The Endangered Species Act at 50
At the 13th annual Public Lecture hosted by the La Kretz Center, Drs. Cat Darst, Scott Morrison, and Brad Shaffer marked the 50th anniversary of the 1973 Endangered Species Act…
Projects
Using Vertical Gradients Of Urban Stressors to Characterize 3D Activity Of Mobile Urban Species
La Kretz postdoctoral researcher Dr. Joseph Curti is interested in the impacts that anthropogenic stressors have on urban bat species. Urbanization is a major force shaping modern distributions of native…
30 x 30: Conservation Science & Policy in Action
It was an honor to have guest lecturer Dr. Jennifer Norris at the 2023 UCLA La Kretz Center Public Lecture to speak about her work leading California’s 30×30 Initiative and…
Assessing invasive plant species eradication efforts on Santa Cruz Island
In collaboration with The Nature Conservancy, our team will be researching the efficacy of eradication efforts for highly invasive plant species on Santa Cruz Island. Situated off the coast of…
Assessing the determinants of collective behavior of seed dispersing ants at the UC Sedgwick natural reserve
Awardee: Sean O'Fallon, Ph.D. student in the Pinter-Wollman lab. His research focuses on the collective behavior of ant colonies.
Characterizing the Evolutionary History of Southern California UC Reserves with an Integrated Computational Approach
Awardee: Maya Chari, senior Computational Biology student, interested in mathematical and computational applications to Ecology. Maya has worked both field and computational jobs and enjoys collecting data and processing it.
Developing a sustainable procurement policy for the Aquarium of the Pacific
The Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, California is the largest aquarium in Southern California and the fourth-largest aquarium in the United States. Founded in 1998, the Aquarium’s mission…
Developing Novel Coastal Infrastructure Habitat Through Beneficial Reuse of Carbon Sequestration Spoils and Cutting-Edge Biosurvey Methods.
Awardee: Gabriela M. Carr, IoES Ph.D. student focused on improving coastal infrastructure as marine habitat.
Effects of interspecific competition on habitat use by Stephens’ kangaroo rat
Awardee: Janine Fischer, Ph.D. student co-advised by Dr. Grether and Dr. Shier at UCLA. Janine is interested in how aggressive interference between species influences their coexistence and habitat use.
Field-testing innovative and sustainable agricultural technological solutions to improve employment for incarcerated youth in Cameroon
Within the West African country of Cameroon, intense food and job insecurity has led to an increase in crime as young Cameroonians resort to committing petty crimes as a means…
Impacts of domestic dogs on gray fox behaviors in the Santa Monica Mountains
Awardee: Madeleine Zuercher, Ph.D. candidate advised by Greg Grether and Debra Shier in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Madeleine is interested in how invasive species affect native carnivore behavior and ecology.
Investigating Local Adaptation of Heteromeles arbutifolia using a Common Garden Approach.
Awardee: Laurel Thomas, undergraduate student completing her degree in Environmental Science with minors in Conservation Biology and Environmental Engineering. Laurel is passionate about conserving and increasing access to California native plants and their respective ecosystems