Rate My Professor Paul Doherty

Paul F. Doherty, Jr. is a Professor in the Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology at Colorado State University, where he has served for more than two decades. In addition to his academic role, he holds several key leadership positions, including executive director of the CSU Mountain Campus effective August 1, 2025, director of the Collaborative for Field and Research Experiences, director of the Natural Resources Ecology and Measurements (NR 220) summer residential program at the Mountain Campus, and director of the Wildlife Conservation in Baja California Sur program at the CSU Todos Santos Center in Mexico. He has also contributed to the Semester at Sea program as faculty in Fall 2017 and Fall 2022, and as Academic Dean in Fall 2019. Doherty has developed and managed various skills courses, workshops, and programs, such as the Mountain Campus Service Learning and Action Week focused on wildfire recovery post-Cameron Peak fire in collaboration with local watershed coalitions, restoration volunteers, and the U.S. Forest Service.

Doherty's research focuses on population- and community-level ecology, emphasizing applied conservation problems using advances in experimental design, analysis, and estimation. His work addresses effects of forest fragmentation on permanent-resident birds in the U.S. and Vietnam, life history predictions in long-lived birds, waterfowl ecology, and demographic modeling for threatened and endangered species. Current projects include collaborations with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on subsistence waterfowl harvest in Alaska and goose harvest estimation, California gnatcatcher and Palm Springs ground squirrel demography, Dall sheep and shorebird habitat use on Department of Defense lands in Alaska, Colorado Parks and Wildlife on grassland birds, lynx reintroduction, mule deer habitat management, and Gunnison sage-grouse viability, as well as National Park Service bison management at Badlands National Park and USDA efforts on West Nile virus and avian influenza. He is a prolific researcher with 109 refereed journal articles, including 'Continental-scale dynamics of avian influenza in U.S. waterfowl are driven by demography, migration, and temperature' (Ecological Applications, 2020), 'Shorebird abundance estimates in interior Alaska' (Journal of Wildlife Management, 2020), and 'Restoring habitat for coastal California Gnatcatchers' (The Condor, 2018). Doherty has received dozens of honors, fellowships, and awards reflecting his impact in wildlife conservation and ecology. He teaches a range of courses from introductory wildlife fundamentals (FW 104) to graduate-level vertebrate population analysis (FW 663), including field studies, sampling designs, and international education abroad experiences.