Briana is an Associate Professor and Boersma Endowed Chair in Natural History and Conservation in the University of Washington Department of Biology and Center for Ecosystem Sentinels. She has broad interests in behavioral ecology, global change biology, and conservation. Her research focuses on studying the effects of environmental variability and change on wildlife populations, particularly through the lens of animal movement and behavior. She has a B.S. in Physics from Brandeis University and a Ph.D. in Ecology from the University of California-Berkeley’s Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management. Prior to joining the UW she was a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Climate and Ecosystems Group at NOAA’s Southwest Fisheries Science Center. She is a recipient of the U.S. Presidential Management Fellowship, the Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship, the Packard Fellowship for Science and Engineering, and the International Bio-Logging Society's Early Career Award. In 2023 she was elected vice-Chair (2025) and co-Chair (2027) of the Gordon Research Conference in Movement Ecology of Animals. Read more about Dr. Abrahms' background and fieldwork in Botswana in this 2022 UW Magazine article.

Email: abrahms [at] uw.edu

Kasim is a wildlife ecologist whose work mainly focuses on predator movement ecology, behavior, and conservation. He uses emerging technologies to investigate animal movements & behaviors and to explore ways to sustainably monitor wildlife populations. He is particularly interested in the intersections between conservation, ecology, and technology, and he prefers field-based studies as they allow animal behaviors to be witnessed in their natural settings. Some of Kasim’s interests at the moment include understanding the factors shaping animal movement decisions; the impacts of anthropogenic environments and shifting climates on predator ecology; and the use of open-source technologies in ecology and conservation. He is also working closely with tour operators in Africa to develop new citizen-science wildlife survey approaches for sustainable species’ monitoring. Prior to his position at UW, Kasim was a Fulbright postdoc at the University of California Santa Cruz and completed his PhD in leopard ecology at Liverpool John Moores University in affiliation with Botswana Predator Conservation.

Kathrine is a behavioural ecologist interested in understanding the mechanisms and consequences of decision making in group-living animals, particularly in the face of anthropogenic disturbance and climate change. She focusses on using field-collected data in order to quantitatively test theoretical predictions under natural conditions. Prior to joining the UW, Kathrine completed her PhD on bonobo intergroup encounter dynamics at the University of Konstanz and Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior in Germany. From tracking woodland caribou and wolves across Canada’s boreal forest to following all four genera of great apes through the jungles of Africa and Asia, her passion for exploring wild places has led her to work on a diversity of research projects around the world. If she is not at her desk, she’s likely off hiking in the mountains or losing track of time with her spunky cat, Susu, and her goofy dog, Chance.  

Marie-Pier is broadly interested in how group-living animals respond to changing environments, and how sociality may mediate the fitness consequences of behaviors in the context of global change. She received her BS in Biology from the Université du Québec in Rimouski in 2019, where she tracked arctic foxes in the Canadian tundra for her undergraduate research. She completed her MS in 2022 at the University of Wyoming, studying the influence of forage availability and sociality on road crossing behavior in elk. Before joining the Abrahms lab, she also conducted research on the connections between habitat configuration and social contacts to understand disease spread across large landscapes. Marie-Pier enjoys spending time in the mountains, riding her bikes, skiing on sunny winter days, and snacking during outdoor adventures. 

Meredith is interested in how species interactions shape ecological communities and wildlife population dynamics, especially in the implications of global climate change on these processes. She received a BS in Wildlife and Conservation Biology from the University of California, Davis in 2020. Meredith’s previous research experiences have encompassed a wide variety of topics including shark social behavior, hummingbird disease ecology, and large carnivore conservation and management. Before coming to the University of Washington, she also conducted research on how adaptation to climate change alters physiology and predator-prey interactions in marine plankton. In her free time, Meredith enjoys running, spending time outdoors, attempting to teach her cat how to walk on a leash, and bird watching.  

Kyra is broadly interested in the intersection of animal behavior, habitat use, movement, and anthropogenic impacts. She is particularly interested in the dynamics between sociality in group living species and decision making in heterogeneous landscapes. She received her BS in Marine Biology from University of California, Santa Cruz in 2016 and her MS in Biology from California State University, Long Beach in 2021 where she studied the impacts of habitat fragmentation on a marsh-dwelling rodent community. Kyra has also spent time monitoring humpback whales off the Washington coast, killer whales in the Salish Sea, and African elephants in Zimbabwe. When able, Kyra enjoys paddleboarding, sewing, snowboarding, and painting in the sun with her two cats, Rubi and Avocado.

Co-supervised with Dr. Emily Bennitt, University of Botswana
Lebotse Toy Ramakobya is a wildlife researcher and conservationist from Botswana. He holds a BSc in Wildlife Management from the Botswana University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (BUAN) and is currently an MPhil student at the Okavango Research Institute (ORI), University of Botswana. His research focuses on understanding how climate change influences the ecology and behavior of large carnivores and the dynamics of human–wildlife conflict. As part of his work, he is using Problem Animal Control records documenting incidents of human–wildlife conflict across nine districts of Botswana to examine the relationship between climate variability and spatial patterns of conflict. Lebotse is particularly interested in advancing sustainable conservation solutions that promote coexistence between people and wildlife in rapidly changing environments. He is passionate about conservation research that integrates ecological understanding with practical strategies to strengthen human–wildlife coexistence and biodiversity conservation.