About

Brett Jesmer is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation at Virginia Tech, affiliated with the College of Natural Resources and Environment. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Wyoming, obtained in 2018, and a B.S. from the State University of New York College of Environmental Science & Forestry, earned in 2006. His research interests encompass behavioral ecology, animal movement, nutritional ecology, demography, and the conservation and management of mammals. Jesmer teaches courses such as Principles of Fish and Wildlife Conservation, Mammalogy, and Movement Ecology. His research projects include studying white-tailed deer ecology in Belize and Virginia, wildlife habitat connectivity and corridor modeling, and the cultural transmission and evolution of ungulate knowledge. He has contributed to understanding human-wildlife interactions through initiatives like the COVID-19 Biologging Initiative, utilizing animal tracking to advance community ecology and global conservation planning.

Research topics

• Computer Science
• Artificial Intelligence
• Biology
• Ecology
• Engineering
• Aerospace engineering
• Remote sensing
• Social psychology
• Evolutionary biology
• Psychology
• Demography
• Environmental resource management
• Statistics
• Geography
• Environmental science
• Cartography

Selected publications

• Interacting effects of human presence and landscape modification on birds and mammals

  Science · 2026-05-21 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access

  Sustainable human-wildlife coexistence requires a mechanistic understanding of the many ways that humans affect animals. However, progress is hampered by the lack of accessible data measuring the dynamic presence of people. Here, we leverage mobile-device data to disentangle how human presence and landscape modification differentially influence the use of geographic and environmental space for 37 mammal and bird species across the United States. Human presence affected more than 65% of species, with substantial variation across species. For ~60% of species that responded to human activities, the effects were interdependent-animals tended to react more strongly to human presence in less modified habitats. Our results demonstrate that human presence and landscape modification have complex combined effects on wildlife, which need to be considered for effective management.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Multiscale Resource Selection for a Reintroduced Elk Population

  Animals · 2026-04-01

  articleOpen access

  Patterns of resource selection are driven by the decision-making processes of animals occurring at multiple scales from where to establish a home range (i.e., second order selection) to which resource patches to use within the home range (i.e., third order selection). Elk (Cervus canadensis) were reintroduced to southwestern Virginia, USA, from 2012 to 2014 following successful translocations onto reclaimed surface coal mines in the region. We sought to understand how elk have acclimated following their translocation using location data from GPS-collared adult female elk (n = 33) collected from 2019 to 2022 along with remotely sensed terrain and land cover data. We utilized continuous-time movement models paired with generalized linear mixed-effects modeling to describe seasonal resource selection at second and third orders. At both scales of selection and throughout the year, female elk selected reclaimed surface mines, conifer forests, ridgetops, and areas with lower terrain roughness, while avoiding mixed hardwood and oak (Quercus spp.) forests. Unmined open land was only selected at the third order during periods of forage scarcity (i.e., winter) and increased metabolic requirements (i.e., late gestation). Although surface coal mining leaves legacy environmental impacts on the landscape, management of these sites provides benefits to elk and maintains open habitat that is otherwise limited.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Landscapes of fearlessness revealed through hormonal responses to putatively risky places

  Behavioral Ecology · 2026-01-21 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access

  Abstract Prey must balance the energetic benefits of foraging with avoiding predation risk. The risk-reward tradeoff, a cornerstone of behavioral ecology, hinges not only on realized predation risk but also on how prey perceive that risk. However, the risk prey animals ascribe to the habitats they use is frequently evaluated by quantifying antipredator behaviors, which may be conflated with behaviors resulting from different environmental pressures. We used nonbehavioral data to test assumptions about which habitats prey perceive as risky by pairing observations of elk (Cervus canadensis) habitat use with neurochemical responses measured from fecal hormones: glucocorticoids (GC), which reflect stress from perceived risk and hunger, and triiodothyronine (T3), which increases with energy intake. Elk had lower GC and T3 in the forest compared with cropland, a potentially risky but energetically rewarding habitat. In cropland, elk produced more T3, indicating greater foraging rewards. Surprisingly, GC levels were consistent in cropland, even during the daytime when human activity—and putative risk—peaked. The lack of risk responsiveness highlights that perceived risk is context-dependent, likely integrating energetic rewards and periodic encounters with predators rather than reflecting a blanket assessment of habitat. We reveal that prey animals likely mitigate risk at fine temporal scales, and are therefore capable of sophisticated assessments of the habitats they use beyond simple habitat-risk associations. Importantly, our results suggest that putative landscapes of fear may not reflect expected costs of risk for prey.

