Erin Buchholtz

Assistant Professor of Wildlife Ecology, Asst. Unit Leader - SC Cooperative Research Unit
Forestry and Environmental Conservation Department

Office: 272E Lehotsky Hall
Phone: 864-656-8558

Email: ekbuchh@clemson.edu
Vita: Download CV
Personal Website: https://buchholtzlab.weebly.com

Educational Background

Ph.D. Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Applied Biodiversity Sciences
Texas A&M University 2019

B.A. Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
Princeton University 2011

Courses Taught

BIOL 8070: Readings in Ecology
WFB 8610: Spatial Ecology
FNR 4700: Wild Hogs on the Clemson Experimental Forest - Creative Inquiry (undergrad research)

Profile

Dr. Buchholtz is the Assistant Unit Leader of Wildlife with the USGS South Carolina Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit. She is based in the Forestry and Environmental Conservation Department at Clemson University, where she serves as faculty as an Assistant Professor. Prior to this position, she earned degrees in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology at Princeton University (BA) and Texas A&M University (PhD) before working as an ecologist with the USGS at the Fort Collins Science Center. She studies the spatial ecology of wildlife, investigating the causes and consequences of wildlife movement and connectivity in human-impacted landscapes. By studying these patterns and processes, Buchholtz aims to support science-based decision making for wildlife conservation and management, human-wildlife conflict mitigation, and landscape connectivity, in order to benefit both wildlife populations and human communities. She carries out her work through graduate student training, quantitative spatial ecology, and interdisciplinary collaboration, and uphold values of curiosity, respect, and kindness.

Research Interests

Wildlife movement; connectivity science; human-wildlife interactions

Lab Members

Tyler Tobias, MS (current)
Caroline Abramowitz, MS (current)
Sam Smith, PhD (current)
John Nettles, PhD (current, co-advised)
Charlie Brill, PhD (current)
Kalpapran Patowary, PhD (current)

Publications

Nettles, J.M., C. Abramowitz, W. W. Boone, S. N. Harris, C. E. Horton, M. P. Keating, D. L Nelson, S. N. Smith, K. N. Steen, E. K. Buchholtz & D. S. Jachowski. 2025. The American black bear (Ursus americanus) as an apex predator: Investigating the ecological role of the world’s most abundant large carnivore. Mammal Review. https://doi.org/10.1111/mam.70014

Rooney, B., R. Kays, M.V. Cove, A. Jensen, B.R. Goldstein, C. Pate, [...], E. Buchholtz, [...], and D.B. Lesmeister. 2025. SNAPSHOT USA 2019–2023: the first five years of data from a coordinated camera trap survey of the United States. Global Ecology and Biogeography 34(1): e13941. https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.13941

Buchholtz E. People in a biodiverse region experienced varying types and timing of conflict with multiple wildlife species. Tropical Conservation Science. 2024;17. doi:10.1177/19400829241233479

Roche, M.D., D.J. Saher, E.K. Buchholtz, M.R. Crist, D.J. Shinneman, C.L. Aldridge, B.E. Brussee, P.S. Coates, C.L. Weise, J.A. Heinrichs. 2024. Ecological trade-offs associated with fuel breaks in the sagebrush ecosystem. Fire Ecology. 107. https://doi.org/10.1186/s42408-024-00334-3

Buchholtz, E. K., O’Donnell, M. S., Heinrichs, J. A., & Aldridge, C. L. (2023). Temporal Patterns of Structural Sagebrush Connectivity from 1985 to 2020. Land, 12(6), 1176. https://doi.org/10.3390/land12061176

Buchholtz, E.K., J. Kreitler, D. Shinneman, M. Crist, & J. Heinrichs (2023). Assessing large landscape patterns of potential fire connectivity using circuit methods. Landscape Ecology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-022-01581-y

Buchholtz, E.K., M. McDaniels, G. McCulloch, A. Songhurst, and A. Stronza (2023). A mixed-methods assessment of human-elephant conflict in the Western Okavango Panhandle, Botswana. People and Nature. https://doi.org/10.1002/pan3.10443

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