Olson, Erik R.

Office:	139 Center for Science and the Environment
Email:	Send a message...
Telephone:	715-682-1235

Earned and Honorary Degrees

PhD, University of Wisconsin-Madison
MS, University of Wisconsin-Madison
BS, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point

Background

I enjoy spending time with my family and watching my kids explore the woods and waters of the north woods. I participate in any activity that gets me outside, but my favorite activities include: backpacking, hunting, canoeing, fishing, SUP surfing, wild ricing, mountain biking, snowboarding, cross country skiing, and hanging at the sugar camp with my family.

Why Northland?

The place, the people, the flora and fauna, and the interactions between the them - blended with the strong environmental liberal arts focus and hands-on learning environment - these traits make Northland a place to grow.

Courses

NRS 101 - Furbearer Ecology & Management
NRS 103 - Wolf Ecology & Conservation
NRS 104 - Carnivore Tracking
NRS 225 - Wildlife Field Techniques
NRS 261 - Wildlife Handling & Immobilization
NRS 348 - Wildlife Ecology & Management
NRS 365 - Conservation of Large Carnivores
BIO 410 - Conservation Biology
NRS 464 - Interdisciplinary Ecology of Wolves & Deer
NRS 480 - Integrated Ecosystem Management

Research

The focus of my research lab is broad and collaborative. We embrace applied research to support wildlife conservation and management (e.g., wolf-human conflicts; baseline data on the status of jaguars and other Costa Rican wildlife; human attitudes towards transient cougars) and we explore ecological theory to enhance our understanding of species and the systems they interact with (e.g., island biogeography theory in the Apostle Islands; optimal foraging theory of grey fox). While we take a pragmatic approach to our research – we keep our curiosity stoked, pushing the boundaries, asking questions, and learning new things with discovery science (e.g., discovery of fluorescent pink flying squirrels; boreal stonefly emergence patterns never observed before; the first study of grey tree frogs in trees). Students in my lab are expected to be hard workers and responsible scientists – responsible for data collection, entry, management, analysis, and interpretation. This takes time and commitment as students spend time entering and analyzing data while learning how to do wildlife science. Students in my research lab typically present their research in professional forums like conferences and sometimes my students produce technical reports or even author scientific peer-reviewed papers. Currently, my research lab is focusing on four projects: 1) Canopy Ecology of Temperate Forests – a project examining the habitat-use of the upper canopy, 2) JaguarOsa – a long-term wildlife monitoring project in two Costa Rican National Parks, 3) Great Lakes Island Ecology - focusing on the ecology of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore archipelago, and 4) Chequamegon Bay Area Kestrel Project - focused on conserving and monitoring American kestrels in the region. Additionally, carnivore conservation and ecology, more broadly, is an overarching topical area of my research interests, especially wolf ecology and conservation in the Great Lakes region. As such, my lab also coordinates the collection and analysis of howl surveys for wolves across the state of Wisconsin and generates annual technical reports on the occupancy and reproductive success of wolves in the state.

I enjoy involving students in my research, as well as, mentoring students in their own independent research projects.

Selection of Peer-reviewed Journal Publications
(*indicates one of my research lab students)

*Laughlin, M.M., J.G. Martin, Olson E.R. 2020. Arboreal camera trapping reveals seasonal arboreal behavior of Peromyscus leucopus and Peromyscus maniculatus in northern Wisconsin, USA. American Midland Naturalist. 183:210-222.

*O’Gara, J.R., *Wieder, C.A., *Mallinger, E.C., *Simon, A.N., Wydeven, A.P., Olson, E.R. 2020. Efficacy of acoustic triangulation for Gray Wolves (Canis lupus). Wildlife Society Bulletin. DOI: 10.1002/wsb.1089.

*Beattie, K., Olson, E.R., Kissui, B., Kirchbaum, A., Kiffner, C. 2020. Predicting human-lion conflict in northern Tanzania. European Journal of Wildlife Research. 66:11. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-019-1348-5

Olson, E.R., Saborío, G., Salazar, J.C. 2019. Age of the jaguar: A unique approach to evaluating the lifespan of a rare carnivore. Cat News. 70: 36-38.

