Ellen Brandell, Mammals Research Scientist

Current or Recent Research Projects

• Wolf ecology
  • Wolf habitat selection and movement during re establishment in Colorado
• Wildlife management
  • Statistical estimation of wolf abundance
  • Quantifying the effects of management practices and disease on wildlife harvest
• Wolf-livestock dynamics
  • Identifying and examining potential nonconsumptive effects of wolves on cattle
• Predator-prey dynamics
  • Examining wolf and hunter effects on elk movement, space use, and aggregation patterns
  • Quantifying conditions under which predators influence prey diseases​

Areas of Interest and Expertise​

My background is in terrestrial wildlife ecology with a focus on carnivores (primarily gray wolves) and infectious diseases. I am interested in many facets of wildlife ecology, especially social behaviors, predator-prey interactions, population dynamics, and disease dynamics. My work intersects wildlife ecology, wildlife management, statistics, and disease ecology.​

Select Publications

• Inzalaco, H. N. t., E. E. Brandell, S. P. Wilson, M. Hunsaker, D. R. Stahler, K. Woelfel, D. P. Walsh, T. Nordeen, D. J. Storm, and S. S. Lichtenberg. 2024. Detection of prions from spiked and free-ranging carnivore feces. Scientific Reports 14:3804. doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-44167-7
• Cubaynes, S., E. E. Brandell, D. R. Stahler, D. W. Smith, E. S. Almberg, S. Schindler, R. K. Wayne, A. P. Dobson, B. M. vonHoldt, D. R. MacNulty, P. D. Cross, P. J. Hudson, and T. Coulson. 2022. Disease outbreaks select for mate choice and coat color in wolves. Science 378:300–303; DOI: 10.1126/science.abi8745
• Meyer, C. J., K. A. Cassidy, E. E. Stahler, E. E. Brandell, C. B. Anton, D. R. Stahler, and D. W. Smith 2022. Parasitic infection increases risk-taking in a social, intermediate host carnivore. Communications Biology 5:1–10; doi.org/10.1038/s42003-022-04122-0
• Brandell, E. E., M. K. Jackson, P. C. Cross, A. J. Piaggio, D. R. Taylor, D. W. Smith, B. Boufana, D. R. Stahler, and P. J. Hudson. 2022. Evaluating noninvasive methods for estimating cestode prevalence in a wild carnivore population. PLoS ONE 17(11): e0277420; doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0277420
• Brandell, E. E., D. J. Storm, T. R. Van Deelen, D. P. Walsh, and W. C. Turner. 2022. A call to action: standardizing white-tailed deer harvest data in the Midwestern United States and implicationsfor quantitative analysis and disease management. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution; https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2022.943411
• Gilbertson, M. L., E. E. Brandell, M. E. Pinkerton, N. M. Meaux, M.  Hunsaker, D. Jarosinski, W. Ellarson, D. P. Walsh, D. J. Storm, and W. C. Turner. 2022. Cause of death, pathology, and chronic wasting disease status of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) mortalities in Wisconsin, USA. Journal of Wildlife Diseases 54:803–815; DOI: 10.7589/JWD-D-21-00202​​
• ​Brandell, E. E., P. C. Cross, D. W. Smith, W. Rogers, N. L. Galloway, D. MacNulty, D. R. Stahler, J. Treanor, and P. J. Hudson. 2022. Examination of the interaction between age‐specific predation and chronic disease in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem​. Journal of Animal Ecology. 91:1373-1384, https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.13661​
• Rogers, W., E. E. Brandell, and P. C. Cross. 2022. Epidemiological differences between sexes affect management efficacy in simulated chronic wasting disease systems. Journal of Applied Ecology 59:1122-1133. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.14125​
• Brandell, E.E., D. J. Becker, L. Sampson, and K. M. Forbes. 2021. Demography, education, and research trends in the interdisciplinary field of disease ecology. Ecology and evolution 11:17581-17592, https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.8466​
• Brandell, E. E., A. P. Dobson, P. J. Hudson, P. C. Cross, and D. W. Smith. 2021. A metapopulation model of social group dynamics and disease applied to Yellowstone wolves. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(10), https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2020023118
• Brandell, E.E., P. C. Cross, M. E. Craft, D. W. Smith, E. J. Dubovi, M. L.  Gilbertson, T. Wheeldon, J. A. Stephenson, S. Barber-Meyer, B. L. Borg, and M. Sorum. 2021. Patterns and processes of pathogen exposure in gray wolves across North America​​. Scientific reports 11(1):1-14.​
• DeCandia, A. L., E. C. Schrom, E. E. Brandell, D. R. Stahler, and B. M. vonHoldt. 2021. Sarcoptic mange severity is associated with reduced genomic variation and evidence of selection in Yellowstone National Park wolves (Canis lupus). Evolutionary applications, 14(2):429-445, https://doi.org/10.1111/eva.13127
• Brandell, E. E., N. M. Fountain‐Jones, M. L. Gilbertson, P. C. Cross, P. J. Hudson, D. W. Smith, D. R. Stahler, C. Packer, and M. E. Craft. 2021. Group density, disease, and season shape territory size and overlap of social carnivores. Journal of Animal Ecology, 90(1):87-101.

Education

• Ph.D., Ecology – Pennsylvania State University, 2021
• B.S., Wildlife Biology –​ University of Montana, 2015 

Current or Recent Positions

• Wildlife Research Scientist – Colorado Parks and Wildlife, 2022-Present
• Postdoctoral Associate –​ Wisconsin Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit, Dept. of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2020-2022

Contact Information

317 W. Prospect Rd.​
Fort Collins, CO 80526

Email: ellen.brandell@stat​e.co.us​

Phone: ​970-698-0252