman, C. R. Anderson Jr., E. H. VanNatta, J. D. Holbrook, and G. Bastille-Rousseau. 2025. Hierarchy in structuring of resource selection: understanding elk selection across space, time, and movement strategies. Ecology and Evolution 15:e71097. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.71097
Crews, S., N. D. Rayl, M. W. Alldredge, E. J. Bergman, C. R. Anderson Jr., and G. Bastille-Rousseau. 2025. Drivers of spring migration phenology in Rocky Mountain elk. Scientific Reports 15:7807. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-91947-4
Venumière-Lefebvre, C. C., H. E. Johnson, S. W. Breck, M. W. Alldredge, and K. R. Crooks. 2025. Bears avoid residential neighborhoods in response to the experimental reduction of anthropogenic attractants. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 13:1657106. doi: 10.3389/fevo.2025.1657106
Fountain-Jones, N. M., S. Kraberger, R. B. Gagne, D. R. Trumbo, P. E. Salerno, W. C. Funk, K. Crooks, R. Biek, M. W. Alldredge, K. Logan, G. Baele, S. Dellicour, H. B. Ernest, S. VandeWoude, S. Carver, and M. E. Craft. 2021. Host relatedness and landscape connectivity shape pathogen spread in the puma, a large secretive carnivore. Communications Biology 4:12. doi: 10.1038/s42003-020-01548-2.
Gagne, R. B., S., Kraberger, R. McMinn, D. R. Trumbo, C. R. Anderson Jr, K. A. Logan, M. W. Alldredge, K. Griffin and S. VandeWoude. 2021. Viral sequences recovered from puma tooth DNA reconstruct statewide viral phylogenies. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 9:734462. doi: 10.3389/fevo.2021.734462
Kraberger, S., N. M. Fountain-Jones, R. B. Gagne, J. Malmberg, N. G. Dannemiller, K. Logan, M. Alldredge, A. Varsani, K. R. Crooks, M. Craft, S. Carver, and S. VandeWoude. 2020. Frequent cross-species transmissions of foamy virus between domestic and wild felids. Virus Evolution 6(1):vez058. https://doi.org/10.1093/ve/vez058
Bishop, C. J., M. W. Alldredge, D. P. Walsh, E. J. Bergman, C. R. Anderson Jr, D. Kilpatrick, J. Bakel, and C. Febvre. 2019. A noninvasive automated device for remotely collaring and weighing mule deer. Wildlife Society Bulletin 43:717–725. https://doi.org/10.1002/wsb.1034
Trumbo, D. R., P. E. Salerno, K. A. Logan, M. W. Alldredge, R. B. Gagne, C. P. Kozakiewicz, S. Kraberger, N. M. Fountain‐Jones, M. E. Craft, S. Carver, H. B. Ernest, K. R. Crooks, S. VandeWoude, and W. C. Funk. 2019. Urbanization impacts apex predator gene flow but not genetic diversity across an urban‐rural divide. Molecular Ecology 28:4926–4940. https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.15261
Alldredge, M. W., F. E. Buderman, and K. A. Blecha. 2019. Human–Cougar interactions in the wildland–urban interface of Colorado's front range. Ecology and Evolution 9:10415–10431. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.5559
Alldredge, M. W., T. Blecha, and J. H. Lewis. 2019. Less invasive monitoring of cougars in Colorado's Front Range. Wildlife Society Bulletin 43:222–230. https://doi.org/10.1002/wsb.971
Kechejian, S. R., N. Dannemiller, S. Kraberger, C. Ledesma-Feliciano, J. Malmberg, M. Roelke Parker, M. Cunningham, R. McBride, S. P. Riley, W. T. Vickers, K. Logan, M. Alldredge, K. Crooks, M. Löchelt, S. Carver, and S. VandeWoude. 2019. Feline foamy virus is highly prevalent in free-ranging puma concolor from Colorado, Florida and Southern California. Viruses 11:359. https://doi.org/10.3390/v11040359
Kirby, R., H. E. Johnson, M. W. Alldredge, and J. N. Pauli. 2019. The cascading effects of human food on hibernation and cellular aging in free-ranging black bears. Scientific Reports 9:2197. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-38937-5
Peterson, M. E., C. R. Anderson Jr, M. W. Alldredge, and P. F. Doherty Jr. 2018. Using maternal mule deer movements to estimate timing of parturition and assist fawn captures. Wildlife Society Bulletin 42:616–621. https://doi.org/10.1002/wsb.935
Buderman, F. E., M. B. Hooten, M. W. Alldredge, E. M. Hanks, and J. S. Ivan. 2018. Time-varying predatory behavior is primary predictor of fine-scale movement of wildland-urban cougars. Movement Ecology 6:22. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40462-018-0140-6
Blecha, K. A., R. B. Boone, and M. W. Alldredge. 2018. Hunger mediates apex predator's risk avoidance response in wildland-urban interface. Journal of Animal Ecology 87:609–622. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.12801
Lewis, J. S., K. A. Logan, M. W. Alldredge, S. Carver, S. N. Bevins, M. Lappin, S. VandeWoude, and K. R. Crooks. 2017. The effects of demographic, social, and environmental characteristics on pathogen prevalence in wild felids across a gradient of urbanization. PLoS One 12(11):e0187035. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0187035
Lewis, J. S., K. A. Logan, M. W. Alldredge, D. M. Theobald, S. VandeWoude, and K. R. Crooks. 2017. Contact networks reveal potential for interspecific interactions of sympatric wild felids driven by space use. Ecosphere 8(3):e01707. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.1707
