Brad Shaffer

H. Bradley Shaffer

Director, UCLA La Kretz Center for California Conservation Science

Distinguished Professor, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; Institute of the Environment and Sustainability

Personal Website

Education

1982 – PhD – University of Chicago – Evolutionary Biology
1976 – BS – University of California, Berkeley – Zoology

Research Interests

Evolutionary biology, ecology and conservation biology of amphibians and reptiles. Recent research projects include comparative phylogeography of amphibians and reptiles in California and the central U.S., systematics of freshwater turtles and tortoises in Australia, California, and the rest of the globe, and conservation genetics of endangered California amphibians and reptiles. Recently, we have focused a great deal of ecological and genetical work on the California tiger salamander, an endangered species native to central California grassland habitat.

Recent Articles

Recent News

Bradley Shaffer for Gizmodo—Has the Dire Wolf Truly Been Resurrected? We Asked the Experts

La Kretz Center Director Brad Shaffer on NPR Discussing Wildfires impact Wildlife

Brad Shaffer for KQED — ‘Moonshot for Biology’ Aims to Sequence a Genome of Every Type of Plant and Animal on Earth

Brad Shaffer & Rachel Blakey quoted in Pepperdine Graphic: Funding Biodiversity Research Provides More Understanding Amid Climate Change Effects

Projects

The Endangered Species Act at 50

At the 13th annual Public Lecture hosted by the La Kretz Center, Drs. Cat Darst, Scott Morrison, and Brad Shaffer marked the 50th anniversary of the 1973 Endangered Species Act…

ucla la kretz 2021 annual lecture

UCLA La Kretz 2021 Annual Lecture

This event celebrates ten years of conservation research, featuring 3 minute lightening talks by each of our 13 past, current, and future La Kretz postdoctoral fellows. The presentations are followed…

western pond turtle at-risk species assessment

Western Pond Turtle at-risk species assessment

The western pond turtle is California’s only native freshwater turtle. The turtle’s numbers have been declining due to urbanization, limited water availability, and competition or predation from invasive species —…

science to safeguard species

Science to safeguard species

UC Natural Reserve System research has laid the foundation for conserving species across the state. A prime example: UCLA professor Brad Shaffer’s work on California tiger salamanders was instrumental in…

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Recent Publications

Lethal effects of water quality on threatened California salamanders but not on co-occurring hybrid salamanders

M. E. Ryan, J. R. Johnson, B. M. Fitzpatrick, L. J. Lowenstine, A. M. Picco and H. B. Shaffer

Conservation Biology 27:95-102, 2013.

Published Work, Permalink

Microhabitat use and migration distance of an endangered grassland amphibian

C. A. Searcy, Gabbai-Saldate, E., and H. B Shaffer

Biological Conservation 158:80-87, 2013.

Published Work, Permalink

Evolution and Conservation

H. B. Shaffer

pp. 766-773 in The Princeton Guide to Evolution, J. Losos, Editor In Chief. Princeton University Press, 2013.

Published Work, Permalink

Habitat features determine the basking distribution of introduced red-eared sliders and native western pond turtles

M. R. Lambert, S. N. Nielsen, A. N. Wright, R. C. Thomson, and H. B. Shaffer

Chelonian Conservation and Biology 12:192-199, 2013.

Published Work, Permalink

Turtles of the world, 2012 update: annotated checklist of taxonomy, synonymy, distribution, and conservation status

Turtle Taxonomy Working Group [P. P. van Dijk, J. B. Iverson, H. B. Shaffer, R. Bour and A. G. J. Rhodin]

In: Rhodin, A.G.J., Pritchard, P.C.H., van Dijk, P.P., Saumure, R.A., Buhlmann, K.A., Iverson, J.B., and Mittermeier, R.A. (Eds.). Conservation Biology of Freshwater Turtles and Tortoises: A Compilation Project of the IUCN/SSC Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group. Chelonian Research Monographs No. 5, pp. 000.243–000.328, 2012.

Published Work, Permalink

Parallel tagged amplicon sequencing reveals major lineages and phylogenetic structure in the North American tiger salamander (Ambystoma tigrinum) species complex

E. M. O’Neil, R. Schwartz, C. T. Bullock, J. S. Williams, H. B. Shaffer, X. Aguilar-Miguel, G. Parra-Olea, and D. W. Weisrock

Molecular Ecology 22:111-129, 2012.

Published Work, Permalink