My journey as the principal Data Scientist and executive board member at the NSF-funded Environmental Data Science Innovation and Inclusion Lab (ESIIL) and my role as an editor for Environmental Data Science have been driven by a deep commitment to pioneering data-driven solutions for environmental challenges. I am passionate about leveraging cutting-edge data science to illuminate complex ecological dynamics.
Doctor of Philosophy (2016)
University of Colorado at Boulder
Dept. of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
Major advisor: Dr. Brett A. Melbourne
Sub-discipline: Spatial Theoretical Ecology and Evolution
Masters of Science (2009)
University of Colorado at Boulder
Dept. of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
Major advisor: Dr. Alexander Cruz
Sub-discipline: Avian Ecology
Bachelors of Science (2003)
University of Colorado at Boulder
Dept. of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
Major advisor: Dr. Alexander Cruz
Sub-discipline: Ecology
Kavanagh, P. H., B. Vilela, H. J. Haynie, T. Tuff, M. Lima-Ribeiro, R. D. Gray, C. A. Botero, M. C. Gavin. (2018). Hindcasting global population densities reveals forces driving the origin of agriculture. Nature Human Behavior. Altmetric score: 132
Szucs, M., B.A. Melbourne, T. Tuff, & R.A. Hufbauer. (2017). Genetic and demographic founder effects have long- term fitness consequences for colonizing populations. Ecology Letters. DOI: 10.1111/ele.12743. Altmetric score: 17
Tuff, K.T., Tuff, T. & Davies, K.F. (2016). A framework for integrating thermal biology into fragmentation research. Ecology Letters. DOI:10.1111/ele. 12579. Altmetric score: 90
Hufbauer R.A., M. Szucs, E, Kasyon, C. Youngberg, M.J. Koontz, C. Richards, T. Tuff, and B.A. Melbourne. (2015) Reply to Wootton and Pfister: The search for general context should include synthesis with laboratory model systems. PNAS. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1517210112, Altmetric score: 11
Walsh J.J., T. Tuff, A. Cruz, and J.F. Chace. (2015) Differential Parasitism between two suitable cowbird hosts. The Open Ornithology Journal, 8, 32-38.
Hufbauer R.A., M. Szucs, E, Kasyon, C. Youngberg, M.J. Koontz, C. Richards, T. Tuff, and B.A. Melbourne. (2015). Three types of rescue can avert extinction in a changing environment. PNAS, DOI:10.1073/pnas.1504732112. Altmetric score: 23
Szucs M., B.A. Melbourne, T. Tuff, and R.A. Hufbauer. (2014) The roles of demography and genetics in the early stages of colonization. Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 281(20141073). Altmetric score: 19
Tarsi, K. & T. Tuff. (2012) Introduction to Population Demographics . Nature Education Knowledge 3(11):3 (84,000 views)
Davies, K. F., Melbourne, B. A., McClenahan, J. L., & Tuff, T. (2010) Statistical models for monitoring and predicting effects of climate change and invasion on the free-living insects and a spider from sub-Antarctic Heard Island. Polar Biology, 34(1), 119-125. DOI:10.1007/s00300-010-0865-1.
Ty Tuff, B. Vilela, T. Fristoe, R. Gray, H. Haynie, P. Kavanagh, M. Gavin, and C. Botero. (In prep). Investigating mechanism in the global spread of agriculture. Target journal: Nature.
T. Tuff and Brett A. Melbourne. (In prep). Revolutionary neutral theory of migration. Target journal: Science.
Tuff, T., A. Hastings, and B.A. Melbourne. (In prep). Experimentally testing the fundamentals of assisted migration. Target journal: Nature.
Graduate Student Domestic Travel Grant (CU-Boulder, Fall 2015): $300
Travel grant to present at the 2015 Ecological Society of America meeting in Baltimore, MD
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology research grant (CU-Boulder, Spring 2013): $500
Animal migration is an emergent property.
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology research grant (CU-Boulder, Spring 2010): $1000
Animal migration is an emergent property.
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology research grant (CU-Boulder, Spring 2009): $1000
Phenology Range Limits: A new model for understanding time in ecology.
