People, La Kretz Center for California Conservation Science — Institute of the Environment and Sustainability at UCLA

Meet Our Team

At the La Kretz Center, our team works together to organize our activities and bring our results to the broadest possible user group. We receive input and guidance from our Advisory Board, a select group of individuals representing both UCLA and our partner organizations. Our Affiliates are a broader group of conservationists who help us recruit the best possible postdoctoral scholars, advise graduate student grants, and constitute the core interests and strengths in conservation science that define the Center.

Leadership

H. Bradley Shaffer

Director, UCLA La Kretz Center for California Conservation Science

Distinguished Professor, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; Institute of the Environment and Sustainability

Senior Staff

David Blake

Director's Assistant

UCLA La Kretz Center for California Conservation Science | Stunt Ranch Santa Monica Mountains Reserve

Erin Toffelmier

Associate Director of the California Conservation Genomics Project

California Conservation Genomics Project

Postdoctoral Scholars

Joseph Nikko Curti

Postdoctoral Fellow

UCLA La Kretz Center for California Conservation Science

Devon DeRaad

Postdoctoral Fellow

UCLA La Kretz Center for California Conservation Science

zac macdonald: ecological and evolutionary mechanisms structuring diversity in space and time

Zachary MacDonald

Postdoctoral Fellow

UCLA La Kretz Center for California Conservation Science

Olivia Sanderfoot

Postdoctoral Fellow

UCLA La Kretz Center for California Conservation Science

Past Postdoctoral Scholars

Eric Abelson

Research Scientist

University of Texas, Austin

Joscha Beninde

Assistant Professor

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

John Benson

Assistant Professor of Vertebrate Ecology

University of Nebraska School of Natural Resources

Rachel Blakey

Assistant Professor

Cal Poly Pomona

Luke Browne

Postdoctoral Associate

Yale University

Gary Bucciarelli

Lassen Field Station Director

UC Davis

Samantha Catella

Adam Clause

Herpetology Collections Manager

San Diego Natural History Museum

Dave Daversa

Project Scientist

UCLA

Jesse Grismer

Assistant Professor

La Sierra University

Sarah Helman

Elizabeth Long

Alexandria Pivovaroff

Assistant Professor

Occidental College

Justin Valliere

Assistant Professor

UC Davis Cooperative Extension

Affiliates

Stepfanie Aguillon

Assistant Professor

Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Richard Ambrose

Professor Emeritus

Department of Environmental Health Sciences

Paul Barber

Professor

Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

John Benson

Assistant Professor of Vertebrate Ecology

University of Nebraska School of Natural Resources

Daniel Blumstein

Professor

Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Luis Chiappe

VP of Research & Collections

Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County

Paul Edelman

Chief of Natural Resources and Planning, Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority

Deputy Director, Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy

Robert Espinoza

Professor of Biology, Curator of Amphibians and Reptiles, and Associate Dean of the College of Science and Mathematics

California State University, Northridge

Robert Fisher

Supervisory Research Biologist

U.S. Geological Survey, Western Ecological Research Center

Peggy Fong

Professor

Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Thomas Gillespie

Co-Chair, Environmental Science and Engineering (D.Env.) Program; Professor

Department of Geography

Greg Grether

Professor

Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Alex Hall

Director, Institute of the Environment and Sustainability; Professor, Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences; Faculty Director, Sustainable LA Grand Challenge

Institute of the Environment and Sustainability

Ryan Harrigan

Associate Adjunct Professor, IoES; Associate Researcher, CTR

David Jacobs

Vice Chair of Outreach and Infrastructure, Marine Center; Professor

Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Jon Keeley

Adjunct Professor

Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Nathan Kraft

Associate Professor

Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Jamie Lloyd-Smith

Professor

Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Kirk Lohmueller

Professor

Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology and Department of Human Genetics

Robert Lovich

Senior Natural Resource Specialist

Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) SW

Glen MacDonald

WMRC Director, John Muir Memorial Chair in Geography and Distinguished Professor, Founding Director, Water Resources Group

Department of Geography, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

James McWilliams

Professor

Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences

Sergey Nuzhdin

Professor

USC

Sophie Parker

Senior Scientist

The Nature Conservancy

Greg Pauly

Assistant Curator

LA County Museum of Natural History

Stephanie Pincetl

Founding Director of CCSC and Professor

California Center for Sustainable Communities at UCLA; Chair, PhD in Environment and Sustainability;

Noa Pinter-Wollman

Professor

Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

los angeles is a metropolitan den for mountain lions

Seth Riley

Wildlife Branch Chief; Adjunct Associate Professor

U.S. National Parks Service; Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Philip Rundel

Professor Emeritus

Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Lawren Sack

Professor

Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Yongwei Sheng

Professor

Department of Geography

Thomas Smith

Founder and Co-Director, Center for Tropical Research; Founding Co-Director, Congo Basin Institute

Distinguished Research Professor, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Institute of the Environment and Sustainability

Chuliang Song

Assistant Professor

Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Victoria Sork

Director, Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden; Professor

Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Craig Stanford

Professor

University of Southern California

Morgan Tingley

Associate Professor

Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Blaire Van Valkenburgh

Distinguished Research Professor

Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Thomas Wake

Senior Museum Scientist and Director, Zooarchaeology Lab

UCLA Cotsen Institute of Archaeology

Larry Wan

Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority

Pamela Yeh

Assistant Professor

Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Felipe Zapata

Co-director, Center for Tropical Research

Associate Professor, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Advisors