Profile of Dr. Sharon K. Collinge

Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
UCB 334
University of Colorado-Boulder
Boulder, CO 80309-0334
Phone: (303) 735-3242
Fax: (303) 492-8699
sharon.collinge@colorado.edu

Current position: Associate Professor of Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Colorado-Boulder

Education: Ph.D. Landscape Ecology, Harvard University, 1995

Dr. Collinge’s research is based in grassland ecosystems of the American West and centers on how land use changes affect the survival and persistence of native plants and animals.  She studies how modifying the land influences infectious diseases, specifically the impacts of urbanization on plague outbreaks in prairie dogs. Collinge’s work also integrates ecological science with restoration of ecosystems and species associated with endangered vernal pools (temporary but critical pools of water) in California. Her long-term, large-scale restoration experiment with vernal pool plant communities examines factors that influence the formation and of these imperiled plant assemblages.  Dr. Collinge is an active participant in the University of Colorado’s Center for the American West, which integrates perspectives from the humanities, social sciences and natural sciences to inform Westerners about public policy. Collinge directs the graduate program in Environmental Studies at CU-Boulder.  She provides scientific advice for local and national non-profit organizations on habitat conservation and restoration issues and for government agencies on matters related to endangered species and habitat protection. Her forthcoming book, Ecology of Fragmented Landscapes, synthesizes research on the ecological consequences of habitat loss and fragmentation and reviews ways in which science can inform ecological restoration and conservation planning.