Hunter Cole

Education

·         B.A. Conservation Biology; Middlebury College 2018

·         M.S. Biology; Boise State University 2022

Research/Career Interests

I am the project co-lead for the Predator Research and Ecosystem Management project on San Clemente Island (SCI). I started as a predator biologist with the project in September of 2020, became the project’s crew lead in October of 2020, and took over as the project lead in May of 2021. In 2023 I transitioned to co-lead to take on additional tasks on other projects. Our team focuses on reducing predation risk for imperiled and endemic SCI fauna, particularly the San Clemente Loggerhead Shrike and the San Clemente Island Bell’s Sparrow, by managing non-native predator populations and native predator habitat use. We also play an ancillary role to many other natural resource programs on SCI by assisting with equipment maintenance, management planning and data analysis.

In 2023 I undertook additional responsibilities as an analyst assisting with experimental design, data management and analysis, and developing programs in R. These efforts primarily focus on supporting natural resources programs on San Clemente Island.

A lifetime of hunting and angling has fueled my passion for conservation and driven me to pursue a career in publicly accessible science, conservation education and protecting the wild character of North American landscapes. Before working for IWS, I worked on and led multiple sensory ecology projects in Idaho and Wyoming involving birds, bats and insects. I spend most of my free time hunting and exploring on Vermont’s public lands.

Publications

Publications can be found here: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=hIVhlTYAAAAJ&hl=en

Public Speaking

• Monitoring, Treatment and Outreach: 35 Years of Island Fox Conservation on San Clemente Island. Ariel Gonzalez, Hunter Cole, Destiny Saucedo, Melissa Booker and David Garcelon. Presented at the 10th California Islands Symposium, 6-9 November 2023, Ventura, CA.

• Applying Unique Technologies for Monitoring and Protecting Species on San Clemente Island. Owen Franco, Hunter Cole, Grant Lewis, Ariel Gonzalez, Dylan Zuver, Zack Henke, Melissa Booker and David Garcelon. Presented at the 10th California Islands Symposium, 6-9 November 2023, Ventura, CA.

• Analyzing Wildlife Count Data Using GLMMs and EcoCountHelper. Hunter J. Cole. The Western Section of The Wildlife Society 2022 Annual Meeting. February 7-11, 2022, Reno, NV.

• Quantifying Predator Populations with Statistical Population Reconstruction. Hunter J. Cole, David K. Garcelon, Andrew S. Bridges, and Grantham R. Lewis [presenter]. The Western Section of The Wildlife Society 2022 Annual Meeting. February 7-11, 2022, Reno, NV.

• A Dark Future: Understanding Light Pollution and Rewilding the Night Sky. Hunter J. Cole. August 2019. Colter Bay, Grand Teton National Park, WY.

Media

• Rewilding the Night. Mini Documentary. Screened at the 2019 Jackson Wild Media Summit and the 2020 International Wildlife Film Festival. Tim Childers, Alex Dainis, Kevin McLean, Peri Sasnett. https://vimeo.com/503653980

Contact

hcole@iws.org
(619)-524-9064