Mary Burak

Contact
Ph.D. Candidate
Yale School of the Environment
​Pronouns: she/her

Education

M.Phil., 2018, Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies
B.A., 2015, Providence College, Biology

Curriculum Vitae

Click here to download CV.

Research

Broadly, I am interested in understanding how human activities and land use affect wildlife abundance, movement, and gene flow. I am especially interested in how these effects influence human-wildlife interactions in non-protected areas, where land management tradeoffs between biodiversity conservation and land development can have cascading effects on both wildlife and human communities. For my dissertation research, I use a variety of field techniques as well as genetic analyses to investigate the effects of human activity on large carnivore communities in central Kenya. I am interested in using these types of data to construct predictive models that can better inform land management decisions, and better support human-wildlife coexistence.

Previous Research

Center for Genetic Analysis of Biodiversity at Yale University (2015–2016) – I worked as a research assistant and lab technician for Dr. Gisella Caccone. We investigated the landscape genetics of tsetse fly populations in Uganda. The tsetse fly in the sole vector of sleeping sickness and, consequently tsetse control is critical to disease control. The objectives of this study included pinpointing geographic areas with minimized risk of tsetse reinvasion to be targeted by control efforts.
 
Providence College (2014–2015) – I conducted my undergraduate senior thesis research with Dr. Jonathan Richardson on the landscape and population genetics study of the Norway rat (Rattus norvegicus). The Norway rat is a vector of leptospirosis and is associated with seasonal outbreaks of the disease in the urban slums of Salvador, Brazil. I led the GIS component of the analysis, investigating which landscape and environmental features help or hinder rat movement. You can read more about results from this project here and here.
 
School for Field Studies (2014) – I conducted directed research with John Mwamhanga, M.S. based out of the School for Field Studies’ Karatu, Tanzania campus. We investigated the ecological status of Buger Community Forest, a forest undergoing management change in the Karatu District of Tanzania. Field work involved flora and fauna identification, assessment of forest disturbance, and community interviews.
Email: mary.burak [at] yale.edu
Office: Greeley Laboratory, Rm 119
Website: mkburak.com 
Twitter: @mkburak

Mailing Address:
Yale University
School of the Environment
370 Prospect Street
New Haven, CT 06511 USA
Picture
Mary overlooking Lolldaiga Hills Ranch, one of her study sites within Kenya's Ewaso Ecosystem

Publications

  1. Burak, M.K., et al. In Review. Considering Context When Rewilding to Animate the Carbon Cycle.
  2. Burak, M.K., et al. In Prep. Spatiotemporal Patterns of Lion (Panthera Leo) Step-Selection and Landscape Resistance in a Human-Wildlife Coexistence Landscape.
  3. Burak, M.K., Monk, J.D., and Schmitz, O.J. (2018). Eco-Evolutionary Dynamics: The Predator-Prey Adaptive Play and the Ecological Theater. Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine. Invited Manuscript.
  4. Saarman, N., Burak, M.K.*, Opiro, R., Hyseni, C., Echodu, R., Opiyo, E.A., Dion, K., Dunn, A.W., Aksoy, S., and Caccone, A. (2018). Applications of spatial genetics to improve habitat suitability modelling and inform vector control efforts of Glossina fuscipes fuscipes. Ecology & Evolution.
  5. Richardson, J.L., Burak, M.K., Hernandez, C., Shirvell, J.M., Mariani, C., Carvalho-Pereira, T.S.A., Pertile, A.C., Panti-May, J.A., Pedra, G.G., Serrano, S., et al. (2017). Using fine-scale spatial genetics of Norway rats to improve control efforts and reduce leptospirosis risk in urban slum environments. Evolutionary Applications, 10: 323–337.
  6. Costa, F., Richardson, J.L., Dion, K., Mariani, C., Pertile, A.C., Burak, M.K., Childs, J.E., Ko, A.I., Caccone, A. (2015). Multiple Paternity in the Norway rat, Rattus norvegicus, from Urban Slums in Salvador, Brazil. Journal of Heredity, 107: 181–186.​


*Indicates shared first-authorship
Picture
Jackpot! Collecting lion scat in Kenya.
Picture
A lioness stalks two buffalo in Akagera National Park, Rwanda