. Rodney D. Sayler (Shown on Pygymy Rabbit Restoration Area in SE Idaho - wearing snake guards!) Room 119 Johnson Hall Washington State University Pullman WA 99164-6410 509-335-6167 Conservation Biologist and Wildlife Ecologist

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Dr. Rodney D. Sayler is an Associate Professor in the Department of Natural Resource Sciences at Washington State University, where he teaches and conducts research in conservation biology and wildlife ecology. As a conservation biologist, Rod works on a variety of ecological and conservation topics, including behavioral ecology, endangered species conservation and management, avian ecology, predator ecology, and landscape and restoration ecology in western ecosystems.

Rod got his B.S. and M.S. in wildlife biology from the University of Minnesota and his Ph.D. in Biology (Ecology emphasis) at the University of North Dakota where he conducted his Ph.D. research on the ecology of brood parasitism in canvasbacks and redheads on the Delta Marsh of Manitoba, Canada.  Prior to coming to WSU, Rod was Director of the Institute for Ecological Studies at the University of North Dakota - an interdisciplinary faculty organization that conducted ecological and environmental research and education projects for federal, state, and private agencies.

Current and Recent Projects:

• Restoration of endangered Pygmy rabbits in Idaho and eastern Washington
• Ecology of endangered northern leopard frogs in Washington
• Landscape ecology and patch dynamics of native milkweeds and milkweed beetles

• Neotropical migrant songbird ecology
• Seasonal and spatial dynamics of rodents in no-till conservation farming systems
• Waterfalls & salamander ecology in western Washington
• Wetland restoration studies
• Avian behavioral and reproductive ecology
• Predator ecology and reintroduction of wolves to the Olympic Peninsula in WA
• Restoration of native Palouse Prairie ecosystems - one of the most endangered ecosystems in North America
• WSU Campus & Community Ecology Project

Classes Taught:

• Conservation Biology: (Natrs 450 / 550 online web course)
• Conservation Biology (Natrs 550; graduate course fall semester)
• Endangered Species
• Environmental Ethics
• Graduate Seminar
• Freakonomics - the WSU seminar
• Restoration Ecology: (Natrs 454 / 554 - fall semester)