Robert Garrott has been a faculty member of Montana State University's Department of Ecology since 1995.  After completing his Ph.D. in Wildlife Conservation from the University of Minnesota in 1990, Dr. Garrott was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Wildlife Ecology at the University of Wisconsin--Madison until 1995.  His earlier education includes a M.S. in Wildlife Management from Pennsylvania State University in 1980 and a B.S. in Wildlife Biology from the University of Montana in 1976.

Over the years Dr. Garrott's research projects have covered a wide range of topics from population dynamics of feral horses in the western United States, to the ecology of arctic foxes in northern Alaska, to mule deer spatial dynamics in Colorado.  His primary research focus is understanding abiotic and biotic ecological processes that influence mammalian populations and communities with most of his research projects centered within the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) of Montana and northwestern Wyoming, and marine mammal studies in Antarctica.

In particular, studies of elk and bison in Yellowstone National Park's Madison, Firehole, and Gibbon drainages over the past decade have established a robust database that is now being utilized in an Integrated Ecological Science endeavor within Central Yellowstone.  The reintroduction of wolves into the Park and the GYE in the mid-1990s has provided the opportunity to investigate the impact of this top predator on ungulate populations with several intensive, ongoing studies on Wolf-Ungulate Dynamics.  In addition to his detailed research in Yellowstone, projects beyond the Park's boundaries in the GYE and Montana offer a different look into some similar wolf-ungulate studies as well as a handful of completely unique topics involving bears, pronghorn, and management concerns.  Finally, a recently awarded grant has provided Dr. Garrott and his colleague, Dr. Rotella, with the opportunity to continue a long-term study of the population dynamics of Weddell Seals in Antarctica's Erebus Bay.