Brenden Orocu

PhD Student, Biology

Graduate Teaching Assistant

Brenden is a doctorate student from Mapleton, UT, working with Dr. Robbie Burger. His research is focused on integrating metabolic and demographic theories of life history to advance the Equal Fitness Paradigm (EFP), a framework that links energetic constraints to life history evolution and population dynamics. His areas of interest include population dynamics, life history theory, and evolutionary ecology. He received his master's and undergraduate degrees from BYU in Biology and in Biodiversity & Conservation, respectively. Outside of research, he loves spending time with his wife and son, being outdoors, and watching/playing sports.

Contact Information

brenden-orocu@uky.edu

208 Thomas Hunt Morgan

Education

MS in Biology, Brigham Young University, 2026
BS in Biodiversity & Conservation, Brigham Young University, 2024

Research Interests

Evolutionary ecology
Population ecology
Macroecology
Wildlife Conservation

Affiliations

Biology

Curriculum Vitae (CV)

Selected Publications

Selected Publications:

Orocu, B.M., Auger, J., Black, H.L., Larsen, R.T., McMillan, B.R., & Belk, M.C. (2026). Demography of American black bears (Ursus americanus) in a semiarid environment. Ursus, 37(e5). https://doi.org/10.2192/URSUS-D-24-00022

Rasmussen, J.E., Billman, E.J., Johnson, J.B., Orocu, B.M., Richardson, R.A., Zúñiga-Vega, J.J., & Belk, M.C. (2026). Demography of an imperiled minnow species (Lepidomeda aliciae: Leuciscidae) under different predation regimes. Diversity, 18(1), 53. https://doi.org/10.3390/d18010053

Quezada-Villa, K., Cannizzo, Z.J., Carver, J., Dunn, R. P., Fletcher, L. S., Kimball, M. E., McMullin, A. L., Orocu, B.M., Pfirrmann, B. W., Pinkston, E., Reese, T. C., Smith, N., Stancil, C., Toscano, B. J., & Griffen, B.D. (2023). Predicting diet in brachyuran crabs using external morphology. PeerJ, 11. doi:10.7717/peerj.15224