Merav Ben-David - “Who pushed the button? Sea ice declines and the energy balance of polar bears in the Southern Beaufort Sea”

November 2nd
11:30a.m. - 12:30p.m.
College of Natural Resources Room 10

Dr. Ben-David was born and raised on a farm in Israel. She served 2 years in the Israeli air force, after which she received a B.Sc. in Biology (1984) and an M.Sc. in Zoology (1988) from Tel-Aviv University. After working as a safari tour guide in Kenya for 5 years she relocated to Alaska and received a Ph.D. in Wildlife Management from the University of Alaska Fairbanks (1996). She arrived in Laramie as an assistant professor in 2000 and is currently one of a handful of female full professors on campus. Dr. Ben-David studies the effects of global change on a variety of animals including the effects of invasive lake trout on river otters in Yellowstone Lake, sea ice loss in the Arctic on polar bears, and timber harvest on marten and ermine in southeast Alaska. In 2012, she received the Barrett-Hamilton distinguished ecologist award from the University of Manitoba for her contributions to polar bear conservation. She also won the Excellence in Wildlife Education award from the Wildlife Society in 2016.