Mitchell Eaton
Bio
Education
Ph.D., University of Colorado (2009)
Research Interests
Population ecology and conservation, decision-theoretic science
I am a Research Ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey’s Southeast Climate Adaptation Science Center, and an adjunct faculty member in the Applied Ecology Department. My focus is in applied wildlife ecology/management, emphasizing the use of quantitative modeling to understand resource dynamics and use of decision-theoretic methods to guide management decisions under uncertainty. My research includes endangered-species conservation, modeling species’ distribution, abundance, and connectivity, and developing parameter estimation and decision-optimization methods. I work closely with natural resource decision makers and their stakeholders to help frame management problems, formulate approaches to evaluate trade-offs and optimally allocate limited resources, and consider how science can most effectively support management needs. I have an ongoing interest in tropical ecology including crocodilian conservation and wildlife harvest dynamics.
Web Resources
Publications
- American kestrel population trends and vital rates at the continental scale , Ecosphere (2026)
- Constructed value of information with iterative scoring and parametric uncertainty to identify management‐relevant research priorities for a declining raptor species , Conservation Biology (2026)
- Multireservoir Allocation Framework Considering Societal and Ecological Needs in a Time–Frequency Domain , Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management (2026)
- Distribution and disturbances of ditches across salt marshes of the Northeast U.S. with implications for management and restoration , Journal of Environmental Management (2025)
- RAD (Resist-Accept-Direct) switch points and triggers for adaptation planning , Journal of Environmental Management (2025)
- Applying portfolio theory to benefit endangered amphibians in coastal wetlands threatened by climate change, high uncertainty, and significant investment risk , Frontiers in Conservation Science (2024)
- Multi-criteria decision approach for climate adaptation of cultural resources along the Atlantic coast of the southeastern United States: Application of AHP method , Climate Risk Management (2024)
- Postrelease Survival of Eleutherodactylus coqui: Advancing Managed Translocations as an Adaptive Tool for Climate-Vulnerable Anurans , Herpetologica (2024)
- The effects of flow extremes on native and non‐native stream fishes in Puerto Rico , Freshwater Biology (2024)
- Decision science as a framework for combining geomorphological and ecological modeling for the management of coastal systems , Ecology and Society (2023)