Faculty Profiles

Joel Ralston

Associate Professor
Department Chair
Biology
Environmental Studies
268 Science Hall

Email 

jralston@saintmarys.edu

Education 

PhD, University of Albany
BS, Oswego State University

Research Interests 

  • Ornithology
  • Ecology
  • Biogeography

Courses Recently Taught 

  • BIO 323: Ecology
  • BIO 308: Vertebrate Natural History

Professional Experience 

  • Utica College, Utica, NY, visiting assistant professor
  • University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, postdoctoral research associate

Creative and Scholarly Work 

  • Ralston, J, WV DeLuca, RE Feldman, DI King. "Population trends influence realized climate niche breadth and ability to track climate change in North American birds." Presentation at the Ecological Society of America conference, Baltimore, MD, August 9-13 2015.
  • Ralston J, DI King, WV DeLuca, GJ Niemi, MJ Glennon, JC Scarl, JD Lambert. "Analysis of combined data sets yields trend estimates for vulnerable spruce-fir birds in northern United States." Biological Conservation 187 (2015): 270-278.
  • Ralston J, JJ Kirchman, DA Ermacor. "A new wood warbler hybrid (Oreothlypis celata X O. ruficapilla) from the Adirondack Mountains, New York." The Wilson Journal of Ornithology 127 (2015): 21-28.
  • Ralston J, JJ Kirchman. "Predicted range shifts in North American boreal forest birds and the effects of climate change on genetic diversity in blackpoll warblers (Setophaga striata)." Conservation Genetics 14 (2013): 543-555.
  • Ralston J, JJ Kirchman. "Continent-scale genetic structure in a boreal forest migrant, the blackpoll warbler (Setophaga striata)." The Auk 129 (2012): 467-478.
  • Ralston J, JJ Kirchman. "Comparative phylogeography of North American boreal forest birds." Presentation to the American Ornithologists' Union, Jacksonville, FL, July 24-27, 2011.

Professional Memberships 

American Ornithologists' Union
Wilson Ornithological Society
Ecological Society of America
International Society for Biogeographers