Matt is working on a PhD in Interdisciplinary Ecology at the University of Florida (USA) with a dissertation project focused on the impact of habitat structure and human use variables on the distribution and abundance of large mammals in the Rupununi Region of Guyana. The Rupununi hosts large tracts of undeveloped and intact Neotropical forests, rivers, wetlands, and savannas, and low density human populations interested in preserving traditional livelihoods. Matt works in collaboration with these communities, providing opportunities to contribute to research at every level from determining research questions, to informing study design, and executing data collection. This landscape-scale project seeks to identify how specific variables associated with local human activity (subsistence hunting, selective logging, livestock density) affect large mammals (jaguar, ocelot, tapir, peccary, paca, giant anteater) across this unique habitat mosaic with the goal of deriving data-driven solutions to the issues that are facing the people and the wildlife of this diverse region.
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