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology research grant (CU-Boulder, Spring 2008): $2100
Does incubation temperature variance in potential Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater) hosts help determine parasitism rates?
United Government of Graduate Students Travel Grant (CU-Boulder, August 2009): $300
Travel grant to present at the 2009 Ecological Society of America meeting in Albuquerque, NM.
United Government of Graduate Students Group Grant (CU-Boulder, Spring 2009): $750
Teaching Evolution: Meeting the Challenge (Fifth annual).
Private Donor: Lois Anderson (Minnesota, 2007): $3500
Using Mathematical Modeling to Develop Hypotheses about the Ecology of the Brown-headed Cowbird and their Hosts.
Undergraduate Research Opportunity Grant – Team Grant (CU-Boulder, Spring 2007): $3600
Does incubation temperature variance in potential Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater) hosts help determine parasitism rates?
Boulder County Nature Association research grant (CU-Boulder, Spring 2006): $550
Why are Western-Wood Pewee’s rarely parasitized by Brown-headed Cowbirds.
CU-Boulder Science Discovery (Summer 2014)
Field instructor and guide
Guiding 5th-8th grade students through immersive outdoor education and leadership training. Includes backpacking over a pass to the sand dunes, dissecting fallen horses to feed them to wolves at a wolf sanctuary, rock climbing, and whitewater rafting.
CU-Boulder Colloquium Committee (2007-2011)
Guest scheduling and management
Organizing speakers for our weekly departmental seminar. Includes organizing schedules, booking hotels, and managing the voting process for suggested speakers.
CU-Boulder Evolution Outreach Committee (2008-2009)
Vice-chair
Developed and coordinated events to bring K-12 teachers to the University of Colorado to learn about teaching evolution in the classroom. I helped earn accreditation so we could award teaching credit to workshop participants and helped secure funding for the organization.
Disentangling correlated drivers of evolution and spatial spread. St. Louis, MOPostdoctoral research May 2016 – May 2018
Worked with an international team of collaborators to develop spatial and phylogenetic tools for understanding how ideas and technology spread through time and space. We developed global-scale simulations for the spread of human cultural traits and then used those simulations to infer mechanisms driving the realized human phylogenetic history.
Assisted migration as a conservation strategy Davis, CASupervising researcher January 2014 – August 2014
Managed project from experimental design to publication. This includes hiring and managing 9 undergraduate employees collectively working 100+ hours per week. This experiment was conducted in Alan Hastings’ lab in Davis, CA and I managed the experiment from Boulder, CO via video conferencing and by E-mailing directions each day.
Range Limits and Climate Change Boulder, CO and Davis, CA Supervising researcher September 2010 – December 2013
Managed project from experimental design to publication. This includes hiring and managing 24 undergraduate employees collectively working 300+ hours per week. This experiment was split between our lab in Boulder, CO and Alan Hastings’ lab in Davis, CA. I managed both halves of this experiment from Boulder, CO via video conferencing and by E-mailing directions each day. I maintained strict experimental controls for over 30 generations.
Wog Wog Habitat Fragmentation Experiment New South Wales, Australia Project manager September 2009 – August 2010
Coordinated the continued field sampling of the Wog Wog experiment, which has been in operation since 1985.I organized volunteers, arranged field vehicles, purchased and managed equipment, managed museum collections, collected field data, and organized international shipping of biological specimens. Boulder, CO.
Principles of Ecology at the University of Colorado Boulder, Colorado Teaching Assistant August 2014 – May 2016
I developed and taught lectures for two 3-hour labs each week, covering basic ecological concepts and vocational field methods. In 2015 I co-authored a new lab manual for this class and coded a statistics module for teaching data analysis to undergraduates. Click here to explore the module.
Swiftwater rescue instructor certification workshop and exam at Gonzaga University Spokane, WA. Adjunct professor/lecturer May 2015
As one of 8 instructor trainers in the US and the only trainer west of the Mississippi, I travel the west teaching accredited swiftwater (river) rescue instructor certification classes. This includes curriculum development, discovery learning, risk management, teaching style review, and evaluation for certification.
