Please Note - This is an outdated website
Please visit - https://maxallen.inhs.illinois.edu/
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Recent Research and Publications of Note
I recently published a manuscript in Ecology. The manuscript focuses on determing the traits and other values that dictate who wins during competition between mesocarnivores. Surprisingly, bobcats and spotted skunks won more encounters than expected, I think because of their unique weapons.
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I recently published a manuscript examining how territorial solitary pumas react to competitors and mates. Each of our top models showed that male pumas reacted most strongly to the combination of recent visits by both competitors and potential mates.
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Pumas are among the most cryptic of carnivores. Because they are so difficult to observe, we have very little idea about how puma courtship occurs. I recently shared my thoughts and illustrated my experiences with videos in an article with National Geographic.
About Me
I am a carnivore ecologist, author, and photographer. I was born and raised in central Vermont, and I have lived throughout the American west and New Zealand. I was awarded my Ph.D. in Conservation Biology from Victoria University of Wellington in 2014, for my dissertation entitled The Ecology and Behaviour of Pumas (Puma concolor) in Northern California.
I am currently working with the University of Wisconsin at Madison on numerous carnivore ecology projects. I was previously the lead biologist on the Mendocino Mountain Lion Project, and a post-doctoral researcher with the Santa Cruz Puma Project.
I spend most of my spare time exploring wild areas, running, or photographing animals. I have published over 30 peer-reviewed scientific articles, many National Geographic posts, and my first photography book was published in 2010.
I can be contacted at maximilian [dot] allen [at] gmail [dot] com
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