Margot Breiner

Margot joined the Cooperative Research Unit as a master’s student in the fall of 2022. Under the advisement of Dr. Anna Chalfoun and Dr. Annika Walters, she will apply her passion for herpetological conservation to her research investigating the factors contributing to boreal toad population declines.

Prior to beginning her graduate program, Margot earned a B.S. in Wildlife Conservation from Virginia Tech in 2020. During her undergraduate studies, she worked in a research lab focused on the conservation of the eastern hellbender salamander. After graduating, she was a technician for the Smithsonian’s Virginia Working Landscapes and, later, for the University of Georgia’s long-term study on black-throated blue warblers. Through her collective experiences, she has developed an interest in applied ecology and understanding multiple stressors on wildlife.

Margot’s research is focused on the habitat use and movement of a declining population of boreal toads in western Wyoming. She will assess boreal toad habitat use at multiple scales and investigate how behavior influences disease dynamics and survival. This research will inform the conservation of critical habitats as boreal toads continue to decline within this population and throughout their range.

In her spare time, Margot can be found exploring the outdoors with her dog Chance.

Projects