Caitlin grew up exploring nearby creeks and public lands throughout the United States which gave her a love for the outdoors and wildlife. She graduated with B.S. in environmental studies at Texas A&M University where she gained research experience in honeybees and coral reef systems. After a few years of working in various environmental jobs and visiting Big Bend National Park for the first time in 2020, she realized she wanted to focus her career in wildlife research. She got her M.S. in Range and Wildlife Management at Sul Ross State University studying carnivores and other mammals in Big Bend National Park. She then moved to California to work as a biologist conducting surveys for threatened and endangered species, including bald eagles, California spotted owls, and Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frogs. Her interest and love for carnivores brought her back to Texas to pursue a Ph.D. in black bear ecology.

Black bears (Ursus americanus), once extirpated from the state, are naturally recolonizing Texas after decades of absence. Caitlin’s research is focusing on black bear transboundary movements and how individuals might be impacted by border infrastructure that is currently being constructed along the Texas-Mexico border. Using GPS collar data, she will be identifying black bear travel corridors to understand habitat selection and landscape connectivity between Texas and Mexico, and the influence of the border barrier system on movement patterns. Further, to understand gene flow in a recolonizing population, she will be analyzing black bear genetic data to examine genetic connectivity and diversity between Texas and Mexico.