Laken Ganoe is a PhD Candidate at the University of Rhode Island in the Gerber Applied Quantitative Ecology Lab. She grew up in Pennsylvania where she developed a love for nature and the outdoors. Hiking, kayaking, hunting, and fishing helped foster her appreciation for ecology and wildlife – a passion she has pursued into her professional career. She has worked with a variety of species, but most recent focuses have been on furbearer species like fisher and muskrat. For her dissertation, Laken is investigating the movements and distribution of the local Rhode Island fisher population. The study – The Rhode Island Fisher Study – is a collaborative project between the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management Fish and Wildlife Division and the University of Rhode Island and is crucial to understanding where our furry neighbors live and how they are coexisting with humans in a human-dominated landscape. It consists of a large-scale trail camera survey across the state and live-trapping and collaring of individual fisher. The work is done on many of the local and state lands across the state, including on Westerly Land Trust properties, and they have captured some awesome photos of many wildlife species in our conservation lands!

For more information about Laken and her work, visit her website at  lakenganoe.com. To learn more about the scientists & stewards on our land click HERE.