Publications by authors named "D J Paetkau"

Article Synopsis
  • Wolverines in North America have seen a reduction in their distribution due to human activities during the 19th and 20th centuries, leading to their threatened status in the US and special concern status in Canada.
  • A study collected 882 genetic samples to analyze landscape connectivity factors, focusing on terrain complexity, human disturbance, forest configuration, and climate across a vast region of southwestern Canada and northwestern US.
  • Findings showed that human disturbance negatively affects wolverine genetic connectivity, while forest cover and snow persistence help maintain genetic diversity, which can inform future conservation management efforts.
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The Genomics Education Partnership (GEP) engages students in a course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE). To better understand the student attributes that support success in this CURE, we asked students about their attitudes using previously published scales that measure epistemic beliefs about work and science, interest in science, and grit. We found, in general, that the attitudes students bring with them into the classroom contribute to two outcome measures, namely, learning as assessed by a pre- and postquiz and perceived self-reported benefits.

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Polar bears are susceptible to climate warming because of their dependence on sea ice, which is declining rapidly. We present the first evidence for a genetically distinct and functionally isolated group of polar bears in Southeast Greenland. These bears occupy sea-ice conditions resembling those projected for the High Arctic in the late 21st century, with an annual ice-free period that is >100 days longer than the estimated fasting threshold for the species.

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North American martens are forest dependent, influenced by human activity, and climate vulnerable. They have long been managed and harvested throughout their range as the American marten (). Recent work has expanded evidence for the original description of two species in North America - and the Pacific Coast marten, - but the geographic boundary between these groups has not been described in detail.

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A hallmark of the research experience is encountering difficulty and working through those challenges to achieve success. This ability is essential to being a successful scientist, but replicating such challenges in a teaching setting can be difficult. The Genomics Education Partnership (GEP) is a consortium of faculty who engage their students in a genomics Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE).

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