LeftBackground CenterBackground Roel Lopez
Department of Defense
Environmental Readiness
1225 South Clark Street, Suite 1500
Arlington, VA 22202 703-604-1820
Fax: 703-607-1244
Roel.Lopez@osd.mil
Right Background

Biography

Roel R. Lopez is an Associate Professor in the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences and Texas A&M Institute of Renewable Natural Resources. Roel is on special assignment (2-year IPA) serving as a Special Assistant for Range Sustainment and Regional Partnerships in the Office of the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Installations and Environment), Environmental Readiness, and Safety in Arlington, Virginia. He will support the Under Secretary of Defense (Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics) by ensuring the long-term sustainment of military test and training ranges while providing sound land stewardship. His previous research focused on endangered and/or fragmented wildlife populations and nuisance populations in urban settings. Roel is active in The Wildlife Society (Certified Wildlife Biologist) from the local to national level, and currently serves as Associate Editor for the Wildlife Society Bulletin and Journal of Wildlife Management. He is originally from South Texas and currently lives in Alexandria, Virginia with his wife Angelica, son Cristian, and daughter Ysla.

Degrees Held

Ph.D. – Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences (2001). Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas.

M.S. – Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences (1996). Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas.

B.S. – Forestry (1993). Stephen F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches, Texas.

Employment History

Associate Professor, Texas A&M University, Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences (WFSC), 9/2001-present.

Wildlife Biologist, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Florida Keys National Wildlife Refuges, National Key Deer Refuge, 9/2000-8/2001.

Welder Wildlife Fellow, Rob and Bessie Welder Wildlife Foundation, 1/1998-12/2000.

Wildlife Biologist, U.S. Forest Service, Sabine National Forest, Yellowpine Ranger District, 6/1990-6/1993.

Recent Honors and Awards

TAMU Vice Chancellor’s Award in Excellence – Graduate Student Research, 2001.
TAMU Partners in Learning Award in Excellence, 2002.
TAMU Association of Former Students Graduate Research Award, 2002.
Montague Center for Teaching Excellence Scholar, TAMU Center for Teaching     Excellence, 2003.
Texas Chapter of TWS Outstanding Scientific Publication, 2005.
Inaugural “W” Course Teaching Award, 2006.
USDA CSREES New Teacher Award, 2006.
TAMU Vice Chancellor’s Award in Excellence – Diversity Award, 2007.

Publications

Journal Articles

McCleery, R. A., R. R. Lopez, N. J. Silvy, and S. N. Kahlich. 2007. Habitat use of fox squirrels in an urban environment. Journal of Wildlife Management. In press.

Lopez, A., C. C. Torres, B. Boyd, N. J. Silvy, and R. R. Lopez. 2007. Texas Latino college student attitudes toward natural resources and the environment. Journal of Wildlife Management. In press.

LaFever, D., R. R. Lopez, R. Feagin, and N. J. Silvy. 2007. Predicting the impacts of future sea-level rise on an endangered lagomorph. Environmental Management. In press.

Hill, P. M., R. R. Lopez, and B.L. Pierce. 2006. Estimating free-roaming cat densities in urban areas: comparison of mark-resight and distance sampling. Journal of Wildlife Management. In press.

Locke, S. L., M. W. Cook, L. A. Harveson, D. S. Davis, R. R. Lopez, N. J. Silvy, and M. A. Fraker. 2007. Effectiveness of SpayVac® on reducing white-tailed deer fertility. Journal of Wildlife Diseases. In press.

Faulhaber, C. A., N. J. Silvy, R. R. Lopez, P. A. Frank, and M. J. Peterson. 2007. Diurnal habitat use by Lower Keys marsh rabbits. Journal of Wildlife Management. In press.

Hernandez, S., S. L. Locke, M. W. Cook, L. A. Harveson, D. S. Davis, R. R. Lopez, N. J. Silvy, and M. A. Fraker. 2007. Effects of SpayVac™ on suburban female white-tailed deer movements. Wildlife Society Bulletin. In press.

Harveson, P. M., R. R. Lopez, B. Collier, and N. J. Silvy. 2006. Impacts of urbanization on Florida Key deer behavior and population dynamics. Biological Conservation. In press.

Nelson, F. C., M. L. Morrison, R. R. Lopez, F. E. Smeins, and N. J. Silvy. 2006. Ecology of Owen’s Valley vole (Microtus californicus vallicola). Western North American Naturalist. In press.

