Rhiannon Jakopak, a recent graduate of the University of Wyoming, was one of four students named Outstanding Graduates in 2016. During her undergraduate career, she worked with Anna Chalfoun and Embere Hall in the Coop Unit studying systematic caching of food resources in the American pika. She also worked with Kevin Montheith and Ellen Aikens evaluating a critical assumption used to quantify forage quality in large herbivores. Both research projects are anticipated to result in peer-reviewed research articles.
After graduating in spring 2016, Rhiannon worked at Mpala Research Station in Kenya as a small mammal project manager. She is planning to return to graduate school with the Wyoming Coop Unit in Fall 2017, and we will be lucky to have her back!