conservation biology, wildlife management, animal behavior, ecology

2019 PhD, Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
2015 MS, Biological Sciences, Purdue University Fort Wayne
2011 BA, Environmental Studies with Biology minor, Florida Gulf Coast University

2020–present: Instructor of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation (Distance Education Adjunct Faculty), Unity Environmental University. Unity, ME.

2020–present: Adjunct Faculty, Biological Sciences, College of DuPage. Glen Ellyn, IL.

2020: Adjunct Faculty, Biology, University of St. Francis. Joliet, IL.

2019–present: Research Biologist, US Army Corps of Engineers ERDC-CERL. Champaign, IL.

2016–2018: Graduate Research Assistant, Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois. Urbana, IL.

2015–2016: Research Assistant, Environmental Resources Center, Purdue University. Fort Wayne, IN.

2013–2015: Graduate Teaching Assistant, Department of Biology, Purdue University. Fort Wayne, IN.

Sasha's research interests broadly encompass behavior, ecology, conservation, and management of wildlife—particularly threatened, endangered, and at-risk species. An overarching goal of his work is to integrate multiple disciplines to inform wildlife management and conservation issues. This has led to field and laboratory studies focused on:

• movement and space use
• habitat selection
• physiology
• foraging
• wildlife diseases
• captive animal welfare
• reintroduction biology
• animal personality
• predator-prey interactions
• social network analysis
• modeling population and community parameters (e.g., occupancy, abundance, and survival) using numerous survey techniques (e.g., eDNA, acoustic monitoring, visual encounter).

Tetzlaff, S.J., J. Vizentin-Bugoni, J.H. Sperry, M.A. Davis, R.W. Clark, R. Repp, and G.W. Schuett. 2023. Fission-fusion dynamics in the social networks of a North American pitviper. Ecology and Evolution 13: e10339. 

Tetzlaff, S.J., M.A. Davis, G.W. Schuett, E.T. Hileman, J.H. Sperry, and W.S. Brown. 2023. Maladapted in the Anthropocene: communal hyperfidelity in snakes. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 21: 266–268. 

Carlson, B.E. and S.J. Tetzlaff. 2020. Long-term behavioral repeatability in wild adult and captive juvenile turtles (Terrapene carolina): implications for personality development. Ethology 126: 668–678. 

Tetzlaff, S.J., J.H. Sperry, and B.A. DeGregorio. 2019. Effects of antipredator training, environmental enrichment, and soft release on wildlife translocations: a review and meta-analysis. Biological Conservation 236: 324–331. 

Tetzlaff, S.J., J.H. Sperry, and B.A. DeGregorio. 2018. Captive-reared juvenile box turtles innately prefer naturalistic habitat: implications for translocation. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 204: 128–133. 

Tetzlaff, S.J., M.J. Ravesi, M.C. Allender, E.T. Carter, B.A. DeGregorio, J.M. Josimovich, and B.A. Kingsbury. 2017. Snake fungal disease affects behavior of free-ranging Massasauga Rattlesnakes (Sistrurus catenatus). Herpetological Conservation and Biology 12: 624–634. 

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