  PublisherDOI

• On the interface between cultural transmission, phenotypic diversity, demography and the conservation of migratory ungulates

  Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences · 2025-05-01 · 4 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Recent evidence indicates that green-wave surfing behaviour in ungulates and the migrations that stem from this behaviour are socially learned, culturally transmitted across generations and become more efficient via cumulative cultural evolution. But given a lack of corroborative evidence, whether ungulate migration is a cultural phenomenon remains a hypothesis deserving of further testing. In this opinion piece, we summarize the role memory and social learning play in the green-wave surfing that underlies ungulate migration, and when combined with the natural history of ungulates, we argue that the most likely mechanism for maintenance of ungulate migration is animal culture. We further our argument by providing a synopsis of processes that promote diversification of migratory behaviour and link these processes to their emergent ecological patterns, which are common in nature but have not historically been considered as potential cultural phenomena. The notion that diverse portfolios of migratory behaviour may buffer populations from environmental change emerges from this synthesis but requires empirical testing. Finally, we contend that, because the migratory behaviour of ungulates stems largely from cultural transmission as opposed to a genetic programme, the diversity of observed migratory strategies represents 'culturally significant units' deserving of the same conservation effort afforded to evolutionarily significant units.This article is part of the theme issue 'Animal culture: conservation in a changing world'.

  PublisherDOI

• Strategies for integrating animal social learning and culture into conservation translocation practice

  Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences · 2025-05-01 · 13 citations

  reviewOpen access

  Conservation translocations are increasingly used in species' recovery. Their success often depends upon maintaining or restoring survival-relevant behaviour, which is socially learned in many animals. A lack of species- or population-appropriate learning can lead to the loss of adaptive behaviour, increasing the likelihood of negative human interactions and compromising animals' ability to migrate, exploit resources, avoid predators, integrate into wild populations, reproduce and survive. When applied well, behavioural tools can address deficiencies in socially learned behaviours and boost survival. However, their use has been uneven between species and translocation programmes, and behaviour commonly contributes to translocation failure. Critically, current international guidance (e.g. the International Union for Conservation of Nature's translocation guidelines) does not directly discuss social learning or its facilitation. We argue that linking knowledge about social learning to appropriate translocation strategies will enhance guidance and direct future research. We offer a framework for incorporating animal social learning into translocation planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation across wild and captive settings. Our recommendations consider barriers practitioners face in contending with logistics, time constraints and intervention cost. We emphasize that stronger links between researchers, translocation practitioners and wildlife agencies would increase support for social learning research, and improve the perceived relevance and feasibility of facilitating social learning.This article is part of the theme issue 'Animal culture: conservation in a changing world'.

  PublisherDOI

• The spatial ecology of wild pigs (Sus scrofa) in southwest Florida

  Wildlife Research · 2025-11-26

  article

  Context Understanding a species’ spatial and behavioral ecology informs conservation and management. Wild pigs (Sus scrofa) are a key prey for endangered Florida panthers (Puma concolor coryi) yet are among the most damaging vertebrate pests in their nonnative range, impacting agriculture, ecological resources, and presenting zoonotic disease risks. Aims We evaluated how environmental factors influence wild pig home range size and movement behavior in southwest Florida. Specifically, we assessed how habitat composition, temperature, and season shape space use and activity patterns to identify ecological drivers that inform management. Methods We analyzed GPS collar data from 16 wild pigs (13 males, three females) collected during June 2019 to February 2021. Autocorrelated kernel density estimation quantified individual home range size. To test the habitat productivity hypothesis, we used stepwise linear regression to evaluate the effects of landcover composition, environmental variables, and individual traits on log-transformed home range size. Three-state hidden Markov models assessed how extrinsic factors influenced movement behavior and daily time budgets. Key results The overall inverse-variance weighted mean home range was 10.07 km2, with males averaging 13.5 km2 and females 4.10 km2. Seasonal analyses showed larger home ranges in the wet season (males 13.53 km2, females 5.49 km2) than the dry season (males 11.04 km2, females 2.69 km2). Home range decreased with increased herbaceous wetland cover and increased with forest cover. As temperature exceeded 32°C, resting probability increased and traveling decreased. Resting occurred mainly during 7:30–16:00, while traveling during 18:00–7:00, indicating nocturnality. Traveling was most frequent during February–August, peaking in July. Conclusions Wild pigs maintained smaller ranges in wetland landscapes, suggesting these habitats provide core resources. Seasonal and thermal constraints shaped movement intensity and activity, with pigs expanding ranges during the wet season and exhibiting nocturnal activity and reduced daytime movement under higher temperatures. Implications Linking spatial and behavioral patterns to environmental conditions provides managers with actionable insight for control. Understanding when and where pigs move most extensively can inform trapping timing and placement, limit range expansion, reduce disease risk, and guide habitat management to mitigate ecological and agricultural impacts.

