Elena West

Elena West is a Teaching Assistant Professor at the University of Minnesota in the Department of Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology. Her research focuses on avian ecology, bioacoustics, and conservation biology, particularly addressing species management in human-influenced landscapes. She teaches courses including Field Methods in Research and Conservation of Vertebrate Populations and Wetlands Research.

Education:

• Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison
• M.S., University of Michigan
• B.A., Lawrence University

West employs interdisciplinary approaches such as field data collection, spatial analysis, and acoustic monitoring to tackle conservation challenges. Her work emphasizes the impacts of human food subsidies on predator behavior, dietary specialization, and population dynamics.

Her publications analyze trends in synanthropy, fitness variation in subsidized species, and conservation strategies for managing overabundant predators in protected areas. Collaborative studies highlight applications of quantitative tools and landscape-scale monitoring.