DRI / DIRECTORY / MARY CABLK
Mary Cablk Profile Photo
Dr. Mary Cablk
Assocaite Research Professor - Emeritus
Phone 
775-673-7371
Fax 
775-673-7297
E-Mail 
Mary.Cablk@dri.edu
Campus 
Reno Campus
Division 
Earth and Ecosystem Sciences

Professional Interests

I retired in 2022 after a long and productive career. My research focused on canine capability and topics related to studying canine efficacy and reliability in an operational environment.

Odor detection Olfaction is a powerful sense that can be used in applications where vision, hearing, or feeling (tactile response) fails. My research into detection dogs began with investigating their ability to locate federally protected Mojave desert tortoises. The resulting DTK9 Program was unique in its scientific rigor. From this work has come expertise in converting qualitative information to quantitative data and data capture methods, analytical approaches to validate capability, and training, testing and deployment protocols that are suitable for sensitive targets in extreme environments. Recent applications include different target classes for archaeology and law enforcement. As a result of this work I have also developed an interest in the behavioral science of detection. The role humans play as part of a dog team is significant and the human mindset can significantly affect a dogs and the teams capability.

Past Projects

Education

Degree Year Institution Area
Ph.D. 1997 Forest Resources, College of Forestry Forest Resources, College of Forestry
M.E.M. 1991 Duke University Resource Ecology, School of Forestry and Environmental Studies
B.S. 1989 Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University Biology

Academic Affiliations

  • Graduate Faculty Standing, Department of Anthropology, University of Nevada Reno

Keywords

canine detection, detection, K9, cadaver, olfaction, remote sensing, landscape, DOD, GIS, spatial pattern

 

Publications
2020
Miller, J. J., Etyemezian, V. R., Adams, K. D., Berli, M., Kruger, B. R., Stillman, S., Cablk, M. E., Heintz, K. M., Nikolich, G., Moser, D. P. (2020). Lakebed Health and Feasibility of Use Study, including Inundation Frequency Analysis of Rogers and Rosamond Dry Lakes, Edwards Air Force Base, California, Paginated by section, DRI Publication #41279

2018
Norton, R., Cablk, M. E., Ramsey, B. A., Smith, K. L., Bacon, S. N., Ostrowski, S. R., Wright, J., Rodning, S. (2018). Defending against agroterrorism: Modeling Pathogen Dispersion Pathways, Homeland Defense & Security Information Analysis Journal, 5 (1), 23-27

2016
Cablk, M. E., Miller, J. J., Mizell, S. A. (2016). Comparing Playa Inundation Estimates from Landsat and LiDAR Data to a Doppler Radar-Based Hydrologic ModelChapter : . In McDonald, E. V., Bullard, T. F. (Eds.), Military Geosciences and Desert Warfare: Past Lessons and Modern Challenges, Advances in Military Geosciences, 153-167. Springer: New York

Cablk, M. E., Sagebiel, J. C., McDaniel, M. R. (2016). Analytical Chemistry Analysis of Bat Guano: An Investigation into Species-Specific Bat Detection Via Olfaction, April 22, 2016, Final Report submitted to US Department of Interior – Fish and Wildlife Service, Kentucky Field Office, Frankfort, Kentucky.

Cablk, M. E. (2016). Line of Sight/Visibility Analysis for Ascension Island Radar and Wind Towers, 10 pp.. Submitted to Technical Advisor Encroachment and Sustainability Senior Scientific Analyst, Department of the Air Force

2014
Ziffer-Berger, J., Weisberg, P. J., Cablk, M. E., Osem, Y. (2014). Spatial patterns provide support for the stress-gradient hypothesis over a range-wide aridity gradient, Journal of Arid Environments, 102, 27-33

Cablk, M. E. (2014). Experiencing nature in militarized landscapes: If a bomb drops in the desert, do we still call it wilderness?Chapter 22: . In Harmon, R. S., Baker, S. E., McDonald, E. V. (Eds.), Military Geosciences in the Twenty-First Century, Reviews in Engineering Geology, 22, 202-215. Geological Society of America Reviews in Engineering Geology, 10.1130/2014.4122(18)

2013
Miller, J. J., Etyemezian, V. R., Shillito, R. M., Cablk, M. E., Fenstermaker, L.F., Shafer, D. S. (2013). Monitoring Soil Erosion of a Burn Site in the Central Basin and Range Ecoregion: Final Report on Measurements at the Gleason Fire Site, Nevada, Prepared for the U.S. Department of Energy, Report No. DOE/NV/0000939-14; Report No. DRI Publication No. 45254.