Hill, P. M., R. R. Lopez, and B.A. Collier. 2006. Survival, fecundity, annual ranges and movements of free-roaming cats. Journal of Wildlife Management. In press.

Chavarria, P. M., R. R. Lopez, G. Bowser, and N. J. Silvy. 2006. An assessment of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and feral hog (Sus scrofa) populations at Big Thicket National Preserve, Texas. Pages 67–70 in D. Harmon, editor. People, Places, and Parks: Proceedings of the 2005 George Wright Society Conference on Parks, Protected Areas, and Cultural Sites: The George Wright Society. Hancock, Michigan, USA.

Locke, S. L., R. R. Lopez, M. J. Peterson, N. J. Silvy, and T. W. Schwertner. 2006. Evaluation of portable infrared cameras for detecting Rio Grande wild turkeys. Wildlife Society Bulletin 34:839–844.

Faulhaber, C. A., N. D. Perry, N. J. Silvy, R. R. Lopez, P. A. Frank, P. T. Hughes, and M. J. Peterson. 2006. Updated distribution of the Lower Keys marsh rabbit. Journal of Wildlife Management 70: In press.

Faulhaber, C. A., N. D. Perry, N. J. Silvy, R. R. Lopez, P. A. Frank, and M. J. Peterson. 2006. Reintroduction of Lower Keys marsh rabbits. Wildlife Society Bulletin 34: In press.

Harveson, P. M., W. E. Grant, R. R. Lopez, N. J. Silvy, and P. A. Frank. 2006. The role of dispersal in the metapopulation dynamics of Florida Key deer. Ecological Modelling. 195:393–401.

Harveson, P. M., R. R. Lopez, N. J. Silvy, P. A. Frank. 2006. Comparison of survival estimates using age-specific mortality and radiotelemetry data for Florida Key deer. Southeastern Naturalist. 5:149–156.

McCleery, R. A., R. B. Ditton, J. Sell, and R. R. Lopez. 2006. Understanding and improving attitudinal research in wildlife sciences. Wildlife Society Bulletin. 34:537-541.

Perry N. D., B. Hanson, W. Hobgood, R. R. Lopez, C. R. Okraska, K. Karem, and D. S. Carroll. 2006. New invasive species in southern Florida: Gambian rat (Cricetomys gambianus). Journal of Mammalogy. 87:000.

Barrett, M. A., P. Stiling, and R. R. Lopez. 2005. Long-term changes in plant communities influenced by Key deer herbivory. Natural Areas Journal. 26:235-243.

Braden, A. W., R. R. Lopez, C. W. Roberts, N. J. Silvy, C. B Owen, P. A. Frank, and D. S. Davis. 2005. Evaluation of a highway improvement project on Florida Key deer. Pages 489–494 in C. L. Irwin, P. Garrett, and K. P. McDermott, editors. Proceedings of the 2005 International Conference on Ecology and Transportation, Center for Transportation and the Environment, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA.

McCleery, R. A., R. R. Lopez, N. J. Silvy, P. A. Frank, and S. Klett. 2005. Population status and habitat selection of the endangered Key Largo woodrat. American Midland Naturalist. 155:197–209.

Lopez, R. R., B. Hayes, M. W. Wagner, S. L. Locke, R. A. McCleery, and N. J. Silvy. 2005. Integrating land conservation planning in the classroom. Wildlife Society Bulletin. 34:23-228.

Feuerbacher, C. K., S. L. Locke, R. R. Lopez, and N. J. Silvy. 2005. A comparison of brood stock origin for eastern wild turkey restoration in eastern Texas. Texas Journal of Science. 57:175–186.

Lopez, R. R., P. M. Harveson, M. N. Peterson, N. J. Silvy, and P. A. Frank. 2005. Density effects on ranges of the endangered Florida Key deer. Wildlife Society Bulletin 33:343-348.

Roberts, C. W., B. L. Pierce, A. W. Braden, R. R. Lopez, N. J. Silvy, P. A. Frank, and D. Ransom, Jr. 2005. Comparison of camera and road survey estimates for white-tailed deer. Journal of Wildlife Management. 70:263–267.

Faulhaber, C. A., N. J. Silvy, R. R. Lopez, B. A. Porter, P. A. Frank, and M. J. Peterson. 2005. Use of drift fences to capture Lower Keys marsh rabbits. Wildlife Society Bulletin. 33:1160–1163.

McCleery, R. A., R. R. Lopez, L. A. Harveson, N. J. Silvy, and R. D. Slack. 2005. Integrating on-campus wildlife research projects into the wildlife curriculum. Wildlife Society Bulletin. 33:802–808.

