College of Agriculture & Natural Resources Department of Fisheries and Wildlife

Major Advisor:

Jack Liu

Background:

Cori Sharp is a second-year PhD student in the Fisheries and Wildlife Department working in Dr. Jack Liu’s lab in the Center for Systems Integration and Sustainability. Her primary research project involves applying the metacoupling framework to study the conservation of bats and the spread of white-nose syndrome in North America. Cori is passionate about studying many different aspects of wildlife conservation and sustainability, so in addition to her primary research, she is also working on several other research projects that involve applying the metacoupling framework to sustainability and conservation related topics. 

While living in Seattle, Cori graduated from Arizona State University’s online program in May of 2025 with a dual B.S. in Biology and Anthropology, where she focused her research on wildlife conservation and human–wildlife interactions. Cori’s research experiences range from studying chimpanzee behavior in Tanzania to conservation projects in Madagascar and Antarctica. She also had the opportunity to do volunteer work close to her home in the Pacific Northwest, where she worked with Conservation Northwest studying and tracking the growing wolf population in Washington state. In her free time, she loves traveling and tries to go to at least one new country every year with her husband. She officially made it to all seven continents after her research trip to Antarctica in December of 2023, which was a major personal goal achieved for her. She also enjoys hiking with her husband and scuba diving with her best friend. She has never lived without pets and currently has three wonderful animals – two dogs and a cat – who she spends most of her free time with. 

Cori dreamed of working to conserve wildlife from a very young age, when she was inspired by her grandfather’s deep respect for wildlife and her childhood living in Alaska and Hawaii, surrounded by wildlife daily. Cori has a passion for protecting endangered species and is excited to continue her education at MSU!