Miller, J. J., Cablk, M. E., Etyemezian, V. R., Shillito, R. M., Shafer, D. S. (2013). Monitoring Soil Erosion on a Burned Site in the Mojave-Great Basin Transition Zone; Final Report for the Jacob Fire Site

Hershey, R. L., Cablk, M. E., LeFebre, K., Fenstermaker, L.F., Decker, D. L. (2013). Water-Chemistry Evolution and Modeling of Radionuclide Sorption and Cation Exchange during Inundation of Frenchman Flat Playa. Desert Research Institute: Reno, NV, DOE/NA0000939-10; Desert Research Institute Publication No. 45252

Fenstermaker, L.F., Cablk, M. E., Chapman, J., Green, M. C., de Soyza, A. (2013). Recommended Core and Supplemental Environmental Monitoring Methods for Arid Land BP Installations, Prepared for BP International.

2012
Szelagowski, E. E., Sagebiel, J. C., Cablk, M. E. (2012). Characterization of the volatile organic compounds present in the headspace of decomposing animal remains, and compared with human remains, Forensic Science International, 220, 118-125

2011
Cablk, M. E., Sagebiel, J. C. (2011). Field capability of dogs to locate human teeth, Journal of Forensic Sciences, 56 (4), 1018-1024

Cablk, M. E., Harmon, R. S. (2011). Validation and Development of a Certification Program for Using K9s to Survey Desert Tortoises., 162 p.. Final Report to DOD Environmental Security Technology Certification Program, RC-200609

Cablk, M. E., Harmon, R. S. (2011). Cost and Performance Report: RC-200609, 91 pp.. Report to DOD Environmental Security Technology Certification Program, RC-200609

2008
Heaton, J. S., Cablk, M. E., Nussear, K. E., Esque, T. C., Medica, P. A., Sagebiel, J. C., Francis, S. S. (2008). Comparison of human versus wildlife detector dog investigator effects, Southwestern Naturalist, 53 (4), 472-479

Cablk, M. E., Sagebiel, J. C., Heaton, J. S., Valentin, C. (2008). Olfaction-based detection distance: A quantitative analysis of how far away dogs detect tortoise odor and follow it to source, Sensors, 8 (4), 2208-2222

Raumann, C. C., Cablk, M. E. (2008). Land-use/cover change in the Lake Tahoe Basin, California and Nevada, USA, 1940-2002, Forest Ecology and Management, 255, 3424-3439

Nussear, K. E., Esque, T. C., Heaton, J. S., Cablk, M. E., Drake, K. K., Valentin, C., Yee, J. L., Medica, P. A. (2008). Are wildlife detector dogs or people better at finding tortoises?, Herpetological Conservation and Biology, 3 (1), 103-115

2007
Zhu, Z., Young, M. H., Cablk, M. E. (2007). Uncertainty Analysis of Estimates of Ground-Water Discharge by Evapotranspiration for the BARCAS Study Area

Sharpe, S. E., Cablk, M. E., Thomas, J. M. (2007). The Walker Basin, Nevada and California: Physical Environment, Hydrology, and Biology

Cablk, M. E., Kratt, C. (2007). A Methodology for Mapping Shrub Canopy Cover in the Great Basin Desert Using High Spatial Resolution Satellite Imagery, DRI Report No. 41236

Cablk, M. E., Nussear, K. N., Esque, T. C. (2007). Desert tortoise surveys on the Precision Impact Range Area October 2006, Edwards Air Force Base, California, 22 pp.. Final report to Edwards Air Force Base

2006
Cablk, M. E., Heaton, J. S. (2006). Accuracy and reliability of dogs in surveying for desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii), Ecological Applications, 16 (5), 1926-1935

Albright, W. H., Jasoni, R. L., Cablk, M. E., Thomas, J. M., Decker, D. L., Arnone, J.A. III (2006). Groundwater Evapotranspiration in Smoke Creek Desert, Nevada. Final Report to SEMPRA Generation, DRI Report #41224

Cablk, M. E., Perlow, L. (2006). A classification system for impervious cover in the Lake Tahoe Basin. Final report submitted to the State of Nevada Water Resources Research Institute

Cablk, M. E. (2006). Protecting the threatened desert tortoise: A plan for primary survey, management and monitoring in Parashant National Monument and Grand Canyon National Park. Final Report to Grand Canyon/Parashant National Park, U.S. Department of the Interior

2005
Cablk, M. E., Heaton, J. S. (2005). Efficacy and reliability of dogs for surveying desert tortoises: Results from the DT-K9 trials March 28-April 15, 2004 Desert Tortoise Conservation Center – Las Vegas, NV, 57 pp.. Final Report to University of Redlands, Task order# 121220-02-02A