Kirby, R., M. W. Alldredge, and J. N. Pauli. 2017. Environmental, not individual, factors drive markers of biological aging in black bears. Evolutionary Ecology 31:571–584. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10682-017-9885-4
Moss, W. E., M. W. Alldredge, K. A. Logan, and J. N. Pauli. 2016. Human expansion precipitates niche expansion for an opportunistic apex predator (Puma concolor). Scientific Reports 6:39639. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep39639
Kirby, R., M. W. Alldredge, and J. N. Pauli. 2016. The diet of black bears tracks the human footprint across a rapidly developing landscape. Biological Conservation 200:51–59. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2016.05.012
Moss, W. E., M. W. Alldredge, and J. N. Pauli. 2015. Quantifying risk and resource use for a large carnivore in an expanding urban-wildland interface. Journal of Applied Ecology 53:371–378. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.12563
Lewis, J. S., K. A. Logan, M. W. Alldredge, L. L. Bailey, S. VandeWoude, and K. R. Crooks. 2015. The effects of urbanization on population density, occupancy, and detection probability of wild felids. Ecological Applications 25:1880–1895. https://doi.org/10.1890/14-1664.1
Blecha, K. A., and M. W. Alldredge. 2015. Improvements on GPS location cluster analysis for the prediction of large carnivore feeding activities: ground-truth detection probability and inclusion of activity sensor measures. PLoS One 10(9): e0138915. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0138915
Alldredge, M. W., D. P. Walsh, L. L. Sweanor, R. B. Davies, and A. Trujillo. 2015. Evaluation of translocation of black bears involved in human-bear conflicts in South-central Colorado. Wildlife Society Bulletin 39:334–340. https://doi.org/10.1002/wsb.526
Hanks, E. M., M. B. Hooten, and M. W. Alldredge. 2015. Continuous-time discrete-space models for animal movement. The Annals of Applied Statistics 9:145-165. https://doi.org/10.1214/14-AOAS803
Hooten, M. B., E. M. Hanks, D. S. Johnson, and M. W. Alldredge. 2013. Reconciling resource utilization and resource selection functions. Journal of Animal Ecology 82:1146–1154. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.12080
Hooten, M. B., E. M. Hanks, D. S. Johnson, and M. W. Alldredge. 2014. Temporal variation and scale in movement-based resource selection functions. Statistical Methodology 17:82–98. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stamet.2012.12.001
Bevins, S. N., S. Carver, E. E. Boydston, L. M. Lyren, M. Alldredge, K. A. Logan, S. P. D. Riley, R. N. Fisher, T. W. Vickers, W. Boyce, M. Salman, M. R. Lappin, K. R. Crooks, and S. VandeWoude. 2012. Three pathogens in sympatric populations of pumas, bobcats, and domestic cats: implications for infectious disease transmission. PLoS One 7(2):e31403. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0031403
Horne, J. S., K. M. Strickler, and M. Alldredge. 2011. Quantifying the importance of patch-specific changes in habitat to metapopulation viability of an endangered songbird. Ecological Applications 21:2478–2486. https://doi.org/10.1890/10-2328.1
Alldredge, M. W. 2011. Cougars on the edge. The Wildlife Professional 5:72–76.
Simons, T. R., K. H. Pollock, J. M. Wettroth, M. W. Alldredge, K. Pacifici, and J. Brewster. 2009. Sources of measurement error, misclassification error, and bias in auditory avian point count data. Pages 237–254 in Thomson D.L., E.G. Cooch, M.J. Conroy, editors. Modeling demographic processes in marked populations. Environmental and ecological statistics. Volume 3. Springer, Boston, USA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-78151-8_10
Bevins, S. N., J. A. Tracey, S. P. Franklin, V. L. Schmit, M. L. Macmillan, K. L. Gage, M. E. Schriefer, K. A. Logan, L. L. Sweanor, M. W. Alldredge, C. Krumm, W. M. Boyce, W. Vickers, S. P. Riley, L. M. Lyren, E. E. Boydston, R. N. Fisher, M. E. Roelke, M. Salman, K. R. Crooks, and S. VandeWoude. 2009. Wild felids as hosts for human plague, Western United States. Emerging Infectious Diseases 15:2021–2024. https://doi.org/10.3201/eid1512.090526
Alldredge, M. W., T. R. Simons, K. H. Pollock, and K. Pacifici. 2007. A field evaluation of the effectiveness of distance sampling and double independent observers to estimate detection probability in aural avian point counts. Avian Conservation and Ecology - Écologie et conservation des oiseaux 2:13. http://www.ace-eco.org/vol2/iss2/art13/

Education

Ph.D., Zoology and Biomathematics — North Carolina State University, 2004
M.S., Biomathematics — North Carolina State University, 2002
M.S., Wildlife Resources — University of Idaho, 1999
B.S., Mechanical Engineering — University of Colorado, 1994

Current or Recent Positions

Wildlife Researcher — Colorado Parks and Wildlife, 2006-Present
Post-Doctoral Researcher — USGS Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, North Carolina State University, 2004-2006
Carnivore Biologist —Wyoming Game and Fish Department, 1995