Tayler with a darted bighorn sheep in Cody, Wyoming.

Tayler LaSharr

Tayler with a darted bighorn sheep in Cody, Wyoming.

Tayler is currently a graduate student in the Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at the University of Wyoming. She grew up in Phoenix, Arizona and attended the University of Arizona for her undergraduate degree.  She graduated with a BSc in Natural Resources with an emphasis in Conservation Biology and a minor in Chemistry in May of 2015. During her time at the University of Arizona, she worked in an Ecology and Evolutionary Biology lab, studying life history tradeoffs in western and mountain bluebirds and effects of aggression in closely related species on habitat and range dynamics. After graduating from the University of Arizona she worked as a technician on the fawn survival component of the Wyoming Range Mule Deer Project before beginning work on her own MSc project in the fall of 2015 in the Monteith Shop.  Her master’s research was focused on understanding how demography, harvest, and the environment influence the size of horns in mountain sheep through time. Following the completion of her MSc research in the spring of 2018, she began a PhD working on a component of the Wyoming Range Mule Deer Project focused on assessing carryover effects of a severe winter on a population and identifying factors that contribute to or inhibit population recovery.

Before beginning grad school and the concepts of weekends and free time disappeared, she had hobbies like fishing, snowboarding, camping, and backpacking. Now, she loves being out in the field above almost anything else, especially when the one constant source of her sanity, her dog Ovis, can tag along.

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Publications

Smiley, R. A., T. N. LaSharr, H. N. Abernathy, Y. Shakeri, R. L. Levine, S. Rankins, R. Jakopak, R. Rafferty, J. Kolek, S. Dwinnell, B. Wagler, T. Robinson, J. Randall, R. C. Kaiser, M. Thonhoff, B. Scurlock, T. Fiesler, J. Short, D. McWhirter, D. Brimeyer, G. L. Fralick, and K. L. Monteith. 2022. Biomarkers of animal nutrition: from seasonal to lifetime indicators of environmental conditions. Invited Paper: Life Special Issue.

Martin, A. M., J. T. Hogg, K. R. Manlove, T. N. LaSharr, J. Shannon, D. McWhirter, H. Miyasaki, K. L. Monteith, and P. C. Cross. 2022. Disease and secondary sexual traits: impacts of pneumonia on horn size of bighorn sheep. Journal of Wildlife Management.

Aikens, E. O., S. P. H. Dwinnell, T. N. LaSharr, R. P. Jakopak, G. Fralick, J. Randall, R. Kaiser, M. Thonhoff, M. J. Kauffman, and K. L. Monteith. 2021. Migratory tactic and maternal resource allocation shape timing of reproduction in a large herbivore. Ecology.

Kauffman, K. M., T. Cornish, K. Monteith, B. Schumaker, T. N. LaSharr, K. Huggler, and M. Miller. 2021. Detection of deer atadenovirus A DNA in dam and offspring pairs of mule deer and elk. Journal of Wildlife Disease.

Ortega, A. C., S. P. H. Dwinnell, T. N. LaSharr, R. Jakopak, K. S. Huggler, K. Denryter, M. M. Hayes, E. O. Aikens, T. Verzuh, B. Lamont, A. May, and K. L. Monteith. 2020.  Effectiveness of partial sedation to reduce stress in captured mule deer. Journal of Wildlife Management.

Bowyer, R. T., K. M. Stewart, V. C. Bleich, J. C. Whiting, K. L. Monteith, M. E. Blum, and T. N. LaSharr. 2020. Metrics of harvest for ungulates: misconceptions, lurking variables, and prudent management. Alces.

Jakopak, R., T. LaSharr, S. P. H. Dwinnell, G. Fralick, and K. L. Monteith. 2019. Rapid acquisition of memory in a complex landscape by a mule deer. Ecology. 100:12.

LaSharr, T., R. Long, J. Heffelfinger, R. T. Bowyer, V. Bleich, P. Krausman, J. Shannon, R. Klaver, C. E. Brewer, M. Cox, A. A. Holland, C. P. Lehman, J. D. Muir, B. Sterling, and K. Monteith. 2019. Horn size and mountain sheep: do current harvest practices affect horn growth? Evolutionary Applications. 12: 1823 – 1836.

LaSharr, T., R. Long, J. Heffelfinger, R. T. Bowyer, V. Bleich, P. Krausman, J. Shannon, E. Rominger, C. Lehman, M. Cox, and K. Monteith. 2019. Biological relevance of antler, horn, and pronghorn size in records programs. Journal of Mammalogy. 100: 1447-1458.

Monteith, K., R. Long, T. Stephenson, V. Bleich, R. T. Bowyer, and T. LaSharr. 2018. Horn size and nutrition in mountain sheep: Can ewe handle the truth? Journal of Wildlife Management. 82: 67 – 84.

Walker, R., B. Maitland, T. LaSharr, M. Rosling, and M. Ben-David. 2018. Fate of juvenile salmonids stranded in off channel flood ponds. Aquatic Sciences. 80: 10.