McCleery, R. A., G. Foster, R. R. Lopez, N. J. Silvy, M. J. Peterson, and D. J. Forester. 2005. Survey of raccoons on Key Largo, Florida, for Baylisascaris procyonis. Journal of Wildlife Diseases. 41: 250–252.

McCleery, R. A., R. R. Lopez, N. J. Silvy, and W. Grant. 2005. Effectiveness of supplemental stockings for the endangered Key Largo woodrat. Biological Conservation. 124:27–33.

Lopez, R. R., D. Ransom, Jr., B. L. Pierce, and N. J. Silvy. 2005. A quantitative technique for determining nest-site fidelity. Texas Journal of Science. 57:67-74.

Peterson, M. N., R. R. Lopez, E. J. Laurent, J. Liu, and N. J. Silvy. 2005. Wildlife loss through domestication: the case of endangered key deer. Conservation Biology. 19:939–944.

Lopez, R. R., A. Lopez, R. N. Wilkins, C. Torres, R. Valdez, J. G. Teer, and G. Bowser. 2005. Changing Hispanic demographics: challenges in natural resource management. Wildlife Society Bulletin. 33:553-564.

Hess, M. F., C. P. Griffin, N. J. Silvy, R. R. Lopez, D. S. Davis. 2005. Differences in flight characteristics of pen-reared and wild prairie-chickens. Journal of Wildlife Management. 69:650–654.

Peterson, M. N., S. A. Allison, M. J. Peterson, T. R. Peterson, and R. R. Lopez. 2005. A tale of two species: Habitat Conservation Plans as bounded conflict. Journal of Wildlife Management. 68:743-761.

Locke, S. L., M. F. Hess, B. G. Mosley, M. W. Cook, S. Hernandez, I. D. Parker, L. A. Harveson, R.R. Lopez, and N. J. Silvy. 2004. Portable drive net for capturing urban white-tailed deer. Wildlife Society Bulletin. 67:1093–1098.

Harveson, P. M., R. R. Lopez, N. J. Silvy, and P. A. Frank. 2004. Source-sink dynamics of Florida Key deer on Big Pine Key, Florida. Journal of Wildlife Management. 68:909-915.

Lopez, R. R., N. J. Silvy, R. N. Wilkins, P. A. Frank, M. J. Peterson, and N. M. Peterson. 2004. Habitat use patterns of Florida Key deer: Implications of urban development. Journal of Wildlife Management. 68:900-908.

Peterson, M. N., R. R. Lopez, P. A. Frank, B. A. Porter, and N. J. Silvy. 2004. Key deer fawn response to development: Is sustainable development possible? Wildlife Society Bulletin. 32:493-499.

Lopez, R. R., N. J. Silvy, B. L. Pierce, P. A. Frank, M. T. Wilson, and K. M. Burke. 2004. Population density of the endangered Florida Key deer. Journal of Wildlife Management 68:570-575.

Silvy, N. J., M. J. Peterson, and R. R. Lopez. 2004. The cause of the decline of pinnated grouse: the Texas example. Wildlife Society Bulletin. 32:16-21 (Special Coverage).

Sebesta, J. D., S. W. Whisenant, R. R. Lopez, and N. J. Silvy. 2003. Development of deer-guard prototype for Florida Key deer. Proceedings of the Annual Conference of Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. 57:337-347.

Peterson, M. N., R. R. Lopez, P. A. Frank, M. J. Peterson, and N. J. Silvy. 2003. Evaluating capture methods for urban white-tailed deer. Wildlife Society Bulletin. 31:1176-1187.

Lopez, R. R., N. J. Silvy, C. B. Owen, C. L. Irwin. 2003. Conservation strategies in the Florida Keys: formula for success. Proceedings of International Conference of Ecology and Transportation, Center for Transportation and the Environment, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, pages 240-245.

Frank, P. A., B. W. Stieglitz, J. Slack, and R. R. Lopez. 2003. The Key deer: Back from the brink. Endangered Species Bulletin. 28:20-21.

Peterson, M. N., R. R. Lopez, N. J. Silvy, C. B. Owen, P. A. Frank, and A. W. Braden. 2003. Evaluation of deer exclusion grates in urban areas. Wildlife Society Bulletin. 31:1198-1204.

Lopez, R. R., N. J. Silvy, P. A. Frank, and B. L. Pierce. 2003. Effects of supplemental feeding of Key deer behavior in urban areas. Florida Scientist. 66:267-272.

