Rachel Smiley, Wildlife Research Scientist

Current Research Projects

• Elk Abundance
• Development and validation methods to estimate abundance of elk

Areas of Interest and Expertise​

My research focuses on understanding the drivers of population dynamics of ungulates, with an emphasis on nutritional and disease ecology. I am interested in evaluating how stressors and responses to stressors influence fitness at the individual level — and ultimately how that scales up to shape population-level responses. I take approaches from physiology, to behavioral ecology, to population ecology to address questions that will ultimately benefit management. I also have an interest in developing and evaluating new tools and methods for studying and understanding animals.

Select Publications

Abernathy, H. N., R. L. Levine, Y. N. Shakeri, J. T. Kolek, B. L. Wagler, R. A. Smiley, R. P. Jakopak, M. J. Brunet, R. T. Rafferty, S. T. Rankins, K. S. Huggler, B. Scurlock, J. Randall, D. Lutz, A. B. Courtemanch, T. N. LaSharr, S. P. H. Dwinnell, L. E. Tafelmeyer, P. W. Burke, P. Lionberger, M. Valdez, G. L. Fralick, D. McWhirter, and K. L. Monteith. 2025. Temperament and state-dependent behaviours in large herbivores. Animal Behaviour 221:123056. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2024.123056

Argov, J. R., N. B. Michaels, R. A. Smiley, B. L. Wagler, J. N. Gavin, A. B. Courtemanch, D. Clause, R. C. Kaiser, D. Lutz, B. Scurlock, and K. L. Monteith. 2024. Prediction of birthdates based on fetal development in Bighorn Sheep ( Ovis canadensis ). R. Reyna, editor. Journal of Mammalogy 105:1151–1156. https://doi.org/10.1093/jmammal/gyae082

Malmberg, J. L., S. E. Allen, J. E. Jennings-Gaines, M. Johnson, K. L. Luukkonen, K. M. Robbins, T. E. Cornish, R. A. Smiley, B. L. Wagler, Z. Gregory, D. Lutz, P. Hnilicka, K. L. Monteith, and W. H. Edwards. 2024. Pathology of chronic mycoplasma ovipneumoniae carriers in a declining bighorn sheep (ovis canadensis) population. Journal of Wildlife Diseases 60. https://doi.org/10.7589/JWD-D-23-00132

Smiley, R. A., B. L. Wagler, W. H. Edwards, J. Jennings-Gaines, K. Luukkonen, K. Robbins, M. Johnson, A. B. Courtemanch, T. W. Mong, D. Lutz, D. McWhirter, J. L. Malmberg, B. Lowrey, and K. L. Monteith. 2024. Infection–nutrition feedbacks: fat supports pathogen clearance but pathogens reduce fat in a wild mammal. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 291:20240636. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2024.0636

Wagler, B. L., R. A. Smiley, A. B. Courtemanch, D. Lutz, D. McWhirter, D. Brimeyer, P. Hnilicka, and K. L. Monteith. 2024. Disparate home range dynamics reflect nutritional inadequacies on summer range for a large herbivore. Ecosphere 15:e4864. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.4864

Levine, R. L., Rachel A Smiley, Jesmer, Brett R., Oates, Brendan A., Goheen, Jacob R., Stephenson, Thomas R., Kauffman, Matthew J., and Montetih, Kevin L. 2023. Extending body condition scoring beyond measureable rump fat to estimate full range of nutritional condition for moose. Alces 58:91–99. https://alcesjournal.org/index.php/alces/article/view/1883

Tucker, M. A., …R. A. Smiley, …and T. Mueller. 2023. Behavioral responses of terrestrial mammals to COVID-19 lockdowns. Science 380:1059–1064. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abo6499

Wagler, B. L., R. A. Smiley, A. B. Courtemanch, D. Lutz, D. McWhirter, D. Brimeyer, P. Hnilicka, T. J. Robinson, and K. L. Monteith. 2023. Implications of forage quality for population recovery of bighorn sheep following a pneumonia epizootic. The Journal of Wildlife Management 87:e22452. https://doi.org/10.1002/jwmg.22452

Smiley, R. A., T. N. LaSharr, H. N. Abernathy, Y. N. Shakeri, R. L. Levine, S. T. Rankins, R. P. Jakopak, R. T. Rafferty, J. T. Kolek, B. L. Wagler, S. P. H. Dwinnell, T. J. Robinson, J. E. Randall, R. C. Kaiser, M. Thonhoff, B. Scurlock, T. Fieseler, G. L. Fralick, and K. L. Monteith. 2022. Biomarkers of animal nutrition: from seasonal to lifetime indicators of environmental conditions. Life 12:375. https://doi.org/10.3390/life12030375

Smiley, R. A., B. L. Wagler, T. N. LaSharr, K. A. Denryter, T. R. Stephenson, A. B. Courtemanch, T. W. Mong, D. Lutz, D. McWhirter, D. Brimeyer, P. Hnilicka, B. Lowrey, and K. L. Monteith. 2022. Heterogeneity in risk‐sensitive allocation of somatic reserves in a long‐lived mammal. Ecosphere 13:e4161. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.4161

Wagler, B. L., R. A. Smiley, A. B. Courtemanch, G. Anderson, D. Lutz, D. McWhirter, D. Brimeyer, P. Hnilicka, C. P. Massing, D. W. German, T. R. Stephenson, and K. L. Monteith. 2022. Effects of helicopter net‐gunning on survival of bighorn sheep. The Journal of Wildlife Management 86:e22181. https://doi.org/10.1002/jwmg.22181

Smiley, R. A., C. D. Rittenhouse, T. W. Mong, and K. L. Monteith. 2020. Assessing nutritional condition of mule deer using a photographic index. Wildlife Society Bulletin 44:208–213. https://doi.org/10.1002/wsb.1070

 Education

• Ph.D., Ecology – University of Wyoming, 2025
• B.S., Natural Resources –​ University of Connecticut, 2017 

Contact Information

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

Email: rachel.smiley@stat​e.co.us​