- Research Professor
- Department of Natural Resources Science
- Email: nkarraker@uri.edu
- Office Location: New Mexico
- Website
Biography
After 12 amazing years as a tenure-track professor in the department, who taught wetland ecology, herpetology, and wildlife trafficking and mentored undergraduate and graduate students, Nancy Karraker is now a Research Professor in NRS. Dr. Karraker lives and works in New Mexico, but she continues to conduct research through URI. She spent five years at the University of Hong Kong before coming to URI. In her spare time, Nancy enjoys hiking, whitewater rafting, canoeing, mountain biking, fly fishing, and reading.
Research
Dr. Karraker’s research focuses on the impacts of humans’ activities on reptiles, amphibians, and their habitats and she and her students have undertaken studies in North America (NE and SW), China, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand. Most important to our work has been identifying particular threats to amphibian and reptile populations for which there is a foreseeable applied management solution. In recent years, we have investigated the effects of wildfire and prescribed burning on salamanders in New Mexico, potential impacts of field management on turtle populations in the NE, road mortality hotspots for herps in the NE and Indonesia, and the effects of the illegal trade on turtles in North America and Hong Kong. Dr. Karraker works closely with federal and state partners to ensure that research results lead to conservation outcomes in the field.
Education
Ph.D. Conservation Biology, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, 2007
M.A. English (Teaching of Writing), Humboldt State University, 2006
M.Sc. Natural Resources, Humboldt State University, 2002
B.Sc. Wildlife Management, Humboldt State University, 1995
Selected Publications
- Loehman, R.A. and N.E. Karraker. 2025. Evaluating slash piles as habitat for a threatened salamander. Fire Ecology 21:36.
- Christman, M, K. Wixted, S. Buchanan, R. Borratto, N. Karraker, M. Ravesi, J. Slacum, N. Dulay, E. Horton, C. Rettinger, L. Kisonak, T. Loring, B. Macdonald, S. Martiak, and D. Collins. 2024. The Collaborative to Combat the Illegal Trade in Turtles: Addressing illegal wildlife trade with an adaptive socio-ecological approach. Chelonian Conservation and Biology 23:176-188.
- Karraker, N.E., R.A. Loehman, S. Cordova. 2023. Sexual dimorphism in the endangered Jemez Mountains salamander (Plethodon neomexicanus). Journal of Herpetology 57:204-210.
- Karraker, N.E., M.D. Kusrini, J.R. Atutubo, R.M. Healey, and A. Yusratul. 2020. Non-marine turtles play important functional roles in Indonesian ecosystems. Ecology and Evolution 10:9613-9623.