  PublisherDOI

• Not so scary after all? Decoding the landscape of fear through hormonal responses to risky times and places

  bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · 2025-05-10

  preprintOpen access

  Abstract Prey must balance the energetic benefits of foraging with avoiding predation risk. This risk-reward trade-off, a cornerstone of behavioural ecology, hinges not only on realized predation risk but also on how prey perceive that risk. We often assume energetically rewarding habitats must be inherently risky because prey often increase their vigilance in these habitats or avoid them altogether. However, our assumption that these antipredator behaviours reflect perceived risk frequently goes untested. We used non-behavioural data to test our assumptions about which habitats prey perceive as risky by pairing observations of habitat use of elk ( Cervus canadensis ) with their physiological responses measured from faecal hormones: glucocorticoids (GC), which reflect stress from perceived risk and hunger, and triiodothyronine (T3), which increases with energy intake. Elk had lower GC and T3 in the forest, a putatively safer and poorer foraging habitat than cropland, where they produced more T3, indicating foraging. Surprisingly, GC levels were consistent in cropland, even during the daytime when human activity—and putative risk—peaked. This lack of risk responsiveness highlights that physiological responses are a nuanced integration of perceived risk and reward rather than a guaranteed outcome of habitat use. Our study challenges the assumption that high-reward habitats are inherently risky, and that safer habitats limit energy intake, revealing that the assumptions we make about habitats from a behavioural lens may not always be the reality for prey.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Origin stories: how does learned migratory behaviour arise in populations?

  Biological reviews/Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society · 2024-12-27 · 3 citations

  reviewOpen access

  Although decades of research have deepened our understanding of the proximate triggers and ultimate drivers of migrations for a range of taxa, how populations establish migrations remains a mystery. However, recent studies have begun to illuminate the interplay between genetically inherited and learned migrations, opening the door to the evaluation of how migration may be learned, established, and maintained. Nevertheless, for migratory species where the role of learning is evident, we lack a comprehensive framework for understanding how populations learn specific routes and refine migratory movements over time (i.e., their origins). This review draws on advances in behavioural and movement ecology to offer a comprehensive framework for how populations could transition from resident to migratory by connecting cognitive research on fine-scale perceptual cues and movement decisions with literature on learning and cultural transmission, to the emergent pattern of migration. We synthesize the multiple cognitive mechanisms and processes that allow a population to respond to seasonal resource limitation, then encode spatial and environmental information about resource availability in memory and engage in social learning to navigate their landscapes and track resources better. A rise in global reintroduction efforts, along with human-induced rapid shifts in environmental cues and changing landscapes make evaluating the origins of this threatened behaviour more urgent than ever.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• A vision for incorporating human mobility in the study of human–wildlife interactions

  Nature Ecology & Evolution · 2023-08-07 · 35 citations

  reviewOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Biological Earth observation with animal sensors

  Trends in Ecology & Evolution · 2022 · 129 citations

  • Computer Science
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Remote sensing

  Space-based tracking technology using low-cost miniature tags is now delivering data on fine-scale animal movement at near-global scale. Linked with remotely sensed environmental data, this offers a biological lens on habitat integrity and connectivity for conservation and human health; a global network of animal sentinels of environmental change.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Matthew J. Kauffman

  Johns Hopkins Medicine

  23 shared

• Simon Chamaillé‐Jammes

  Université de Montpellier

  14 shared

• Jacob R. Goheen

  Wyoming Department of Education

  13 shared

• Thomas Mueller

  9 shared

• Marlee A. Tucker

  Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences

  9 shared

• Kevin L. Monteith

  University of Wyoming

  8 shared

• Louis van Schalkwyk

  University of Pretoria

  8 shared

• Erica F. Stuber

  Utah State University

  8 shared

Labs

• Fish and Wildlife ConservationPI

Education

• PhD Ecology

  University of Wyoming

  2018

• BS Environmental Biology

  SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry

  2006