A University of Colorado at Boulder expert on landscape ecology and prairie dog disease has been named a 2004 Aldo Leopold Leadership Fellow in recognition of her outstanding leadership ability and desire to communicate scientific issues beyond academic audiences.
Associate Professor Sharon Collinge is among 20 Leopold fellows selected this year from around the United States and Guam. Collinge holds a joint appointment in the CU-Boulder department of ecology and evolutionary biology and environmental studies.
The Leopold fellowships provide scientists with intensive communications and leadership training to help them communicate scientific information effectively to nonscientific audiences, especially policymakers, the media, business leaders and the public.
"The fundamental goal of my research program is to reveal the influence of changing landscapes on the dynamics of plant and animal populations and communities," Collinge explained. Her projects emphasize the ecological consequences of habitat loss, fragmentation and restoration of plants and animals in native habitats.
Collinge is now focusing on disease outbreaks in black-tailed prairie dogs. "This species is susceptible to contracting blood diseases transmitted by fleas, such as the sylvatic plague," she said. "Colonies that get infected are often completely wiped out by the disease, so predicting the risk of exposure to infected fleas is of utmost importance for the conservation of the black-tailed prairie dogs."
Landscape structure and land use are among a number of factors that affect the spread of the plague, she said.
The prairie dog project is supported by $1.7 million over five years from the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health. Collinge is leading a team of seven collaborators that plans to produce specific models for predicting risk of disease outbreaks among black-tailed prairie dogs in different landscapes.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Research and Development also supports Collinge's prairie dog work, providing $500,000 over three years to Collinge and six collaborators to learn more about the effects of habitat alteration and disease on the animals.
Collinge earned a doctorate in landscape ecology from Harvard University in 1995. From 1992 to 1995 she was involved with CU-Boulder's Mountain Research Station as assistant director and instructor, and in 1998 became an assistant professor of biology and environmental studies.
The Aldo Leopold Leadership Program was launched in 1998 with the goal of improving the flow of accurate, credible scientific information to policymakers, the media and the public by training outstanding academic environmental scientists to be better communicators of complex scientific information.
"Environmental scientists have valuable knowledge that should be available to citizens and policymakers as they make choices about the future of our planet and our communities," said Jane Lubchenco, distinguished professor of zoology at Oregon State University and co-founder of the Aldo Leopold Leadership Program. "It is vitally important to all of us that scientists be able to provide accurate information in plain language and in the context of everyday life to those who are determining our environmental policies and practices."
The program is named for Aldo Leopold, a renowned environmental scientist who communicated his scientific knowledge simply and eloquently. His writings, including his 1949 book, "A Sand County Almanac," are credited with infusing the emerging conservation movement with good science and a stewardship ethic.
Leopold fellows are selected through a competitive application process and represent a broad range of environmental science disciplines, including environmental engineering, wildlife veterinary medicine, tropical forestry, marine ecology and environmental economics. The 2004 fellows join 60 previous recipients.
Applications are now being accepted for the 2005 fellowships. The deadline is April 19. For more information about the program, visit . For more information about Collinge's work visit .