Chris Ray
Research Associate
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
UCB 334
University of Colorado
Boulder, CO 80309-0334
office 303-735-1495
cell 303-489-8863
fax 303-492-8699
email Chris.Ray@colorado.edu

Research Interests

Developing mechanistic models for the analysis of demographic, genetic and epidemic dynamics, especially for threatened species with fragmented populations. Current projects include modeling the spatial and temporal dynamics of plague in prairie ecosystems, modeling the population dynamics of a threatened cutthroat trout in the Great Basin, and coordinating the revision of a recovery plan for the endangered black-footed ferret. A longer-term project involves field research on the American pika, aimed at understanding climatic and other influences on the many pre-historic and recent local extinctions of this species throughout the western US.

Education

• 1997 Ph.D. in Population Biology, University of California, Davis
• 1991 M.S. in Biology, University of California, San Diego
• 1990 B.A. in Ecology, Behavior and Evolution, University of California, San Diego

Career Employment

• 2002- Research Associate, University of Colorado, Boulder: modeling the dynamics of plague in prairie dogs and alternate hosts
• 2001- Independent contractor, US Fish & Wildlife Service: revising the species recovery plan for the endangered black-footed ferret
• 1998-2003 Research Associate, University of Nevada, Reno: developing predictive models of population dynamics and population genetics for species at risk
• 1998- Director, Bristlecone Institute for Ecological Research: developing a non-profit organization dedicated to long-term population studies
• 1992-1996 Research Assistant, University of California, Davis: modeling community structure and climate change; modeling genetic linkage in hybrid zones; reviewing density dependence in structured populations

Selected Publications

• Ray, C. , M. Gilpin and A. T. Smith, 1991. The effect of conspecific attraction on metapopulation dynamics. Pp. 123-134 in Gilpin, M. and Hanski, I. (eds.) Metapopulation Dynamics, Empirical and Theoretical Investigations. Academic Press, London.
• Sjögren-Gulve, P. and C. Ray, 1996. Using logistic regression to model metapopulation dynamics: large-scale forestry extirpates the pool frog. Pp. 111-137 in D. R. McCullough (ed.), Metapopulations and Wildlife Conservation & Management. Island Press, Washington D.C.
• Ray, C. and A. Hastings, 1996. Density dependence: are we searching at the wrong spatial scale? Journal of Animal Ecology 65(5):556-566.
• Holyoak, M. and C. Ray, 1999. A roadmap for metapopulation research. Ecology Letters 2(5):273-275.
• Peacock, M. and C. Ray , 2001. Dispersal in Pikas (Ochotona princeps): combining genetic and demographic approaches to reveal spatial and temporal patterns. Pp. 43-56 in Clobert et al. (eds.) Dispersal: causes, consequences and mechanisms of dispersal at the individual, population and community level. Oxford University Press. 480 pp.
• Debinski, D. M., Ray, C. and E. H. Saveraid, 2001. Species diversity and the scale of the landscape mosaic: do scales of movement and patch size affect diversity? Biological Conservation 98:179-190.
• Ray, C. , 2001. Maintaining genetic diversity despite local extinctions: effects of population scale. Biological Conservation 100:3-14.
• Harrison, S. and C. Ray, 2002. Plant population viability and metapopulation-level processes. Pp. 109-122 in Beissinger, S. and D. McCullough (eds.), Population viability analysis. University of Chicago Press. 577 pp.
• Fleishman, E., C. Ray, P. Sjögren-Gulve, C. L. Boggs, D. D. Murphy, 2002. Assessing the relative roles of patch quality, area and isolation in predicting metapopulation dynamics. Conservation Biology 16:706-716.
• Collinge, S. K., W. C. Johnson, C. Ray , R. Matchett, J. Grensten, J. F. Cully, Jr., K. L. Gage, M. Y. Kosoy, J. E. Loye, and A. P. Martin, 2005a. Testing the generality of a trophic-cascade model for plague. EcoHealth 2:1–11.
• Collinge, S. K., W. C. Johnson, C. Ray , R. Matchett, J. Grensten, J. F. Cully, Jr., K. L. Gage, M. Y. Kosoy, J. E. Loye, and A. P. Martin, 2005b. Landscape structure and plague occurrence in black-tailed prairie dogs on grasslands of the western USA. Landscape Ecology 20:941–955.
• Collinge, S. K. and C. Ray , 2006. Community epidemiology. Pp. 1-5 in Collinge, S. K. and C. Ray (eds.), Disease ecology: community structure and pathogen dynamics. Oxford University Press. 227 pp.
• Ray, C. and S. K. Collinge, 2006. Potential effects of a keystone species on the dynamics of sylvatic plague. Pp . 202-216 in Collinge, S. K. and C. Ray (eds.), Disease ecology: community structure and pathogen dynamics. Oxford University Press. 227 pp.
• Collinge, S. K. and C. Ray (eds.), 2006. Disease ecology: community structure and pathogen dynamics. Oxford University Press. 227 pp.