Bird Migration Tracking in the Santa Monica Mountains at Stunt Ranch Reserve
Awardee: Kelsey Reckling, a second year PhD Student, primarily studies bird migration in the Western United States.
Projects
Effects of Urbanization and Feral Cats on the Psychobiology of LA’s Most Abundant Lizard
Awardee: Colleen De Allaume, a third year Undergraduate Student in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department
Investigating Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis prevalence in a fragile vernal pool ecosystem
Awardee: Erica Ro, an undergraduate student pursuing a B.S. in Environmental Science with a concentration in Conservation Biology, is broadly interested in urban ecology and conservation science.
Investigating the Transient Effects of Ocular Blood Sampling on Sceloporus Occidentalis
Awardee: May Jiang, a fourth year Biology undergraduate interested in urban animal ecology and plant biology.
Plant performance-dispersal feedbacks in a California annual grassland community
Awardee: Lauren Glevanik, a PhD candidate in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, works with a plant community of annual wildflowers and grasses.
Assessing eDNA as a tool to monitor Southern California Estuarine health and invasive species impact
This project evaluates a new eDNA assay targeting the tufA gene to improve early detection of the invasive algae Caulerpa prolifera, which poses a major threat to California’s marine ecosystems.
Hyperspectral Imaging for California Plant Ecology
Awardee: Nikita Burger, undergraduate student pursuing a B.S. in Computational and Systems Biology at UCLA.
Scrub-Jays: an emerging model system for studying evolution and understanding conservation priorities in California.
La Kretz Center postdoctoral researcher Dr. Devon DeRaad plans to use genomic approaches to characterize the genetic diversity and relatedness of scrub-jays throughout the state of California. This includes a…
A restoration and monitoring plan for Sage Hill
Student Team: Bec Chenowith, Kolby Emison, Jacqueline Gonzalez Hurtado, Isaac Law, Angela Sarunchartinonth, Sarah Schmitt, and Emma Strassner Client: UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability Advisor: Dr. Andy Kleinhesselink View our Story…
Assessing breeding owl species distribution in Los Angeles
Raptors, birds of prey that include hawks, owls, and falcons, are hypercarnivorous bird species that actively hunt and feed on other vertebrates. As top predators, raptors exert top-down control over…
Determining the drivers of collective behavior in Veromessor harvester ants at the UC Sedgwick natural reserve
Awardee: Sean O'Fallon, Ph.D. student in the Pinter-Wollman lab at UCLA. Sean's research focuses on the collective behavior of ant colonies, focusing on the factors that determine behavioral variation within populations and the relationship between ant nest architecture and collective behavior.
Effects of artificial lighting at night on bats in Los Angeles County
Awardee: Lily Rivas, undergraduate student at UCLA under the IoES program pursuing an Environmental Science B.S. and a minor in Conservation Biology.