Andrew (Andy) Little

Contact Information

My Story

Hi, I'm Andrew Little, and I'm an assistant professor of Landscape and Habitat Management with the School of Natural Resources.

My primary research focus is improving the ability of wildlife conservationists and managers to understand wildlife-habitat relationships in an increasingly human-dominated landscape. I study the ecology and management of ungulates, mesopredators, and gamebirds; wildlife-habitat relationships; landscape ecology; and predator-prey ecology.

As a Nebraska Extension and research scientist, my goals are to create innovative solutions to the growing wildlife conservation and management needs in a multi-functional Nebraska landscape where there are competing interests for agricultural production, wildlife conservation, and ecosystem services.

A little history about myself ...

I grew up near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, in a small farming community. At a young age, I developed a strong passion for natural resource conservation. I spent many days afield with my father hunting and fishing, and learning about our natural world. My father was previously a Water Quality Specialist with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection agency, which is where I garnered an appreciation for our natural resources including the importance of water conservation and management.

During high school, I became an active member in 4-H and Future Farmers of America (FFA), which helped strengthen my passion for natural resource conservation, particularly from the agricultural perspective. In 2004, I was honored to receive one of the highest awards from the FFA organization, the American FFA degree, which is given to members who have demonstrated a high level of commitment to FFA and have made significant accomplishments in their supervised agricultural experiences.

I later attended The Pennsylvania State University where I received my bachelor's degree in Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences. After college, I worked for the Pennsylvania Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit as a forestry technician. I then moved on to the Smithsonian Conservation and Research Center in Front Royal, Virginia, where I served as an ecology intern. I worked on a variety of research projects including evaluating the influence of land-use patterns on deer-vehicle collisions.

I continued to recognize the importance of natural resource conservation through my internship projects and decided to attend graduate school at Mississippi State University. Interestingly, my master's research combined my passion for natural resource conservation and deer hunting where I had the opportunity to evaluate the behavioral responses of hunting pressure on deer behavior. See my Publications tab to learn more about what we found.

After completing my master's degree, I began working at Ducks Unlimited as a Geographic Information Systems Technician. I assisted with managing the southern United States GIS database for Ducks Unlimited and worked with engineers and biologists on programs such as the Conservation Easement Priority program. While working at Ducks Unlimited, the biologists I interacted with regularly, instilled a desire in me to continue my education and pursue a doctorate in wildlife ecology.

In January 2012, I began my Ph.D. at the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources-University of Georgia where my researched focused on evaluating Eastern wild turkey nest site selection and survival, female turkey habitat selection and survival in frequently-burned longleaf pine savannas. After completing my doctorate, I moved into a Post-Doctoral Research Scientist position at the University of Georgia where I served as University liaison between the Warnell School and Georgia Department of Natural Resources-Wildlife Resources Division and coordinator of collaborative wildlife research projects. I later moved into a Senior Research Associate role where I continued my liaison duties and helped manage complex long-term DNR-WRD data sets. I also organized and moderated a day-long Georgia DNR Wildlife Research Symposium each year to facilitate distribution of latest research to state agency biologists and administrators.

On July 1, 2018, I began my new role as an Assistant Professor in the School of Natural Resources.

Selected Publications

Background

Education

Affiliations

• Applied Wildlife Ecology and Spatial Movement Lab
• Center for Resilience in Agricultural Working Landscapes, UNL
• Spatial Science, UNL

Awards

Professional Organizations

Websites

• Applied Spatial Ecology of Wildlife-Course Design Website:
• Personal Website
• ResearchGate
• LinkedIn

SNR Program Areas

• Applied Ecology

Grants

Currently this page only displays grants that were awarded on 1/1/ 2009 to the present. If a grant was awarded prior to 1/1/ 2009 and is still active, it will not be displayed on this page.

Advising

Courses Taught