Life in the L.A. River
With the imminent revitalization of the L.A. River, the city’s landscape is about to transform. But how will the restoration project impact life in and around the river?
Projects
Live fuel moisture: understanding a critical fire behavior trait
La Kretz Postdoc Dr. Alex Pivovaroff studies the physiological mechanisms that control live fuel moisture in our Santa Monica Mountains.
Long-distance Movements and Resource Use by Hornbills in Cameroon
The recent discovery by UCLA Center for Tropical Research (CTR) scientists that the large-bodied frugivorous hornbills (Ceratogymna sp., Fig. 1) of Central Africa make long-distance movements (Fig. 2) highlights their…
Managing Sea Level Rise in Coastal Wetlands
Coastal wetlands are among the most vulnerable ecosystems on the planet. Pressured in many cases by human development from the land, they also now face pressures due to sea level…
Mapping Evolutionary Processes Under Climate Change
The Partnership for International Research and Education project seeks to develop an integrated framework for conserving central African biodiversity under climate change that is both evolutionary-informed and grounded in the socioeconomic constraints of the region.
Preserving an Enigma: The Impact of Habitat Fragmentation on Rockfowl (Picathartes) in Central Africa
One of the most elusive and enigmatic birds of the African rainforests is the rockfowl (Picathartes sp., Fig. 1). The two species that comprise the whole family are listed as…
Rethinking the value of nature from education to health
Dr. Heather Tallis, Global Managing Director and Lead Scientist for Strategy Innovation for The Nature Conservancy
Stream amphibian connectivity and conservation across the Santa Monica Mountains
La Kretz Center Postdoctoral Fellow Dr. Gary Bucciarelli works with the National Park Service to study threatened amphibian populations in southern California.
Temporal and Spatial Niche Partitioning in a Small Mammal Community
Awardee: Rachel Chock. Rachel is researching whether microhabitat use and peak activity times for pocket mice vary within a night and across seasons with competitor abundance.
Tracking migration of Cassin’s Vireo: identifying wintering grounds and assessing the impact of brood parasitism on migratory movements
Awardee: Richard Hedley. Richard's research will use cutting-edge technology to track migratory movements, contributing to a rapidly growing understanding of songbird migration.
Understanding carbon sequestration and climatic variability in alpine wet meadows of Yosemite National Park, California
Awardee: Scott Lydon. Scott is investigating how past climatic variability has altered carbon sequestration in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and Yosemite National Park, California.
Understanding the persistence of Leptospira interrogans in California’s coastal wildlife: uncovering cryptic contributors in a complex multi-host disease system
Awardee: Sarah Helman. Sarah is collaborating with local wildlife and government agencies to obtain biological samples to test for evidence of past Leptospirosis exposure and current infection in various coastal mammalian species.