Mandy Lipinski, PhD

I grew up in Wisconsin and my love of nature and science was fostered early by my family and a high school course in Ecology. I soon found home in the Wildlife Ecology department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, originally founded by Aldo Leopold whose influence is still very much evident. Aldo Leopold and his writings have been a great influence on my aspirations and philosophy on natural resources.

After receiving my B.Sc. from UW-Madison, I departed WI for the Great Plains and attended North Dakota State University for a M.Sc. in Rangeland Ecology and Management (2014), with a thesis focusing on mixed grass prairie community dynamics.

I completed a Ph.D. (August 2019) at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in the School of Natural Resources, residing in the Nebraska Cooperative Fish & Wildlife Research Unit. My dissertation examined the interplay of land use, winter weather, behavior, and physiology of Northern Bobwhite. After staying at UNL for an academic year as a post-doctoral lecturer and Instructor of Record, I moved to Bozeman, Montana for a one-year research postdoc position at Montana State University working with Sharp-tail Grouse population dynamics. I am continuing to pursue my passions for ecological research and teaching at the college and university-level. I believe in student-centric teaching with active learning techniques supported by education research.

In my spare time, I am an artist and photographer, a waterfowl hunter, and I enjoy a variety of other outdoor hobbies with my dogs.