Hyperspectral Imaging for California Plant Ecology
Awardee: Nikita Burger, undergraduate student pursuing a B.S. in Computational and Systems Biology at UCLA.
Projects
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…
Corporate Sustainability Transparency Index
The key to sustainability progress is understanding where we are and where we want to go. Using publicly disclosed information from the S&P 500, the Open For Good™ initiative has collected sustainability…
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.
Effects of interspecific competition on Stephens’ kangaroo rat habitat selection
Awardee: Janine Fischer, Ph.D. candidate co-advised by Dr. Grether and Dr. Shier at UCLA, who is interested in how aggressive interference between species influences their coexistence and habitat use.
Hydraulic function and carbon metabolism of three southern California oak species
Awardee: Anna Ongjoco, Ph.D student co-advised by Dr. Elsa Ordway at UCLA and Dr. Leander Anderegg at UCSB.
Integrating Environmental DNA and Epigenetics as a Novel Approach for Age Classification of Zebrafish (Danio rerio) as a Model Organism.
Awardee: Madeleine Pacheco, first year PhD student in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department under the supervision of Dr. Paul Barber at UCLA.
Is Prey Availability a Factor in the Decline of a Bat Species in Southern California that is Synanthropic in the Rest of its Range?
Awardee: Jill Carpenter, Ph.D. candidate interested in the roosting and foraging ecology of bats, especially with regard to how various species navigate and utilize the human-altered landscapes of Southern California as well as what traits allow some species to persist while others decline.
Using eDNA Techniques to Understand the Patterns of Harmful Algal Blooms in the Santa Monica Bay
Awardee: Likhitha Yettela, 4th-year undergraduate environmental science student with a concentration in conservation biology at UCLA.
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…
Fostering Community Solar: A Student-Led Collaborative Program between UCLA and EIA University
Funded by an award from the 100K CLIMA Grant Competition, UCLA and EIA University are collaborating on a student-led comparative case study of community solar projects in Los Angeles, CA and Medellin, Colombia.