Skip to main content
West Virginia University Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design

Wood, Petra

Petra Wood-Professor Emerita of Wildlife and Fisheries Resources
(304) 293-5090 pbwood@wvu.edu 205T Percival Hall

Professor Emerita of Wildlife and Fisheries Resources

Since 1992, Petra Wood has held an appointment as Adjunct Professor of Wildlife Resources in the Division of Forestry and Natural Resources at West Virginia University.  During 1992-2021, she was employed as a Research Wildlife Biologist with the US Geological Survey WV Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit; she retired from USGS in 2021.  Her primary research activities focused on how anthropogenic habitat changes from timber harvesting practices and energy (coal, shale gas) development affect wildlife populations, particularly songbirds.  Petra earned her Ph.D. and M.S. degrees from the University of Florida in Wildlife Ecology and her B.S. in Wildlife and Forest Management from Purdue University.


Publications

  1. Becker, D.A., P.B. Wood, P.D. Keyser, T.B. Wigley, R. Dellinger, and C.A. Weakland. 2011. Threshold responses of songbirds to long-term timber management on an active industrial forest. Forest Ecology and Management 262:449–460.

  2. Farwell, L.S.,  P.B. Wood, D.J. Brown, and J. Sheehan.  2019.  Proximity to unconventional shale gas infrastructure alters breeding bird abundance and distribution.  The Condor 121(3)   https://doi.org/10.1093/condor/duz020

  3. Frantz, M. W.,  P. B. Wood, J. Sheehan, and G. George. 2019. Louisiana Waterthrush (Parkesia motacilla) Survival and Site Fidelity in an Area Undergoing Shale Gas Development. Wilson Journal of Ornithology 131:84–95. 

  4. Kramer, G.R., D.E. Andersen, D.A. Buehler,  P.B. Wood, S.M. Peterson, J.A. Lehman, K.R. Aldinger, L.P. Bulluck, S. Harding, J.A. Jones, J.P. Loegering, C. Smalling, R. Vallender, and H.M. Streby. 2018. Population trends in Vermivora warblers are linked to strong migratory connectivity. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 115:E3192–E3200.  

  5. Margenau, E. L.,  P. B. Wood, C. A. Weakland, and D. J. Brown. 2019. Trade-offs relating to grassland and forest mine reclamation approaches in the central Appalachian region and implications for the songbird community. Avian Conservation and Ecology 14(1):2.  https://doi.org/10.5751/ACE-01304-140102

  6. Wood, P.B. 2008. Woodrat population dynamics and movement patterns. Chapter 3, Pages 45-62 in The Allegheny Woodrat: Ecology, Conservation, and Management of a Declining Species, J. Peles and J. Wright, eds. Springer.  

  7. Wood, P. B. 2009. Recovery distances of nestling bald eagles banded in Florida and implications for natal dispersal and philopatry. Journal of Raptor Research 43:127-133.

  8. Wood, P.B., J. Sheehan, P. Keyser, D. Buehler, J. Larkin, A. Rodewald, S. Stoleson, T.B., Wigley, J. Mizel, T. Boves, G. George, M. Bakermans, T. Beachy, A. Evans, M. McDermott, F. Newell, K. Perkins, and M. White. 2013. Management guidelines for enhancing Cerulean Warbler breeding habitat in Appalachian hardwood forests. American Bird Conservancy. The Plains, Virginia. 28 pp. 

  9. Wood, P. J. Larkin, J. Mizel, C. Zipper, and P. Angel.  2013.  Reforestation to enhance Appalachian mined lands as habitat for terrestrial wildlife.  Forest Reclamation Advisory No. 10. U.S. Office of Surface Mining, ARRI. 8pp.