Education
- Postdoc, University of Florida (Zoology)
- PhD, University of Illinois at Champaign - Urbana
Research Interests
- Community ecology
- Plant-animal interactions
- Nutritional ecology
- Conservation biology
- Animal adaptations to anthropogenic landscapes
- Primates, Carnivora
Biography
Joanna Lambert has a deep passion for our wild and natural world, resulting in a career spent publishing and teaching about evolution, ecology, and the critical conservation issues impacting species interactions and survival. 听Previous to her position at CU, Joanna was a professor at听, , and
Joanna鈥檚 current overarching concerns center on species interactions, coexistence, and听animal 听in the听.听Her research program is oriented by the fundamental realities that all animals must eat, that how animals meet their nutritional and energetic needs shapes their interactions and coexistence with other species, including humans, and that species interactions and听how animals make a living are undergoing an unprecedented rate of change given the听听of transformation听occurring on our planet.听 With this in mind, Joanna and her team investigate the behavior and ecology of wild primates and carnivores听using an integrative field and laboratory data set on animal听behavior and ecology, physiology, genetics, nutritional chemistry, animal interactions with humans, and human attitudes towards animals in varying anthropogenic landscapes.听 Research at Joanna鈥檚 primary and on-going field site (Kibale National Park, Uganda) has been underway since 1991, and she is currently developing new and additional work with carnivores in North America (Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem).
In addition to her teaching and research roles, Joanna Lambert has served as an advisor to the听, is the co-founder of the听, and is currently serving on the听听of the听(IUCN). She is an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and a Fellow of the Linnaean Society.听 Joanna has held numerous editorial positions for journals such as听, the听, the听,听听,听,听and听, and previously served an appointment as the Director of the听鈥檚听Biological Anthropology program.
Joanna鈥檚 passion for the natural world extends beyond academic and professional settings. She spends as much time as possible in the great, wild outdoors. This involves adventure travel to some of the remotest places on the planet (most recently, Antarctica and also the Russian arctic) and backpacking in extreme conditions. In addition, Joanna spends any available extra time riding horses, adding to her lifetime bird species list, playing with her two exuberant dogs, eating pizza, listening to music, and getting lost in the mountains.
A Note For Prospective听Students
听Joanna thoroughly enjoys working with students, both undergraduate and graduate, and will be accepting graduate student applications for the 2023-2024 academic year. However, note that there is very limited funding for new PhD students.听Please refer to Joanna鈥檚 website details of her work to听make sure that you are a good fit for her lab: 听
If you would like to apply to the Environmental Studies Graduate Program to work with Joanna, you are encouraged you to contact her at joanna.lambert@colorado.edu.听 When you do so, please include the following:
- 听CV
- An indication of why you would like to work with her
- Description of your research interests and experience. 听
Although Joanna is accepting applications from students who are interested in any region of the world, including equatorial Africa (her primary field region), she is particularly interested in applicants aiming to work on carnivores in North America.