Department Directory
| Department Chair: Rita Mehta | Department Manager: Stephanie Zakarian |
| Graduate Program Coordinator: Judy Straub | Department Assistant: Eva Chudnow |
| Undergraduate Program Coordinator/Lead Advisor: Rexton Lynn | Undergraduate Advisor: Aubrie Tait |
| Biology Teaching Laboratory and Facilities Support Technician: Nicole Hack | |
| Department Office: (831) 459-5358 | Administrative Office: CBB, Room 207, 209 |
- Pronouns she/her
- Title
- Associate Researcher, Climate Change Adaptation Scientist; Associate Adjunct Professor
- Division Physical & Biological Sciences Division
- Department
- Ecology & Evolutionary Biology Department
- Website
- Mail Stop CBB/EE Biology
Biography, Education and Training
I am a conservation ecologist, and co-direct the Conservation Science and Solutions Lab and the UC Center for Climate-Adaptive Biodiversity Conservation. With students, interdisciplinary partners, land stewards and practitioners, we are developing and testing novel climate change adaptation strategies and tools to help protect biodiversity into the future. My research focuses mainly on woodland and forest ecosystems in California. I earned a Ph.D. in the Environmental Studies Department at UC Santa Cruz and a B.A. from Harvard University, and I completed postdoctoral work in the Integrative Biology Department at UC Berkeley. I have taught graduate and undergraduate courses on ecology, ethnobotany, climate change and soundscapes. I bring a background in anthropology to my work in ecology, and strive for a holistic approach to socio-ecological challenges.
