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.
Projects
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
Modeling the impact of invasive annual grasses on wildfire behaviors in Southern California.
Awardee: Bowen Wang, undergraduate student with majors in Climate Science and Geography. Bowen has a wide interest in both the physical and social impacts of anthropogenic climate change, particularly in droughts, floods, and wildfires in the Western US and tropical cyclones, and he likes to develop and run models to represent these processes.
Physiological mechanisms enabling species survival of drought in southern California
Awardee: Nidhi Vinod, 2nd year Ph.D. student in Dr. Lawren Sack and Dr. Elsa Ordway’s labs researching how ecosystems across the US respond to changes in climate by connecting field based physiological functions and traits to ecosystem level processes such as carbon and water cycles.
Quantifying and validating habitat connectivity across Greater Los Angeles
Located at the center of one of only 36 biodiversity hotspots in the world, the City of Los Angeles is a high-priority area for conservation. It is home to 1,200…
Tracking changes in photosynthetic activity of native California plants
Awardee: Alannah Linden, third year atmospheric and oceanic sciences / mathematics major. Alannah has interests in a range of physical sciences subjects.
Translating Conservation Science to Policy-Driven Outcomes
The event featured a presentation by Clark Stevens, Executive Director of the Resource Conservation District of the Santa Monica Mountains and the lead architect for the Highway 101 Liberty Canyon wildlife over-crossing, a project that has some of its origins in the work of John Benson, one of our first La Kretz postdocs
Characterizing community biodiversity of eelgrass (Zostera marina) in the Port of LA surrounding a localized dredging event
Awardee: Candice Cross, third year Ph.D. student in Dr. Paul Barber’s lab. Candice is interested in using next- generation sequencing tools to study the role of foundation species in marine ecosystems.
Comparisons in Patterns of Antibiotic Resistance Bacteria Between Urban and Non-urban Populations of Dark-Eyed Juncos (Junco hyemalis)
Awardee: Carolyn Xue, master’s student in Evolutionary Medicine program in the Yeh Lab. Carolyn hopes to promote ideas on One Health, work in preserving biodiversity, and grow her interests in art and science.