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Meet the Fisheries and Wildlife Faculty

Charles Nilon

Charles Nilon, Ph.D.

Professor
Fisheries and Wildlife

Education

  • Ph.D., 1986, SUNY-College of Environmental Science and Forestry

Research

  • Urban Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, Human Dimensions in Wildlife Management.

Research Summary

  • Nilon's research considers the impact of urbanization on wildlife habitats, populations and communities. Included in this research are projects ranging in location and degree of development from inner city neighborhoods in St. Louis and Baltimore to the rapidly urbanizing areas in southern Boone County, Missouri. Since 1997, Nilon has been a collaborator on the Baltimore Ecosystem Study. The project in Baltimore and a similar one in Phoenix are the first two urban ecosystems included in the National Science Foundation's Long-Term Ecological Research program. His work with the BES focuses on understanding how physical, ecological and socioeconomic factors influence the abundance and composition of vertebrate species. Because urban areas are homes for people as well as wildlife, Nilon's research also considers the role of nature as part of an individual's day-to-day environment. Nilon and his students have worked with a community development group in St. Louis on a study determining how people perceive open spaces in their neighborhood. They have also studied the motivations of people who participate in backyard conservation programs and in the recently developed Missouri Master Naturalist Program.

Selected Publications

  • Pickett, S.T.A., M.L. Cadenasso, J.M. Grove, L.E. Band, C.G. Boone, W.R. Burch, Jr, C.S.B. Grimmond, J. Hom, J.C. Jenkins, N.L. Law, C. H. Nilon, R.V. Pouyat, K. Szlavecz, P.S. Warren, and M.A. Wilson.
    Beyond urban Legends: New, unexpected, or complex results from the Baltimore Ecosystem Study. BioScience. In press.
  • Nilon, C.H. 2008.
    Approaches to comparative studies of urban fauna. In M.J. McDonnell, A. Hahs and J. Breuste, eds. Comparative Ecology of Cities and Towns. Cambridge University Press. In press.
  • Van Velsor, S.M. and C.H. Nilon. 2006.
    A qualitative investigation of the urban African-American and Latino adolescent experience with wildlife. Human Dimensions of Wildlife 11:359-370.
  • Azerrad, J.M, and C.H. Nilon. 2006.
    An evaluation of agency conservation guidelines to better address planning efforts by local government. Landscape and Urban Planning 77:255-262.
  • Middendorf, G. and C. Nilon. 2005.
    A cross-town walk to assess environmental changes along an urban socioeconomic gradient. Teaching Issues and Experiments in Ecology 3: Experiment 3.
  • Middendorf, G., B. Grant, J. Cubit, G. Love, C. Nilon, G. Peterson, L.M. Jablonski, T.C. Poling. 2003.
    The challenge of environmental justice. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. 1:154-160.
  • Berkowitz, A.R., C.H. Nilon, and K.S. Hollweg, eds. 2002.
    Understanding urban ecosystems: A new frontier for science and education. Springer-Verlag, New York.
  • Azerrad, J. M. and C. H. Nilon. 2001.
    Avian community characteristics of urban greenspaces in St. Louis, Missouri, p. 489-509. In J. M. Marzluff, R. Bowman, and R. E. Donnelly, Avian ecology and conservation in an urbanizing world. Kluwer Academic, Boston.
  • Pickett, STA, ML Cadenasso, JM Grove, CH Nilon, RV Pouyat, WC Zipperer, and R Costanza. 2001.
    Urban ecological systems: Linking terrestrial ecology, physical, and socioeconomic components of metropolitan areas. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics. 32:127-157.
  • Raedeke, A.H., C.H. Nilon, and J.S. Rikoon. 2001.
    Factors affecting landowner participation in ecosystem management: a case study in south-central Missouri. Wildlife Society Bulletin 29:195-206.
  • Raedeke, A.H., J.S. Rikoon, and C.H. Nilon. 2001.
    Ecosystem management and land owner concern about regulations: a case study in the Missouri Ozarks. Society and Natural Resources 14:741-759.