2004
Minor, T. B., Cablk, M. E. (2004). Estimation of Impervious Cover in the Lake Tahoe Basin Using Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems Data Integration, Journal of Nevada Water Resources Association, 1 (1), 58-75

Cablk, M. E., Heaton, J. S., Sagebiel, J. C. (2004). Risk of attracting predators from human and human-dog team wildlife surveys, 31 pp.. Final Report to Marine Air Ground Task Force Training Command, Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs Division, W911NF-04-1-0279

Young, M. H., Albright, W. H., Zachritz, W., Shafer, D. S., Pohlmann, K. F., Cablk, M. E., Zitzer, S. F., McDonald, E. V. (2004). Technical approach for designing alternative covers at Edwards Air Force Base, California., Prepared for Air Force Flight Test Center, Environmental Management Directorate, Edwards Air Force Base, California. Desert Research Institute publication No. 41192, Contract #DACA05-02-C-0009

2003
Cablk, M. E., Minor, T. B. (2003). Detecting and discriminating impervious cover with high-resolution IKONOS data using principal component analysis and morphological operators, Int. J. Remote Sensing, 24 (23), 4627-4645

Young, M. H., Albright, W. H., Zachritz, W., Shafer, D. S., Pohlmann, K. F., Cablk, M. E., Zitzer, S. F., McDonald, E. V. (2003). Technical Approach for Designing Alternative Covers at Edwards Air Force Base, California, DRI Report No. 41192

Cablk, M. E. (2003). Baseline and initial monitoring assessment of Martes americana, the American Marten, at Heavenly Ski Resort, Lake Tahoe, California, 87 p.. Final Report to U.S. Forest Service, Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit

Minor, T. B., Cablk, M. E. (2003). Estimation of hard impervious cover in the Lake Tahoe Basin using Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems, 32 pp.. Final report to the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency

Cablk, M. E., Langford, W., Panorska, A. (2003). Alternative Future Scenarios: Development of a modeling information system, 115 pp.. Final Report to DoD: Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program, M67399-00-C-0005

Hunter, L. M., de J. Gonzalez, M., Stevenson, M., Karish, K. S., Toth, R., Edwards, T. C., Lilieholm, R. J., Cablk, M. E. (2003). Population and land use change in the California Mojave: Natural habitat implications of alternative futures., Population Research and Policy Review, 22, 373-397

2002
Cablk, M. E., White, D., Kiester, A. R. (2002). Assessment of spatial autocorrelation in empirical models in ecologyChapter 37: Assessment of spatial autocorrelation in empirical models in ecology. In Scott, M., Heglund, P., Morrison, M., Rafael, M., Wall, B., Hoffer, J. (Eds.), Predicting Species Occurrences: Issues of Accuracy and Scale, 429-440. Island Press: Washington, DC

Cablk, M. E. (2002). Impacts of development in the Coachella Valley on Fringe-Toed Lizards and the related implications to Joshua Tree National Park, 46 pp.. Final report to Joshua Tree National Park

Cablk, M. E., Heaton, J. S. (2002). Mojave Fringe-Toed Lizard surveys at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center at Twenty-nine Palms, California and nearby lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management, 115 pp.. Final Report to Marine Air Ground Task Force Training Command, Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs Division, Report M67399-00-C-0005

Conference Proceedings
2017
Cablk, M. E. (2017). Detecting Human Remains in Fatal Fires Using Cadaver Dogs. 69th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences: New Orleans, LA, February 13, 2017-February 18, 2017

2016
Williams, A., Pope, E., Pilloud, M., Cablk, M. E., Galloway, A. (2016). FFDIC: Experimental Analysis of Burned Human Remains.. Mountain, Desert, and Coastal Forensic Anthropologists Annual Meeting: Boulder City, NV, May 25, 2016

2013
Holz-Montemayor, B., Cablk, M. E. (2013). Comparing historical human remains detection dog and ground penetrating radar responses in areas of possible human burials. Seventh World Archaeological Congress: Dead Sea, Jordan, January 13, 2013-January 18, 2013

2011
Cablk, M. E. (2011). Bridging SAR dogs and science ? the latest and greatest, translated. National Association of Search and Rescue. 2011 Annual Conference, June 2, 2011-June 4, 2011

Cablk, M. E. (2011). Military wilderness: If a bomb drops in the desert do we still call it wilderness?. American Society of Environmental History Conference: Phoenix, AZ, April 12, 2011-April 17, 2011

2009
Cablk, M. E. (2009). Experiencing nature in militarized landscapes: If a bomb drops in the desert do we still call it wilderness?. American Association of Geographers Annual Meeting: Las Vegas, NV, March 22, 2009-March 27, 2009