Kayleigh
Chalkowski

Kayleigh joined TWS in September 2025, as our new Ecological Modeling Specialist post doctoral researcher on the Science Team. Kayleigh will be responsible for developing cutting-edge simulation models that enable us to predict caribou responses to new and existing roads, advancing TWS efforts to protect the Arctic.

Kayleigh is a quantitative ecologist who studies how spatial heterogeneity shapes the distribution of free-roaming vertebrates and their pathogens through animal movement behavior. Her research spans diverse systems, including free-roaming domestic dogs in Madagascar, invasive wild pigs in the U.S., and, most recently, caribou in Alaska. This work is unified by a central focus on understanding how ecological dynamics emerge across fragmented and human-modified landscapes. She is also a visual artist whose work explores narratives around ecological interactions and life as an ecologist through ink, watercolor, digital illustration, and comics. Kayleigh’s art has been featured in public projects and exhibitions in Hawaiʻi, and she has organized group art shows and symposia nationwide that highlight the intersection of art, ecology, and conservation.