Biography

Adam Ahlers was born and raised in Northeast Nebraska. His non-traditional career path has allowed him to work a variety of different positions before happily settling into academia. While living in Nebraska, he worked on several farms and ranches and was a habitat technician and supervisor in two Natural Resources Districts. He was an active duty paratrooper in the United States Army (101st Airborne Division) and a member of the Army National Guard.

After his service in the U.S. Army, Adam moved to Illinois where he studied semiaquatic mammals with the Illinois Natural History Survey and University of Illinois. Most of Adam's free time is spent with his wife and two daughters exploring the Flint Hills of Kansas or hunting pheasants, grouse, and waterfowl in the Central Flyway.

Education

• Ph.D., Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL (2015)
• M.S., Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL (2010)
• B.S., Biological Sciences, Eastern Illinois University, Charleston, IL (2007)
• A.A., Liberal Arts, Northeast Community College, Norfolk, NE (1998)

Research

Adam's research is focused on adaptive management of wildlife populations and their habitats. He is particularly interested in how environmental change structures wildlife communities and how these changes also affect population demographics (e.g., survival, population growth).

Adam's research lab is currently investigating how active management of invasive hybrid cattails (T. x glauca) affect the distribution of semiaquatic mammals and shore birds in the boundary waters of Minnesota, USA. Additionally, his lab is testing hypotheses related to how carnivore populations and communities respond to land-use change in the Flint Hills ecoregion of Kansas.