Mike Moore
​Assistant Professor
I am an evolutionary ecologist and eco-physiologist who studies the evolution of species' ecological limits and the forces that prevent adaptation. I'm especially passionate about wetland critters and their conservation.

I got a BS from Gonzaga University in 2011, MS from Murray State University in 2014, a PhD from Case Western Reserve University in 2019. Before joining CU Denver in 2022, I was a Biodiversity Post-Doctoral Fellow with the Living Earth Collaborative at Washington University in St. Louis. 

email - michael.p.moore[at]ucdenver.edu

Sarah Nalley
Ph.D. Student      2023-Present

I am interested in animal behavior, evolutionary ecology, and wildlife management, with my past work studying these subjects through the lenses of anthropogenic influence and global change. After my experience as a survivor of the Marshall Fire, I am driven to explore how wildfire and extreme events affect the behavior, ecology, and evolution of wildlife populations. I am currently researching how habitats burned by wildfire impact the sexually selected traits of dragonflies.

email - sarah.nalley[at]ucdenver.edu

Martha Young
M.S. Student      2023-Present

My research interests focus on how climate change will alter wildlife ecology and physiology. I am curious about the impacts of increasing temperatures on developmental plasticity and how the existence of plastic or fixed traits will affect organismal physiology and evolution in the future. I am especially interested in the impacts of climate change on freshwater invertebrates, although I have recently expanded my interests to include fish as well.  

email - martha.young[at]ucdenver.edu

Dr. Allison Pierce
Post-Doctoral Research Associate    2024-Present

I am a curiosity driven behavioral ecologist with a background in animal population biology and migration ecology. I am broadly interested in how interactions between the environment, behavior, and physiology shape population distribution of animal species and their life histories. I am passionate about applying research to guide evidence-based conservation. I received my PhD from CU Denver in 2023 where I investigated energetic trade-off dynamics between life-history, migratory behavior, and seasonality to better understand eco-evolutionary drivers of migration in a shorebird species of conservation concern, the Mountain Plover. Although I love being in the field, I'm also a self-described "quant-nerd" who relishes problem solving analytical challenges. Before my career in research, I was a veterinary technician. I am also a hobbyist artist and devoted fan of the Colorado outdoors.

​email - allison.pierce[at]ucdenver.edu
Lab Alumni

Dr. Shel McCain
Post-Doctoral Research Associate 2023- 2024