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AZA
William J. McShea, Ph.D., Research
Scientist
Conservation
and Science
Education
Bucknell University, B.S. 1977, Animal Behavior
University of New Hampshire, M.S. 1981, Zoology
State University of New York at Binghamton, Ph.D., 1985
Professional History and Interest
Bill McShea is an ecologist who has been working as a trust fund employee at the National Zoo's Conservation and Research Center for 17 years on wildlife management and conservation. His research involves forest ecology issues on public lands in the eastern U.S. and conservation issues in developing countries.
The local research has included focus on the ecological impacts of white-tailed deer, forest ecology of migratory birds, and small mammal ecology. A second effort has been to understand the dynamics of oak forests and their management for wildlife. Part of this work has involved survey work for migratory birds and small mammals for both the National Forest and Park Service lands in the area. In recent years this work has involved use of GIS and Remote Sensing technology to describe and understand animal distributions on a landscape scale.
Current projects in developing countries include a small mammal survey in Gabon, deer surveys in Burma, Laos and Brazil, and large mammal surveys in China.
He has over 60 peer-reviewed articles on wildlife ecology, in addition to many articles for public or professional education. McShea has co-edited two volumes, one on deer management and one on oak ecosystem management. He is currently involved in teacher and professional training by offering short courses in forest biodiversity, large mammal survey techniques, and wildlife management. He is part of annual courses to train secondary teachers in using forests to explain biodiversity concepts to students, and has recently started surveys of a local EPA Superfund site that is matched by student surveys of their school land.
Professional training for wildlife managers has been conducted in Burma, China, Brazil, Mongolia, Saudi Arabia, and Vietnam. McShea serves as an adjunct with several universities (University of Pennsylvania, Oklahoma University, Virginia Commonwealth University, George Mason University, Utah State University, Peking University, and James Madison University). He has taught courses at the University of Pennsylvania, George Mason University, St. Lawrence University, Cornell University, and SUNY Binghamton.
Bill is interested in providing knowledge that helps solve human/animal conflicts and conserves biodiversity.
Selected Publications
McShea, W. J., H. B. Underwood, and J. H. Rappole. editors. 1997. The Science of Overabundance: Deer ecology and population management. Smithsonian Institution Press. Washington DC.
McShea, W. J., P. Leimgruber, M. Aung, S. Monfort, and C. Wemmer. 1999. Range collapse of a tropical cervid (Cervus eldi) and determining the extent of remaining habitat. Animal Conservation 2, 173-183.
McShea, W. J. and J. H. Rappole. 2000. Managing the abundance and diversity of breeding bird populations through manipulation of deer populations. Conservation Biology 14, 1161-1170.
McShea, W. J. 2000. The influence of acorn crops on annual variation in rodent and bird populations. Ecology 81, 228-238.
McShea, W. J., M. Aung, D. Poszig, C. Wemmer, and S. Monfort. 2001. Forage, habitat use and sexual segregation by a tropical deer species (Cervus eldi thamin) in a dipterocarp forest. Journal of Mammalogy 82:848-857.
McShea, W. J., and W. M. Healy. editors. 2002. Oak Forest Ecosystems: Ecology and Management for Wildlife. John Hopkins University Press.
View all publications, abstracts, and printable papers by William McShea
Contact Information
Smithsonian's
National Zoo
Conservation & Research
Center
1500
Remount Road
Front Royal, VA 22630
