Holly Ernest, DVM, PhD
Wildlife Ecologist, Geneticist and Veterinarian

Unit Director: Wildlife Population Health and Ecological Genetics
Veterinary Genetics Laboratory, UC Davis

Assistant Professor in Residence, Dept. of PopulationHealth and Reproduction

Address:
258 CCAH, School of Veterinary Medicine, UC Davis, One Shields Ave, Davis, CA 95616

Office Phone: (530) 754-8245

Lab Phone: (530) 752-5727

Email: hbernest (at) ucdavis.edu

Dedicated to
•  developing and applying DNA, disease ecology, and biological sciences to the health and understanding of wild animal populations
•  educating the next generation of genomic scientists, applied ecologists, and wildlife veterinarians
•  providing wildlife health service and information

Research

Interdisciplinary applied and basic research in ecological genetics, biology, and disease ecology for wildlife conservation and population health. 

• Wild bird population genetics, natural history, ecology and population health. 
• Free-ranging species of conservation & management concern. 
• Threatened and endangered species.
• Raptors (birds of prey), Corvids (magpies, crows, and relatives), Hummingbirds.
• Population effects of diseases on wild birds (West Nile virus and others).
• Large mammals: carnivores, mountain lions, bobcats, wild pigs (feral hogs), sea otters.
  

Special interests in ecological genetics:  Population Genetics; Molecular DNA to reconstruct of family trees to reveal ecological relationships among individuals, kin groups, populations and disease distributions.
Special interest species: Hummingbirds, Yellow-billed Magpie, Swainson's Hawk, Mountain Lion, Sea Otter.
Special interest regions:  California, Mexico, Chile; South/Central America; global interests

See Research pages and Featured Research

Publications

Funding agencies and collaborators

Teaching and Education

• Engaging bright and motivated undergraduate, graduate, veterinary, and post-doctoral students who have scientific curiosity in the exciting and rapidly changing field of ecological genetics and wildlife population health.
• Provide a collaborative, intellectually-challenging, and nurturing atmosphere. My aim is for students to grow their appreciation and talents in the art and science of designing and conducting studies involving DNA, ecology, and population health analyses of free-ranging wildlife.

  Student Opportunities (Graduate, Veterinary, Undergraduate)
  

Graduate student opportunities

Teaching: Courses, Public Oureach

Public Service

• Working with members of the public and professionals from state, federal, international, and nongovernmental agencies to advance science for wildlife conservation.
• Engaging Citizen Scientists of all ages (kids to senior citizens), such as with Magpie Monitor program) and hummingbird conservation, to work with us for wildlife science and conservation.

Education

• Ph.D. Ecology, with emphasis on Genetics: University of California, Davis 2001.  Dissertation research: Ecological Genetics of Mountain Lions.
• Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM), Cum Laude, Ohio State University, 1986.
• M.S., Ohio State University, Veterinary Physiology and Pharmacology, 1982.
• B.Sc., Cornell University, Biology (Animal Science and Marine Biology), 1980.

Projects

• Application of genetics to answer questions about ecology of wildlife diseases, including molecular pedigree reconstruction (DNA analysis to infer kinship); population genetics; landscape genetics; ecological genetics.
• Conservation genetics of species at risk for population loss.
• Hummingbird population health, natural history, threats, and conservation genetics. Banding team member, McLaughlin UC Reserve hummingbird monitoring project; Board member, Hummingbird Monitoring Network
• Ecology and population genetics of Yellow-Billed Magpies; effects West Nile virus (with Scott Crosbie)
• Magpie Monitor program involving citizen scientists to monitor local bird populations for the effects of West Nile Virus
• Conservation Genetics of Threatened Swainson's Hawks (with Joshua Hull and Swainson's Hawk Technical Advisory committee)
• Great Gray Owl  ecology, conservation genetics, and habitat relationships (with Joshua Hull, John Keane, Eric Jepsen, and Joe Medley)
• Development and application of DNA markers for individual, kinship, and disease studies in California sea otters (with Lisa Goldberg and Tamala Gilliland)
• Ecological and Landscape Genetics of Mountain lions (pumas), Black Bears (with Sarah Brown), Feral Pigs in California (with Elizabeth Heeg and Lisa Goldberg)
• Familial relationships of deer with Chronic Wasting Disease (with Katherine O'Rourke and Bruce Hoar)
• Bighorn Sheep Captive Breeding Plan

UC Davis affiliations

Department
Population Health and Reproduction (School of Veterinary Medicine)

Graduate Groups
Animal Biology, Avian Sciences, Ecology, Forensic Science, Genetics; and Masters in Preventive Veterinary Medicine (MPVM)

See Student Opportunities

UC Davis Centers
Center for Vectorborne Diseases, Center for Companion Animal Health, Genome Center, John Muir Center for the Environment, Wildlife Health Center, Veterinary Genetics Laboratory

Professional Societies and Memberships

• Audubon Society (national and Yolo county)
• American Association of Wildlife Veterinarians
• American Ornithologists' Union
• Cooper Ornithological Society
• Ecological Society of America
• Raptor Research Foundation
• Society for Conservation Biology
• The Nature Conservancy
• The Wildlife Society, including Western section
• Wildlife Disease Association
• Wilson Ornithological Society

Licensed California veterinarian

Banding Hummingbird at McLaughlin Nature Reserve near Clear Lake, CA

Investigating botulsim outbreak in bighorn sheep, Mojave desert, California

Tagging trees to monitor Yellow-billed Magpie nests