Swiftwater rescue instructor certification workshop and exam at San Juan College Farmington, NM. Adjunct professor/lecturer May 2014
As one of 8 instructor trainers in the US and the only trainer west of the Mississippi, I travel the west teaching accredited swiftwater (river) rescue instructor certification classes. This includes curriculum development, discovery learning, risk management, teaching style review, and evaluation for certification.
Vertebrate Zoology at the University of Colorado Boulder, Colorado Laboratory instructor January 2009 – May 2009
Helped administer a course on applied statistics for biological research. Assisted with lectures and lab development.
Mammalogy at the University of Colorado Boulder, Colorado Laboratory instructor August 2007 – December 2007
I organized the entire class, including curriculum development, specimen management, and designing and administering exams.
General Biology Lab at the University of Colorado Boulder, Colorado Teaching Assistant August 2006 – May 2007
Developed and taught lectures for two 3-hour labs each week, covering basic biological concepts and principles.
Ecological Society of America
Animal Behavior Society
Western Field Ornithologist
2008 - current
2013
2006 - 2008
Ty Tuff and B.A. Melbourne. Relative motion as an ecological and evolutionary mechanism. (23 February 2018) Biology department invited speaker series at California Polytechnic. San Luis Obispo, CA.
Ty Tuff and B.A. Melbourne. Relative motion as an ecological and evolutionary mechanism. (24 January 2018) Invited speaker series at National Great Rivers research and education center. Alton, MO.
Ty Tuff and B.A. Melbourne. Measuring migration from a moving platform. (23 Sept 2017) Pelican Days, Audubon migratory bird center, Alton, MO.
Ty Tuff and B.A. Melbourne. Relative motion as an ecological and evolutionary mechanism (18 Sept 2017). Invited seminar speaker, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Radolfzell, Germany.
Ty Tuff, B. Vilela, T. Fristoe, R. Gray, H. Haynie, P. Kavanagh, M. Gavin, and C. Botero. Investigating mechanism in the global spread of agriculture (15 Sept 2017).Inaugural Meeting of the Cultural Evolution Society, Jena, Germany.
Ty Tuff, B. Vilela, T. Fristoe, R. Gray, H. Haynie, P. Kavanagh, M. Gavin, and C. Botero. How did the ideas and technology of farming spread so quickly? (7 Aug 2017). 102nd Annual meeting of the Ecological Society of America, Portland, OR.
Ty Tuff, B. Vilela, T. Fristoe, R. Gray, H. Haynie, P. Kavanagh, M. Gavin, and C. Botero. How did the ideas and technology of farming spread so quickly? (13 April 2017). Geography of Land tenure and subsistence meeting, Fort Collins, CO.
Ty Tuff. What can trees tell us about the spread of ideas and technology? (12 Dec 2016).St. Louis Darwin Day festival.
Ty Tuff, B. Vilela, and C. Botero. Disentangling correlated drivers of cultural evolution (2 Dec 2016). Bioforum speaker series at Washington University at Saint Louis (2 Dec 2016). St. Louis, MO.
Ty Tuff and B.A. Melbourne. Relative motion as an ecological mechanism. EEPB invited speaker series at Washington University in Saint Louis (20 Oct 2016). St. Louis, MO.
Ty Tuff, A. Hastings, B.A. Melbourne. Modeling and testing the fundamentals of assisted migration. Ecological Society of America (9 Aug 2016). Fort Lauderdale, FL.
Ty Tuff and B.A. Melbourne. Relative motion as an ecological mechanism. Ecology and evolutionary ecology colloquium speaker series (19 Feb 2016): Boulder, CO.
Ty Tuff and B.A. Melbourne. Predicting migration in 3D.University of Colorado STEMinar speaker series (5 December 2015): Boulder, CO.
Ty Tuff and B.A. Melbourne. Predicting migration in 3D. Ecological Society of America, 99th Annual Meeting (14 August 2014): Sacramento, CA.
Ty Tuff. Visualizing migration patterns in 3D helps inform causal mechanisms. Ecological Society of America, 98th Annual Meeting (5 August 2013): Minneapolis, MN.
