Lauren Emerick about Michigan’s Pig Problem

On this week’s SciFiles, your hosts Chelsie and Daniel interview Lauren Emerick. Lauren is a junior studying Fisheries and Wildlife at Michigan State University, working for Dr. Roloff in the Applied Forest and Wildlife Ecology Lab. Lauren has been researching the behavioral changes in invasive wild pigs (Sus scrofa) in response to management activities in the state of Michigan. Wild pigs are a newly established invasive species in the state of Michigan, and they pose several threats; they uproot agricultural crops, cause damage to the landscape, and compete with native wildlife species. However, very little is understood about wild pig behavior and movement throughout the state. Lauren's research investigates the impact of wild pig management tactics currently being used by wildlife management officials on the behavior of this species, in hopes of informing managers the best course of action to take against this invasive wildlife species. Lauren used data collected from GPS collared wild pigs to assess the movement and behavior of the animals before and after management actions and analyzed the data to better understand the implications of our current methods of invasive wild pig management.
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