Along the Gulf Coast of Texas and Louisiana, an unusual canine roams — animals that look like coyotes but carry the rare genetic legacy of the critically endangered red wolf. Dubbed “ghost wolves,” these canines have persisted quietly for decades, harboring DNA once thought lost when red wolves vanished from the wild in the 1980s. In this talk, Bridgett vonHoldt, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, explores the groundbreaking research that uncovered their existence, the science behind their genetic heritage and why their story matters for the future of wildlife conservation. This is a virtual event that is free and open to the public. Registration is required here.

Speaker 

Bridgett vonHoldt is an evolutionary biologist who specializes in genomic analysis of North American canines. Her research focuses on evolutionary and conservation genomics of admixed canine species, with her research having significant conservation applications for endangered species like the Red wolf. She is the founder and director of the North American Canine Ancestry Project, as well as a co-founder and lead geneticist for the Gulf Coast Canine Project. Her team discovered the ghost wolves along the Gulf Coast region of the southeastern United States, with ongoing research designed to integrate ghost genetic variation for genetic rescue of the Red wolf.