Vanessa Hull
Department of Fisheries and Wildlife
Michigan State University
13 Natural Resources Bldg
East Lansing, MI 48824
Phone: (517)-353-5468
E-mail: hullvane@msu.edu

Research Interests:

My research interests include topics in giant panda behavior, biology, and conservation. Within this framework, I am interested in integrating a small-scale analysis of behavior with a landscape-level analysis of habitat characteristics. I would like to explore the relationship between giant pandas and their staple food, bamboo as a means of assessing the threat of recent trends in habitat fragmentation on the long-term sustainability of the giant panda population.

I am currently a first-year Masters student at the Center for Systems Integration and Sustainability, working under Dr. Jianguo (Jack) Liu. My position is funded by a 2004 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship award and a 2004 Michigan State University Distinguished Fellowship award. My current research deals with a giant panda reintroduction pilot project initiated by the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda (CCRCGP) at Wolong Nature Reserve, Sichuan, China. For this endeavor, I am using GPS and remote sensing techniques to monitor a captive-born giant panda reintroduced into a semi-natural enclosure, while also employing vegetation sampling techniques to determine the response of the bamboo population to concentrated foraging by the giant panda in this enclosed area.

Education:

• BS- Animal Behavior, 2004 (summa cum laude). Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA. Minor- Chinese