Item talk:Q48722

ORCID:

 '@context': http://schema.org
 '@id': https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4957-0963
 '@reverse': {}
 '@type': Person
 familyName: Puffer
 givenName: Shellie
 mainEntityOfPage: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4957-0963

USGS Staff Profile:

 '@context': https://schema.org
 '@type': Person
 affiliation: []
 description:
 - '@type': TextObject
   abstract: Wildlife Biologist with the Southwest Biological Science Center
   additionalType: short description
 - '@type': TextObject
   abstract: "As a Wildlife Biologist, Shellie\u2019s research interests focus on\
     \ conservation of animals and their habitats, the effects of climate change\
     \ on wildlife, and animal ecology and physiology. Her current focus is directed\
     \ toward the study of turtle and tortoise ecology and conservation in the Desert\
     \ Southwest, working closely under herpetologist and Research Ecologist, Dr.\
     \ Jeffrey Lovich."
   additionalType: staff profile page introductory statement
 - '@type': TextObject
   abstract: "Shellie is a Wildlife Biologist in the Terrestrial Dryland Ecology\
     \ Branch of the Southwest Biological Science Center. She began as a volunteer\
     \ with USGS, providing field support for collecting data on the demography and\
     \ ecology of the federallythreatenedAgassiz\u2019s desert tortoise (Gopherus\
     \ agassizii) at Joshua Tree National Park and then was hired as a Biological\
     \ Science Technician with USGS to assist in a mark-recapture study of a population\
     \ of Sonora mud turtles (Kinosternon sonoriense) at Montezuma Well. She is currently\
     \ investigating desert tortoise ecology and demography in the Sonoran Desert\
     \ of California with the ultimate objective of aiding in establishing a long-term\
     \ desert tortoise monitoring program. The program will be used by the Coachella\
     \ Valley Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan and Natural Community Conservation\
     \ Plan to measure desert tortoise population trends. Additionally, Shellie is\
     \ working on a project that focuses on locating, studying, and protecting relict\
     \ populations of the southwestern pond turtle (Actinemys pallida) along the\
     \ Mojave River in San Bernardino County, California. The southwestern pond turtle\
     \ has been listed as a species of special concern in California, primarily due\
     \ to loss of habitat as the river dries due to drought and overdraft from urban\
     \ and agricultural use.Before coming to USGS, Shellie received her education\
     \ at the University of Toledo, Ohio. As an undergraduate fascinated by the Life\
     \ Sciences, she worked in an immunology lab that studied Experimental Autoimmune\
     \ Encephalomyelitis (EAE) in mice. EAE is an analog for demyelinating diseases\
     \ in humans, such as multiple sclerosis. Her undergraduate thesis focused on\
     \ researching ways to ameliorate the disease. Her work earned her college and\
     \ departmental honors. After graduating summa cum laude with a B.S. in Biology\
     \ and a B.A. in Chemistry, she decided to begin a Master\u2019s Program in Biology/Ecology\
     \ at UT. During the remainder of her time at the university, she studied the\
     \ effects of climate change, specifically heat waves, on plant physiology and\
     \ plant-herbivore interactions. She also participated in research on developing\
     \ a biofuel from diatoms (a type of algae) harvested from Lake Erie. Her free\
     \ time was spent working in the UT Outdoor Classroom Garden \u2013 a community\
     \ garden established to teach and promote sustainability \u2013 or learning\
     \ to be a guide on the rivers of West Virginia in order to discover more about\
     \ the natural history and native flora and fauna of the area, with the goal\
     \ of passing the knowledge along to others. Her developing enthusiasm for becoming\
     \ a steward of the natural environment and using research to develop strategies\
     \ for addressing climate change and wildlife conservation eventually pushed\
     \ her to move West to Arizona in order to pursue other opportunities. Since\
     \ then, she has been building her portfolio in the exciting world of research\
     \ and conservation in herpetology under the tutelage of Dr. Jeffrey Lovich."
   additionalType: personal statement
 email: mpuffer@usgs.gov
 hasCredential: []
 hasOccupation:
 - '@type': OrganizationalRole
   affiliatedOrganization:
     '@type': Organization
     name: Southwest Biological Science Center
     url: https://www.usgs.gov/centers/southwest-biological-science-center
   roleName: Wildlife Biologist
   startDate: '2024-05-12T15:43:04.597074'
 identifier:
 - '@type': PropertyValue
   propertyID: GeoKB
   value: https://geokb.wikibase.cloud/entity/Q48722
 - '@type': PropertyValue
   propertyID: ORCID
   value: 0000-0003-4957-0963
 jobTitle: Wildlife Biologist
 knowsAbout:
 - '@type': Thing
   additionalType: self-claimed expertise
   name: Wildlife ecology
 - '@type': Thing
   additionalType: self-claimed expertise
   name: Wildlife physiology
 - '@type': Thing
   additionalType: self-claimed expertise
   name: Conservation
 - '@type': Thing
   additionalType: self-claimed expertise
   name: Climate change
 - '@type': Thing
   additionalType: self-claimed expertise
   name: Herpetology
 memberOf:
   '@type': OrganizationalRole
   member:
     '@type': Organization
     name: U.S. Geological Survey
   name: staff member
   startDate: '2024-05-12T15:43:04.594198'
 name: Shellie (Michele) R Puffer
 url: https://www.usgs.gov/staff-profiles/shellie-michele-r-puffer