Dr. Brett Addis was appointed the new Associate Director of the Biodiversity Institute on July 17. Brett, originally from Missoula, Montana, attended the University of Montana for a Masters and Ph.D. in Organismal Biology and Ecology.  

"I’ve always been a biologist at heart, and I’ve always been curious about the natural world,” says Brett.  “After a broad Ph.D., I made a conscious choice to pursue ecological modeling as a career because it has more management relevance and I’m able to answer more management questions.” 

That career choice is what brought her to the University of Wyoming. Brett joined the Rocky Mountain Amphibian Project (RMAP) as a Post Doctoral Research Associate and worked with UW’s Dr. Melanie Murphy. RMAP, a Biodiversity Institute community science project, encourages the public to engage in amphibian data collecting throughout the summers. Brett joined the team in 2021 and focused on data analysis and project management.  

Brett has also worked as a Post Doctoral Research Associate at the University of Georgia at the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, as well as a project coordinator at the University of Montana where she studied western spadefoot toads and developed environmental DNA as a monitoring tool.  

Brett joined the Biodiversity Institute as Associate Director (BI) in July 2023 after the retirement of former Associate Director, Dr. Dorothy Tuthill. 

“Brett brings an incredible skillset to the BI, and I’m so excited to see how our research, education, and outreach programs improve, grow and enhance biodiversity conservation with her guidance,” says Brent Ewers, Director of the BI.  

“The BI is such a powerhouse for science outreach and communication, and it has all the right pieces to extend its reach to help with data questions and management questions because of all the great programs. We can leverage that further and continue on the trajectory that has already been laid out by everyone before me,” says Brett.   

Alongside working as BI Associate Director, Brett will also start as an Assistant Lecturer in 2024. She hopes to develop new courses related to conservation biology. 

Share This Post