Zach grew up farming and ranching in western Oklahoma. He has served as faculty at The Colorado College (2005-07), Eastern New Mexico University (2007-2015), and Southwestern Oklahoma State University (2015-present). His research focuses on a wide range of ecological issues related to grasslands and the population demographics of wildlife utilizing this vanishing habitat. In particular, his students and he work to understand relationships between human land-use decisions we make as a society and the resulting impacts of those choices on native faunal and floral populations.He regularly studies effects of non-native habitat, grazing, fire, urban development, and habitat fragmentation using a combination of on-the-ground field sampling and remote sensing via satellite landcover data and imagery. While much of his expertise lies within the realm of vertebrate population ecology (especially that of birds and mammals) at local scales, He also performs research at the community, landscape, and ecosystem scales.
Using a multi-week series of Pyric Herbivory related activities and RAP practice paired with field trips, students work through Observation, Question,
