RESEARCH
I am most interested in how species respond to anthropogenic threats, and I work to incorporate this interest into conservation and behavioral ecology using a broad range of field and analytical techniques. I got my start in ecological research through fieldwork, so whenever possible I like to spend time in the field to really begin to understand ecological systems.
For my postdoc, I am working with Dr. Connor Wood at the K. Lisa Yang Center for Conservation Bioacoustics and Dr. Zach Peery at UW-Madison on the Sierra Nevada avian diversity project. Specifically, I am using bioacoustics data from California’s Sierra Nevada to model the occupancy of several focal bird species in response to habitat and fire conditions. These models and data will be used by managers to inform conservation decisions into the future, especially in the face of an uncertain climate.
EDUCATION
PhD Forest and Wildlife Ecology | University of Wisconsin, Madison, 2021
B.S. Fisheries & Wildlife Ecology and Biology | Northland College, 2013
Brunk*, K.M., R.J. Gutiérrez*, M.Z. Peery, C.A. Cansler, S. Kahl, and C.M. Wood* (2023). Quail on fire: changing fire regimes may benefit mountain quail in fire-adapted forests. Forest Ecology, 19(1), p. 19. doi.org/10.1186/s42408-023-00180-9
Ng*, E.M., E.W. Pidgeon, M.Z. Peery, and K.M. Brunk* (2023). Garbage in may not equal garbage out: sex mediates effects of ‘junk food’ in a synanthropic species. Journal of Urban Ecology, 9(1) doi.org/10.1093/jue/juad014
Brunk*, K.M., E.H. West*, M.Z. Peery, and A. Pidgeon (2022). Failed despots and the equitable distribution of fitness in a subsidized species. Behavioral Ecology, 33(5) doi.org/10.1093/beheco/arac064
Brunk, K, S Chinnici, A Pidgeon, MZ Peery. 2021. Assessing the effectiveness of a forest Habitat Conservation Plan for a threatened seabird, the Marbled Murrelet. Ornithological Applications 123(3).
Brunk, KM, EH West, MZ Peery, A Pidgeon. 2021. Reducing anthropogenic subsidies can curb density of overabundant predators in protected areas. Biological Conservation 256(109081).
Hoover, BA, KM Brunk, G Jukkala, N Banfield, AL Rypel, WH Piper. 2020. Early evidence of natal-habitat preference: Juvenile loons feed on natal-like lakes after fledging. Ecology and Evolution 11(3): 1310-1319.
West, EH, K Brunk, MZ Peery. 2019. When protected areas produce source populations of overabundant species. Biological Conservation 238(108220).
Piper, W.H., K.M. Brunk, G.L. Jukkala, E.A. Andrews, S.R. Yund, N.G. Gould (2018) Aging male loons make a terminal investment in territory defense. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 72:95.
Piper, W.H., K.M. Brunk, J.A. Flory, and M.W. Meyer (2017) The long shadow of senescence: age impacts survival and territory defense in loons. Journal of Avian Biology 48: 1062-1070.
Brunk, K.M., M.R. Vinson, D.H. Ogle, and L.M. Evrard (2014) Burrowing mayfly populations in Chequamegon Bay, Wisconsin: 2002 and 2012. Journal of Freshwater Ecology 29(3):337-344.