Dr. Jose R. Soto-Shoender

Visiting Assistant Professor of Biology and Ecology

Education

Ph.D., University of Florida
M.Sc., University of Florida
B.Sc. San Carlos University of Guatemala

I am a wildlife conservation ecologist that conducts applied research to inform the management and conservation of terrestrial vertebrates, particularly mammals. My research examines species-specific and community-wide responses of mammals and birds to global change and human disturbances such as hunting, urbanization, and agriculture. I have used non-invasive field methods (camera trapping, line transect sampling, and automated acoustic monitors) to study how wildlife communities, and species’ abundances and interactions change across gradients of human disturbance and/or global change. I have worked in the Maya Forest of Guatemala, nature reserves of southern Africa, and the Greater Everglades Ecosystem in Florida. I also study human-wildlife interactions to guide the participatory design and implementation of conservation programs under a human-wildlife coexistence framework. I work directly with local stakeholders to collect scientific information on endangered wildlife population status and habitat use (i.e., citizen science) and study local perceptions and attitudes towards wildlife to develop holistic conservation plans that involve local communities in the decision-making process.

Recent Courses

Foundations of Biology I
Wildlife Ecology and Management

Selected Publications

• Zimmermann, A., Johnson, P., de Barros, A.E., Inskip, C., Amit, R., Soto, E.C., Lopez-Gonzalez, C.A., Sillero-Zubiri, C., de Paula, R., Marchini, S., Soto-Shoender, J., et. al. 2021. Every case is different: Cautionary insights about generalisations in human-wildlife conflict from a range-wide study of people and jaguars. Biological Conservation, 260, p.109185.

• Soto-Shoender, J.R., Gwinn, D.C., Sovie, A., McCleery, R.A. 2020. Life-history traits moderate the susceptibility of native mammals to an invasive predator. Biological Invasions 22, 2671- 2684. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-020-02278-6

• Soto-Shoender, J.R, McCleery, R.A., Monadjem, A., and Gwinn, D. 2018. The importance of grass cover for mammalian diversity and habitat associations in a bush encroached savanna. Biological Conservation 221, 127-136.

• Stanton, R.A., Jr., Boone, W.W., Soto-Shoender, J., Fletcher, R.J., Blaum, N., and McCleery, R.M. 2017. Shrub encroachment and vertebrate diversity: a global meta-analysis. Global Ecology and Biogeography.

• Rivas-Romero, J. and Soto-Shoender, J. 2016. Filling in the gaps: Evaluating the use of camera traps in the canopy to examine frugivore visits to Oreopanax echinops. Southwestern Naturalist 60, 366-370.

• Soto-Shoender, J., and Main, M. 2013. Differences in stakeholder perceptions of jaguars (Panthera onca) and pumas (Puma concolor) in the tropical lowlands of Guatemala. Oryx 47, 109-112.

• Soto-Shoender, J., and Giuliano, W. 2011. Predation on livestock by large carnivores in the tropical lowlands of Guatemala. Oryx 45, 561-568.