Olson, E.R., Van Deelen, T.R., Wydeven, A.P., MacFarland, D.M., Ruid, D.B., Ventura, S.J. 2019. A landscape of overlapping risks for wolf-human conflict in Wisconsin, USA. Journal of Environmental Management. 248: 109307.

Olson, E.R., Van Deelen, T., and Ventura, S.J. 2019. Variation in anti-predator behaviors of white-tailed deer Odocoileus virginianus in a multi-predator system. Canadian Journal of Zoology. 97: 1030-1041.

*Hoff, H.K., Martin, J.G., Liesch, P.J., Olson, E.R. 2019. Acroneuria lycorias (Boreal Stonefly, Plecoptera: Perlidae) emergence behaviors discovered in Pinus strobus canopy. The Great Lakes Entomologist. 52(1): 53-56.

Olson, E.R., *Matzinger, P.J., Saborío, G., Salazar, J.C. 2019. Macho Uno: A sign of hope for the jaguars of Corcovado. Cat News. 69: 4-6.

Publications

Selection of Peer-reviewed Journal Publications (37 since starting at Northland College; 16 with undergraduate students, including 17 unique students)
(*indicates one of my research lab students)

*Mallinger, E.C., Goodwin, K.R., Kirschbaum, A., Shen, Y., Gillam, E.H., Olson, E.R. 2023. Species-specific responses to white-nose syndrome in the Great Lakes region. Ecology and Evolution 13(7). https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.10267.

*Mallinger, E.C., Olson, E.R., Vincent, G., Van Stappen, J., Van Deelen, T.R. 2022. Factors influencing the presence of parasitic mites on small mammals in Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, Wisconsin, USA. Canadian Journal of Zoology.

*Pichler, T.R., *Mallinger, E.C., Farmer, M.J., Morrison, M.J., *Khadka, B., *Matzinger, P.J., Kirshbaum, A., Goodwin, K.R., Route, W., Van Stappen, J., Van Deelen, T.R., Olson, E.R. 2022. Comparative biogeography of volant and non-volant mammals in a temperate island archipelago. Ecosphere 13(1),e3911. http://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.3911.

Shen, Y., Olson, E.R., Van Deelen, T.R. 2021. Spatially explicit modeling of community occupancy using Markov random field models with imperfect observation: Mesocarnivores in Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. Ecological Modeling. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2021.109712.

Moore, J.F., Soanes, K., Balbuena, D., Beirne, C., Bowler, M., Carrasco-Rueda, F., Cheyne, S.M., Coutant, O., Forget, P-M., Haysom, J.S., Houlihan, P.R., Olson, E.R., Lindshield, S., Martin, J., Tobler, M., Whitworth, A., Gregory, T. 2021. The potential and practice of arboreal camera trapping. Methods in Ecology and Evolution. https://doi.org10.1111/2041-210X.13666.

Smith, M.M., Gilbert, J.H., Olson, E.R., Scribner, K.T., Van Deelen, T.R., Van Stappen, J.F., Williams, B.W., Woodford, J.E., Pauli, J.N. 2021. A recovery network leads to the natural recolonization of an archipelago and a potential trailing edge refuge. Ecological Applications. https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.2416.

Olson, E.R., *Goethlich, J., *Goudos-Weisbecker, B. 2021. Anticipatory human attitude survey describes attitudes towards a large, transient carnivore, Puma concolor, prior to recolonization. Wildlife Society Bulletin. https://doi.org/10.1002/wsb.11.66.

Olson, E.R., Carlson, M.R., Ramanujam, V.M.S., Sears, L., Anthony, S.E., Anich, P.S., Ramon, L., Hulstrand, A., *Jurewicz, M., *Gunnelson, A.S., *Kohler, A.M., Martin, J.G. 2021. Vivid biofluorescence in the nocturnal springhare (Pedetidae). Scientific Reports, 11, 4125. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-83588-0.