Justin Dellinger

About Me

I am a good ol' southern boy born and raised in North Carolina. I can honestly say I have been obsessed with animals since I was an infant. From begging to go to every zoo within a days drive when I was 5 to begging to go camping/backpacking (mostly by myself due to the superior hygiene practices of friends and family) when I was 15. After graduating from Shelby High School in 2004 in Shelby, NC, I set off to attend the University of North Carolina Wilmington to study Biology (at the time thinking I would become a biology teacher). While at UNCW I took an internship at the Bald Head Island Conservancy in the summer of 2006 convinced me that wildlife biology was my true passion. So after graduating from UNCW in 2008 with a B.S. in Biology, and getting married to my wonderful wife Nikki (who also has hygiene practices superior to my own) of 4+ years, I undertook a graduate position at Auburn University under Dr. Troy Best studying foraging and spatial ecology of red wolves (Canis rufus) in northeastern North Carolina (click for thesis). After graduating in Spring of 2011 with an M.S. in Biology, and becoming a first time dad to my son Jude five days after defending my thesis, the family and I headed to Arizona where I got a job as a wildlife researcher studying mountain lions (Puma concolor) in collaboration with the San Carlos Apache Tribe. In the summer of 2012 I accepted a Ph.D position at the University of Washington under Dr. Aaron Wirsing studying the impacts of recolonizing gray wolves (Canis lupus) in Washington state on ungulate species. I love to spout out random wildlife facts for my wife's benefit, teach my son all manner of boyhood mischief and fun, hike and backpack with my certified ADD hound dog Mason, kayak, play rugby (that is when I was younger and my body could take such obscene abuse), and play and watch basketball (I have a mild addiction to Duke basketball which there is no cure for since growing up in NC). I look forward to exploring the left coast in my time at UW and hope to get my hands on all manner of wildlife (both fluffy and hazardous to my health).

Ok so predators rule! There I said it, I am totally fascinated by the predators of the world, large and small. That said my research interests lie at the crossroads of pure and applied questions concerning carnivores and their interactions with prey and humans. I love to ask ecological questions about how and why things work but also think it is important for research to have application such as species and habitat management and conservation. My M.S. work detailed the basic foraging and spatial ecology of one of the rarest canids in the world. Beyond the purely ecological I investigated: low-cost management techniques for monitoring red wolves in the wild; foraging habits of red wolves in relation to accessibility of human-related food sources; and how habitat use of red wolves changes with human density and development. At UW I am investigating the impact of recolonizing gray wolves in Washinton state on ungulate species. Field work will involve four (2012-2016) winter seasons (December - April) on the eastern side of the Cascade range. With the natural experiment provided by the recolonizing gray wolves, and cutting edge technology (GPS and camera collars!!!), I hope to understand the 1) indirect and 2) direct effects of wolves on ungulate species in Washington state as well as 3) develop predator-prey models to understand how encounter risk, kill risk, and kill rate by wolves with respect to ungulate prey varies as a function of landscape variables and changing wolf density/pack size. With this information state biologists should be better able to predict the impact that recolonizing wolves will have on ungulate populations in the state of Washington for the purpose of proper management of ungulate prey for shared use by hunters, which bring in substantial state revenue from buying tags, and wolves, which currently carry a state and federal listing and attract tourist dollars. Come back in the following months for updates to research methodology, precise study areas, preliminary findings, and PICTURES!!!!!

- Wildlife Technician, Bald Head Island Conservancy. May - August 2006. This internship gave me tons of initial field experience. I was able to to get hands on experience monitoring populations in the wild. I conducted nightly surveys of deer and alligators on the island as well as monitoring of beaches for nesting loggerhead and green sea turtles.

- Plant Biodiversity Research Technician, University of North Carolina Wilmington. May 2006 - May 2007. I investigated patterns of plant diversity in maritime forests with respect to varying age, size, and elevation of various maritime islands. This research helped give a better understanding of how various environmental factors interact to direct plant diversity in these coastal ecosystems.

- Assistant Curator, University of North Carolina Wilmington. January - December 2007. Assisted in preparing, maintaining, and cataloging specimens in the ornithology and mammalogy collections at the university.

- Bird Survey Technician, University of North Carolina Wilmington. January - May 2007. Conducted daily visual and auditory bird surveys in a long-leaf pine ecosystem to guide development of land with respect to species of concern.

- Exotic Mammal Technician, University of North Carolina Wilmington. August - December 2007. Conducted surveys of rivers in southeastern North Carolina to determine the presence/absence of the invasive nutria or coypu (Myocastor coypus), a large rodent native to South America capable of devastating wetland habitats in North America.

- Paleoecology Research Technician, University of North Carolina Wilmington. May 2007 - May 2008. I identified carbon dated bone fragments taken from the Colorado Rockies to lowest possible taxonomic level in order to try and determine the faunal make-up of the Colorado Rockies during the mid-Miocene. This research helped to give a better picture of how resitant alpine communities are to changes in climate.

- Mammal Research Technician, Colima, Mexico. Winter 2009-2010. I helped set-up and maintain trapping grids for small mammals in a tropical thorn forest to study interplay in population dynamics between the various species, as well as spatial and temporal habitat partitioning.

- Graduate Researcher, Auburn University. August 2008 - May 2011. See thesis.

- Graduate Teaching Assistant, Auburn University. August 2008 - May 2011. I taught the laboratory components for Mammalian Physiology, a hands-on live dissection lab involving anesthetized vertebrate lab animals, and Vertebrate Biodiversity, a field course detailing various methods used to catch, survey, and monitor vertebrate populations.

- Wildlife Researcher, San Carlos Apache Tribe Recreation and Wildlife Dept. May 2011 - May 2012. Set-up and maintained camera grids to determine occupancy and detection rates for mountain lions as a function of habitat. Also used camera grids to determine interactions between mountain lions and prey species such as mule deer and elk. I also made and deployed snares to catch and radio-collar mountain lions to better understand habitat use and foraging ecology. Specifically we were interested in developing methods to determine mountain lion abundance across a given landscape and the impact that mountain lions were having on the cattle ranched by San Carlos Apache Tribe.

- Dellinger, J. A., J. M. McVey, C. Moorman, and D. Cobb. 2011. Diameter thresholds for distinguishing between red wolf and other canid scat.
Wildlife Society Bulletin 35(4):416-420.

- Dellinger, J. A., T. D. Steury, B. L. Ortman, J. Bohling, and L. P. Waits. 2011. Food habits of red wolves (Canis rufus) during pup-rearing season.
Southeastern Naturalist 10(4):731-740.

- Dellinger, J. A., C. Proctor, T. D. Steury, M. J. Kelly, and M. R. Vaughan. 2012. Habitat selection of a large carnivore, the red wolf, in a human-altered landscape. Biological Conservation In Press.

- Dellinger, J. A., C. Proctor, T. D. Steury, and M. J. Kelly. In Prep. Potential sites for continued reintroduction of the red wolf to its historic range.
To be submitted to Journal of Wildlife Management.

- Proctor, C., J. A. Dellinger, M. J. Kelly, and M. R. Vaughan. In Prep. Seasonal variation in red wolf home range size and composition.
To be submitted to Journal of Mammalogy.