Selected Presentations

LaSharr, T., R. Long, J. Heffelfinger, R. T. Bowyer, V. Bleich, P. Krausman, R. Klaver, J. Shannon and K. Monteith. Role of harvest and environmental factors on horn size of mountain sheep. 21st Biennial Northern Wild Sheep and Goat Council Symposium. Whitefish, Montana. May 2018.

LaSharr, T. Role of harvest, demography, and the environment on horn size of mountain sheep. Oral presentation. Thesis Defense. Laramie, WY. April 2018.

LaSharr, T., R. Long, J. Heffelfinger, R. T. Bowyer, V. Bleich, P. Krausman, R. Klaver, J. Shannon and K. Monteith. Role of harvest and the environmental on horn size of mountain sheep. Ignite style oral presentation. USGS and Wyoming Game and Fish Cooperator Meeting; Annual Meeting. Laramie, Wyoming. April 2018.

Monteith, K. L., R. A. Long, T. R. Stephenson, V. C. Bleich, R. T. Bowyer, and T. N. LaSharr. Horn size and nutrition in mountain sheep: can ewe handle the truth? Invited presentation at the BLM brownbag seminar series. Rawlins, WY. March 2018.

LaSharr, T. and K. Monteith. Progress toward evaluating the role of harvest and environmental factors on horn size of mountain sheep. Invited presentation at the Wild Sheep Working Group Meeting. Reno, NV. January 2018.

LaSharr, T., R. Long, J. Heffelfinger, R. T. Bowyer, V. Bleich, P. Krausman, J. Shannon and K. Monteith. Role of harvest and environmental factors on horn size of mountain sheep. Oral presentation. Wyoming Chapter Conference of The Wildlife Society. Jackson, Wyoming. December 2017.

LaSharr, T., R. Long, J. Heffelfinger, R. T. Bowyer, V. Bleich, P. Krausman, J. Shannon and K. Monteith. Role of harvest and environmental factors on horn size of mountain sheep. Oral presentation. National Conference of The Wildlife Society. Albuquerque, New Mexico. September 2017.

LaSharr, T., R. Long, J. Heffelfinger, R. T. Bowyer, V. Bleich, P. Krausman, J. Shannon and K. Monteith. Evaluating the role of harvest on weapon size of mountain sheep. Oral presentation. Desert Bighorn Council Meeting. St. George, Utah. April 2017.

LaSharr, T., R. Long, J. Heffelfinger, R. T. Bowyer, V. Bleich, P. Krausman, J. Shannon and K. Monteith. Role of harvest, demography, and changing environments on horn size of mountain sheep. Ignite style oral presentation. USGS and Wyoming Game and Fish Cooperator Meeting; Annual Meeting. Laramie, WY. April 2017.

LaSharr, T., R. Long, J. Heffelfinger, R. T. Bowyer, V. Bleich, P. Krausman and K. Monteith. Influence of harvest and environmental factors on horn size of wild sheep. Poster presentation. Wyoming Chapter Conference of The Wildlife Society. Cody, Wyoming. November 2016.

LaSharr, T., R. Long, J. Heffelfinger, R. T. Bowyer, V. Bleich, P. Krausman and K. Monteith. Influence of harvest and environmental factors on horn size of wild sheep. Poster presentation. National Conference of The Wildlife Society. Raleigh, North Carolina. October 2016.

LaSharr, T., R. Long, J. Heffelfinger, R. T. Bowyer, V. Bleich, P. Krausman and K. Monteith. Role of harvest, demography, and changing environments on size of animal weaponry. Oral presentation. Department of Zoology and Physiology Brown Bag Seminar. Laramie, WY. September 2016.

LaSharr, T., R. Long, J. Heffelfinger, R. T. Bowyer, V. Bleich, P. Krausman and K. Monteith. Factors influencing temporal trends in horn size of mountain sheep in North America. Ignite style oral presentation. USGS and Wyoming Game and Fish Cooperator Meeting; Annual Meeting. Laramie, WY. April 2016.

LaSharr, T. and R. Duckworth. Mechanisms influencing distribution and coexistence of Mountain and Western Bluebirds. Poster presentation. University of Arizona, School of Natural Resources and the Environment Earth Week Poster Session. Tucson, Arizona. April 2015.

LaSharr, T. and R. Duckworth.  Mechanisms influencing distribution and the coexistence of two passerine birds. Poster presentation. University of Arizona Undergraduate Biology Research Program Conference. Tucson, Arizona. January 2015.

LaSharr, T. and R. Duckworth. Effects of interspecific aggression on range distribution in closely related species. Poster presentation. University of Arizona 5th Annual Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Undergraduate Research Poster Session. Tucson, Arizona. April 2014.  

LaSharr, T., S. Schwenck, C. Bugbee and A. Neils. 2013. Reaction of coyotes to a variety of olfactory stimuli from interspecific carnivores. Oral presentation. Wildlife Society Joint Annual Meeting: Arizona – New Mexico Chapters. Pinetop, Arizona.  February 2014.

Projects