Dr. Diana Tomback's Extensive Fall Work

Published: Nov. 7, 2024

Diana Tomback and her students doing field research in Yellowstone National ParkDr. Diana Tomback and the students in her lab have had an extremely productive Fall thus far!

In addition to Dr. Tomback's induction as an AAAS Fellow in Washington D.C., several students in the Tomback Forest Ecology lab (Tomback), including current (Karina Li, Summer Merrell) and former student (Thomas McLaren), have given a series of talks or poster presentations at  the Yellowstone Biennial Research Conference, the American Ornithological Society, and the Whitebark Pine Ecosystem Foundation Annual Science and Management Workshop meetings since September of this year.

In addition,Tomback was co-organizer of the following symposium at the American Ornithological Society annual meeting:

Smith, D.W., D.F. Tomback, and W.G. Wehtje.  Symposium organization, Yellowstone birds: ecology, conservation, and management.  American Ornithological Society, annual meeting, October 1-5, 2024, YMCA of the Rockies, Estes Park, Colorado.

Invited symposium contributions:

Tomback, D.F., K. Li, W. Wehtje. Clark’s Nutcracker spatial movements in Yellowstone National Park: Maintaining an iconic mutualism.  Invited oral presentation for Yellowstone Birds Symposium. Annual meeting of the American Ornithological Society, October 1-5, 2024, Estes Park, Colorado.

McLaren, T., D. Tomback, N. Grevstad, M. Wunder, W. Wehtje, L. Walker, D. Smith. Clark’s Nutcracker forest community visitation: Whitebark pines maintains a keystone seed disperser. Invited oral presentation for Yellowstone Birds Symposium. Annual meeting of the American Ornithological Society, October 1-5, 2024, Estes Park, Colorado.

Tomback, D.F., T.H. McLaren, K. Li, N. Grevstad, W.G. Wehtje, L.E. Walker, D.W. Smith. Clark’s nutcrackers of Yellowstone National Park: Conserving an iconic mutualism.  Invited oral presentation for Yellowstone’s Birds Symposium. 16th Biennial Scientific Conference on the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. September 3-5, 2024, Big Sky, Montana.

Contributed papers and posters:

Richman, S., D. Tomback, N. Grevstad. Dining with wolves: Are the rewards worth the risks?  Oral presentation, Contributed session on Social Behavior.  Annual meeting of the American Ornithological Society, October 1-5, Estes Park, Colorado.

Tomback, D.F., K. Li, W. Wehtje.  2024. Clark’s Nutcrackers spatial movements in Yellowstone National Park. Whitebark Pine Ecosystem Foundation, Annual Science and Management Workshop, October 9-11, 2024, Baker City, Oregon. Oral presentation

Tomback, D., J. Shamhart, W. Swaffar, S. Pete. The National Whitebark Pine Restoration Plan: Application and Implementation. Whitebark Pine Ecosystem Foundation, Annual Science and Management Workshop, October 9-11, 2024, Baker City, Oregon. Oral presentation

McLaren, T, N. Grevstad, D. Tomback. Power analysis of long-term monitoring for temporal trends in Clark’s Nutcracker abundance in Yellowstone National Park.  Annual meeting of the American Ornithological Society, October 1-5, 2024, Estes Park, Colorado. Poster presentation

Li, K., N. Grevstad, D F. Tomback.  Clark’s Nutcrackers of Yellowstone National Park: Methods for non-migratory spatial analysis.  Poster presentation.  16th Biennial Scientific Conference on the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. September 3-5, 2024, Big Sky, Montana.