Sarah J. Converse
- Professor
My research group is focused on the development of methods for conserving populations. This generally involves two distinct but interrelated focal areas: quantitative population ecology and decision science. We’ve worked on a variety of taxa, including marine and terrestrial birds, marine and terrestrial mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Our focus is on applied science, with an emphasis on assisting managers of populations with decision making in the face of uncertainty, and complex and conflicting societal values. We work closely with managers in developing and executing research projects.
We use a variety of quantitative methods for building models of populations, and often integrate statistical estimation with expert judgment for parameterizing models. Hierarchical Bayesian methods and integrated modeling are frequently aspects of research projects. Currently, we’re involved in projects with collaborators in North America, Europe, French Polynesia, New Zealand, and the Arctic, with a strong focus on work in Washington State.
Other appointments
Unit Leader, Washington Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit
Professor, UW School of Environmental and Forest Sciences
Member, Quantitative Ecology and Resource Management Faculty
Affiliate, eScience Institute
Member, IUCN Conservation Translocations Specialist Group
Courses
- QERM 514: Analysis of Ecological and Environmental Data
- FISH/SEFS 577: Demographic Estimation and Modeling
Expertise
- Conservation Biology
- Decision Science
- Demographic Estimation
- Hierarchical Modeling
- Integrated Population Modeling
- Reintroduction Biology
Selected publications
Canessa S, SJ Converse, L Adams, DP Armstrong, T Makan, M McCready, KA Parker, EH Parlato, HA Sipe, JG Ewen. 2025. Simulating demography, monitoring and management decisions to evaluate adaptive management strategies for endangered species. Conservation Letters 18:e13905.
Petracca LS, B Gardner, BT Maletzke, and SJ Converse. 2024. Merging integrated population models and individual-based models to project population dynamics of a recolonizing species. Biological Conservation 289:110340.
Yackel Adams AA, NJ Hostetter, WA Link, and SJ Converse. 2024. Identifying Pareto-efficient eradication strategies for invasive populations. Conservation Letters: e13051.
Hostetter NJ, EV Regehr, RR Wilson, JA Royle, and SJ Converse. 2022. Modeling spatiotemporal abundance and movement dynamics using an integrated spatial capture-recapture movement model. Ecology 103:e3772.
Runge MC, SJ Converse, JE Lyons, and DR Smith, editors. 2020. Structured decision making: case studies in natural resource management. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Converse SJ and EHC Grant. 2019. A three-pipe problem: dealing with complexity to halt amphibian declines. Biological Conservation 236:107-114.
Regehr EV, NJ Hostetter, RR Wilson, KD Rode, M St. Martin, and SJ Converse. 2018. Integrated population modeling provides the first empirical estimates of vital rates and abundance for polar bears in the Chukchi Sea. Scientific Reports 8:16780.
Converse SJ, JA Royle, PH Adler, RP Urbanek, and JA Barzen. 2013. A hierarchical nest survival model integrating incomplete temporally varying covariates. Ecology and Evolution 3:4439-4447.
Runge MC, SJ Converse, and JE Lyons. 2011. Which uncertainty? Using expert elicitation and expected value of information to design an adaptive program. Biological Conservation 144:1214-1223.
Canessa S, SJ Converse, L Adams, DP Armstrong, T Makan, M McCready, KA Parker, EH Parlato, HA Sipe, JG Ewen. 2025. Simulating demography, monitoring and management decisions to evaluate adaptive management strategies for endangered species. Conservation Letters 18:e13905.
Petracca LS, B Gardner, BT Maletzke, and SJ Converse. 2024. Merging integrated population models and individual-based models to project population dynamics of a recolonizing species. Biological Conservation 289:110340.
Yackel Adams AA, NJ Hostetter, WA Link, and SJ Converse. 2024. Identifying Pareto-efficient eradication strategies for invasive populations. Conservation Letters: e13051.
Hostetter NJ, EV Regehr, RR Wilson, JA Royle, and SJ Converse. 2022. Modeling spatiotemporal abundance and movement dynamics using an integrated spatial capture-recapture movement model. Ecology 103:e3772.
Runge MC, SJ Converse, JE Lyons, and DR Smith, editors. 2020. Structured decision making: case studies in natural resource management. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Converse SJ and EHC Grant. 2019. A three-pipe problem: dealing with complexity to halt amphibian declines. Biological Conservation 236:107-114.
Regehr EV, NJ Hostetter, RR Wilson, KD Rode, M St. Martin, and SJ Converse. 2018. Integrated population modeling provides the first empirical estimates of vital rates and abundance for polar bears in the Chukchi Sea. Scientific Reports 8:16780.
Converse SJ, JA Royle, PH Adler, RP Urbanek, and JA Barzen. 2013. A hierarchical nest survival model integrating incomplete temporally varying covariates. Ecology and Evolution 3:4439-4447.
Runge MC, SJ Converse, and JE Lyons. 2011. Which uncertainty? Using expert elicitation and expected value of information to design an adaptive program. Biological Conservation 144:1214-1223.