Dr. Robert Cooper
FACULTY AFFILIATE | Global Change Center
Fish & Wildlife Conservation
Google Scholar • Lab Page • Dept Page
robertcooper@vt.edu

Dr. Cooper seeks to advance conservation of wildlife using genomic and computational tools, which are used to uncover how human disturbance (e.g. invasive species, habitat destruction, and climate change) affects population health, structure, and movement across the landscape. His research also explores the novel environmental pressures (e.g. temperature, desiccation, and disease) that result from anthropogenic changes and how they impact threatened and endangered species.
Dr. Cooper has primarily focused on western reptiles and amphibians, particularly the California tiger salamander which faces threats from habitat loss, fragmentation, drought, and hybridization with non-native salamanders. This work has incorporated range-wide genomic surveys, field-based hydroperiod manipulations, thermal tolerance experiments, and genetic rescue projects to enhance the conservation of this endemic amphibian.