Ben Sacks uses genetic and genomic tools to conduct research that advances both the persistence of wild mammal biodiversity and our basic understanding of mammal evolution and ecology.

Students in his lab work on a variety of systems and topics, including urban coyote population dynamics and ecology, responses of deer to large wildfires, responses of subalpine species to climate change, and status of endangered mammals occupying coastal marshes, San Joaquin Desert, and other highly impacted ecosystems. EERREC students in this project might use population genetics/genomics, phylogenetics, or noninvasive genetic methods to study organismal responses to anthropogenic landscapes or stressors.