Thesis Topic: Modeling wildfire scenarios to select forest treatment locations and quantifying the impacts of disturbance on Pacific marten (Martes caurina)

Advisor: Dr. Ho Yi Wan

Undergraduate Degree/Institution: Wildlife Biology (Conservation Biology/Applied Vertebrate Ecology), Humboldt State University

I grew up in Reno, Nevada, and spent much of my youth exploring the Sierra Nevada and Great Basin. My first taste of wildlife work was through an internship with Sonoma County Regional Parks, where I had the unique opportunity of helping with a mountain lion capture. We used my trail camera footage to locate the lion and collared her as part of a study on urban wildlife conflict. Seeing a mountain lion that close and the excitement of the experience inspired me to dedicate my life to wildlife conservation. I’ve worked with essentially all levels of government (county, state, federal) and have studied small mammals, birds, and carnivores. Most recently, I led a small mammal and point count crew for USFS in the Sierras studying the wildlife community impacts of thinning treatments as a surrogate for natural disturbance, and I have been performing occupancy analyses to quantify these interactions in the off-season. I am particularly interested in megafires and their effects on wildlife, and I hope to help find solutions to the fuels crisis we are facing. My long-term goals are to complete my M.S. and begin working as an agency biologist or GIS specialist, but I am open to pursuing a PhD. I enjoy skiing, playing drums, and backpacking, but I spend most of my free time hiking and photographing wildflowers, birds, and any other interesting taxa I find. I love uploading these photos to the community science platform iNaturalist.