The Quantitative Ecology Lab is run by Beth Gardner at the University of  Washington.  Our lab develops innovative quantitative methods to study wildlife, plant, and fisheries populations around the world.  Please check out this site for information on the lab team and research projects, publications, and teaching.  And follow the lab on Blue Sky: @labgardner.bsky.social

What we do and why

Assessing populations, including estimation of demographic rates, distribution patterns, abundance, and habitat relationships, is essential for conservation, management, and ecological understanding. Major drivers such as climate change and land-use change will continue to alter the environment affecting wildlife populations in new and unexpected ways. Our lab develops statistical models to assess populations and distributions for fish, wildlife, and other organisms. Using hierarchical models to separate observation processes from the underlying state process of interest and a Bayesian framework for analyses allows us to directly address complex biological questions.

Look around the site to found out more about our lab group!

For prospective students – thank you for your interest in our lab and research. I’m afraid I  will not be accepting any new graduate students to start in Fall 2026.  I am always looking for funding and opportunities, so if anything changes, I will post potential MS and PhD positions on ecolog, Texas A&M job board, Blue Skye, and here.