Dana is an applied population ecologist and an Assistant Professor of Wildlife Ecology at Mississippi State University. Her research interests can be broadly described as the intersection of spatial ecology, population processes, and community dynamics, with a strong focus on monitoring of cryptic species. She uses a variety of sampling and quantitative methods to inform future management and conservation actions. She studies carnivore populations and communities with an applied interest in managing human–wildlife interactions — connecting conservation to coexistence. She has various research projects on American black bears with collaborations in Mississippi, Michigan, Virginia, North Carolina, and Maine, and she worked previously on Andean bears in Ecuador. She is also a member of the IUCN SCC Pangolin Specialist Group and serves as an advisor on monitoring strategies for NGOs such as The Nature Conservancy and Save Pangolins, and US agencies including the US Forest Service, Mississippi Department of Wildlife Fisheries and Parks, and the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies Furbearer Working Group.