Peterson, M. N., W. E. Grant, R. R. Lopez, and N. J. Silvy. 2003. Implications of fetal sex ratio hypotheses in endangered populations: simulated dynamics of Florida Key deer, Florida, USA. Ecological Modelling. 165:209-220.

Lopez, R. R., N. J. Silvy, R. F. Labisky, and P. A. Frank. 2003. Hurricane impacts on Key deer in the Florida Keys. Journal of Wildlife Management. 67:280-288.

Lopez, R. R., M. E. P. Viera, N. J. Silvy, P. A. Frank, S. W. Whisenant, and D. A. Jones. 2003. Survival, mortality, and life expectancy of Florida Key deer. Journal of Wildlife Management. 67:34-45.

Peterson, M. N., T. R. Peterson, M. J. Peterson, R. R. Lopez, and N. J. Silvy. 2002. Cultural conflict and the endangered Florida Key deer. Journal of Wildlife Management. 66:947-968.

Nettles, V. F., C. F. Quist, R. R. Lopez, T. J. Wilmers, P. Frank, W. Roberts, S. Chitwood, and W. R. Davidson. 2002. Morbidity and mortality factors in Key deer, (Odocoileus virginianus clavium). Journal of Wildlife Diseases. 38:685-692.

Quist, C. F., V. F. Nettles, E. Manning, D. G. Hall, J. K. Gaydos, T. J. Wilmers, and R. R. Lopez. 2002. Paratuberculosis in Key deer (Odocoileus virginianus clavium). Journal of Wildlife Diseases. 38:729-737.

Lopez, R. R. 2001. Rigor in wildlife education: where the rubber hits the road. Wildlife Society Bulletin. 29:1038-1042 (Special Coverage).

Lopez, R. R., W. E. Grant, N. J. Silvy, M. J. Peterson, C. K. Feuerbacher, M. S. Corson. 2000. Restoration of the wild turkey in east Texas: simulation of alternative restocking strategies. Ecological Modelling. 132:275-285.

Lopez, R. R., and N. J. Silvy. 1999. Use of infrared-triggered cameras and monitors in aquatic environments. Proceedings of the Annual Conference of Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. 53:200-203.

Lopez, R. R., J. H. Yantis, M. J. Peterson, C. K. Feuerbacher, and N. J. Silvy. 1999. Evaluating 2 potential limiting factors for relocated turkeys in Texas. Proceedings of the Annual Conference of Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. 53:305-312.

Lopez, R. R., T. R. Peterson, and N. J. Silvy. 1999. Emphasizing numbers in the recovery of an endangered species: a lesson in underestimating public knowledge. Pages 353-356 in R. Fields, R. J. Warren, and H. Okarma, editors. Proceedings of the Second International Wildlife Management Congress. Godollo, Hungary.

Lopez, R. R., N. J. Silvy, J. D. Sebesta, S. D. Higgs, and M. Salazar. 1998. A portable drop net for capturing urban deer. Proceedings of the Annual Conference of Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. 52:206-209.

Lopez, R. R., C. K. Feuerbacher, M. A. Sternberg, N. J. Silvy, and J. D. Burk. 1998. Survival and reproduction of eastern wild turkeys relocated into the Post Oak Savannah of Texas. Proceedings of the Annual Conference of Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. 52:384-396.

Lopez, R. R., C. K. Feuerbacher, N. J. Silvy, and J. D. Burk. 1997. Nesting and nest-site characteristics of relocated eastern wild turkeys in Texas. Proceedings of the Annual Conference of Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. 50:449-456.

Book Chapters

Lopez, R. R. 2004. Florida Key deer (Odocoileus virginanus clavium): Effects of urban development and road mortality. Chapter in H. R. Akcakaya, M. Burgman, O. Kindvall, C. C. Wood, P. Sjogren-Gulve, J. Hatfield, and M. McCarthy, editors. Species Conservation and management: case studies. Oxford University Press, New York, New York.

Silvy, N. J., R. R. Lopez, and M. J. Peterson. 2004. Wildlife marking techniques. Pages 336–379 in C. E. Braun. Research and management techniques for wildlife and habitats. The Wildlife Society, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.

Lopez, R. R. and N. J. Silvy. 2005. Case study of the Florida Key deer: effects of urban development. Chapter in C. Adams and S. Ash. Urban wildlife management. In press.

Professional Service (recent)

Journal of Wildlife Management, Associate Editor, 2004-present.
Wildlife Society Bulletin, Associate Editor, 2005-2007.
TWS (national) – Vice-President Nomination Committee, member, 2004-2005.