Ty Tuff, B.A. Melbourne, and A. Hastings. Range limits and Climate Change: Rethinking the Edge. Ecology and Evolutionary Biology – Brown Bag speaker series (3 November 2012): Boulder, CO.
Ty Tuff. Publication quality graphs in R. Ecology and Evolutionary BiologyEcology and Evolutionary Biology – Brown Bag speaker series (5 September 2012): Boulder, CO.
Ty Tuff. A Revolutionary Migration: Full account of energy niche predicts stationary avian migrants and a unified theory of phenology. Ecological Society of America, 97th Annual Meeting (10 August 2012): Portland, OR.
Ty Tuff. The Physics you wish you knew. Exploring Evolution without genetics and Ecology without behavior. Ecology and Evolutionary Biology – Brown Bag speaker series (16 February 2012): Boulder, CO.
Ty Tuff and B.A. Melbourne. Biological Space-Time: Einstein’s relativity predicts stationary avian migrants and a unified theory of phenology. Guild of Rocky Mountain Ecologists and Evolutionary Biologists (September 2011): University of Colorado Mountain Research Station/LTER.
Ty Tuff and B.A. Melbourne. Biological Space-Time: Einstein’s relativity predicts stationary avian migrants and a unified theory of phenology. Ecological Society of America, 96th Annual Meeting (2 August 2011): Austin, TX.
Ty Tuff and B.A. Melbourne. Biological Space-Time: Einstein’s relativity predicts stationary avian migrants and a unified theory of phenology. University of Colorado Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Spring Symposium (2 April 2011): Boulder, CO.
Ty Tuff, B.A. Melbourne, and A. Hastings. Range Limits: rethinking the edge. Ecological Society of America, 95th Annual Meeting (5 August 2010): Pittsburgh, PA.
Ty Tuff, C. Ray, and A. Cruz. Nest failure paradoxically leads to higher nest success. Ecological Society of America, 94th Annual Meeting (2 August 2009): Albuquerque, NM.
Ty Tuff, C. Ray, and A. Cruz. Nest failure paradoxically leads to higher nest success. Guild of Rocky Mountain Ecologists and Evolutionary Biologists (September 2008): University of Colorado Mountain Research Station/LTER.
Ty Tuff. Understanding population growth: how and why increasing the number of individuals in a population contributes to evolution. Evolution Outreach Symposium (June 2008): Boulder, CO.
Ty Tuff and A. Cruz. Differential Parasitism Frequencies in Two Suitable Cowbird Hosts. Guild of Rocky Mountain Ecologists and Evolutionary Biologists (September 2008): University of New Mexico Mountain Research Station/LTER, Ghost Ranch, NM.
Ty Tuff and A. Cruz. Differential Parasitism Frequencies in Two Suitable Cowbird Hosts. American Ornithologist Union, 125th Meeting (11 August 2007): Laramie, WY.
Ty Tuff. Understanding population growth: how and why increasing the number of individuals in a population contributes to evolution. Evolution Outreach Symposium (June 2007): Boulder, CO.
Ty Tuff and A. Cruz. Differential Parasitism Frequencies in Two Suitable Cowbird Hosts. University of Colorado Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Spring Symposium (13 April 2007): Boulder, CO.
Ty Tuff and A. Cruz. Differential Parasitism Frequencies in Two Suitable Cowbird Hosts. Western Field Ornithologists, 31st annual meeting (22 September 2006): Boulder, CO.
Ty Tuff, B. Vilela, T. Fristoe, R.D. Grey, P. Kavanagh, H. Haynie, M. Gavin, and C. Botero. How do ideas and technology spread through human cultures? International Biogeography society, 8th biennial conference (10 January 2017): Tucson, AZ.
Ty Tuff and B.A. Melbourne. Ditching SI units to build an ecologically relevant measure of time and space. Ecological Society of America, 100th Annual Meeting (5 August 2015): Baltimore, MD.
Walsh, J.J., T. Tuff, A. Cruz, and J.F. Chace. Why are Pewees rarely parasitized? Host-Parasite interactions at an Urban-Wildland Interface.Animal Behavior Society, 50th annual meeting (31 July 2014): Boulder, CO.
