Dr. Rob Swihart's website

Robert K. “Rob” Swihart is Professor of Wildlife Ecology at Purdue University. Rob received his B.S. in Wildlife Science from Purdue University, his M.S. in Wildlife from the University of Minnesota, and his Ph.D. in Ecology from the University of Kansas. He worked as a National Institutes of Health postdoctoral fellow and as a research ecologist with the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station before joining the faculty at Purdue. Rob served as Head of the Department of Forestry and Natural Resources (FNR) from 2004-2016. 

Rob was the first faculty member in FNR to be named a University Faculty Scholar. He has published over 190 scholarly works, many of which are widely cited. His research interests include effects of habitat fragmentation on wildlife, population and community ecology of mammals, plant-herbivore interactions, restoration ecology, conservation biology, and wildlife management. He relies on a combination of mathematical, experimental, and comparative approaches to address the importance of human activities (principally agriculture and forest management) for behavioral and ecological processes affecting vertebrates. Rob’s research spans levels of biological organization from individuals to communities and spatial scales ranging from microsites to continents. Many of his interests are inherently interdisciplinary, which has led to strong collaborative ties with mathematicians, statisticians, specialists in remote sensing, botanists, parasitologists, endocrinologists, chemists, hydrologists, economists, demographers, and social scientists.

Research Group - Wildlife Science

Facilities - Animal Care Facility, John S. Wright Center, Wildlife Ecology Lab

Related Centers - Center for the Environment, Purdue Climate Change Research Center, Natural Resources Leadership Development Institute