Coastal Canyon Fire Safe Council
Board Director (Volunteer)
April 2021- Present
Serves as the boards Chair of Fire Science. Assists the board with ideas, events and creates social media content. Gathers information to educate the community on how to be fire safe. Runs the groups Twitter page. Creates fliers for events and assists in the distribution of fliers. Assisted in hosting a Fire Safe Your Place fire safety event in May 2021, that brought in two full dumpsters and a full chipper truck of debris and raised over $3,000 in donations.​
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Lions Tigers and Bears
Volunteer
March 2021- Present
Assists the organization on a long-term special research project. Assists with educational tours for elementary school aged children. Assists with diet prep for bear and cat species. Assists with cleaning and sterilization. Assists with special events, like showing the documentary The Conservation Game on sanctuary property. ​
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Cougar Conservancy
Volunteer
May 2020- Present
Assists with the creation and maintenance of databases related to cougar conservation, including a Regulatory Contact database for select California homeowners associations and property management companies, in collaboration with the Conflict Task Force.
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Co-lead pre-production efforts, including planning and script writing for select visual media projects.
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Review and proofread materials for outreach and education, and assist with creation of surveys for outreach.
The Cougar Conservancy aims to reduce human-wildlife conflict and conserve cougar populations through science- based management and conservation.
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Current Impacts
San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance
Ocelots Secretary
November 2018- Present
Holds a voting position on the Steering Committee Board. Records minutes of the monthly steering committee meetings and sends them out to the steering committee members. Creates and distributes the steering committee roster and planning calendar for the year to all members of the board. Assists in creating and emailing dinner flyers, webinar flyers, the Oceletter, zoo information and other important information to all Ocelot members.
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Serves on the Fundraising Committee to create and plan new ideas to have members donate and participate in opportunity drawings.
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The Ocelots are a San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance donor member organization that supports the mission of San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance through active involvement and a commitment to education and fundraising. The members donate funds to the Ocelots Grants Program, which allows departmental recipients of the grants to purchase much needed enrichment and special pieces of equipment.
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Past Impacts
Ocean Desert Alliance:
OdySea Aquarium
Sulikowski Shark and Fish Conservation Lab
Vermilion Sea Institute
September 19 - September 24, 2022
Ocean Desert Alliance consists of OdySea Aquarium Foundation, Sulikowski Shark and Fish Conservation Lab at Arizona State University, and the Vermilion Sea Institute. This volunteer opportunity assisted all three organizations to help conservation efforts of marine species in the Sea of Cortez / Baja California off the coast of Bahía de los Ángeles.
For the Sulikowski Shark and Fish Conservation Lab, I worked on a team of volunteers to assist Dr. James Sulikowski with his research on sharks. I assisted on his research of gathering data such as movement patterns, growth rates, reproductive biology, resiliency to climate change nd fishing pressure. The team I was on assisted with blood draws, ultrasounding sharks, measurements, tagging and gathering other vital information.
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For the Vermilion Sea Institute, I was able to assist researchers with community science research on whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) in the Bahía de los Ángeles area. I photographed whale sharks while in the water and following them on a boat, keeping a safe and respectful distance. I uploaded my data on the whale sharks that were seen into a worldwide used database, Sharkbook for Whale Sharks. I collaborated alongside researchers to ensure the safety of the whale sharks and all participants while gathering data. ​
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Visit the Vermilion Sea Institute
Visit the OdySea Aquarium
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San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance Volunteer
August 2017- February 2022
Information Ambassador: Assisted guests with directions and basic animal and zoo knowledge throughout the zoo.
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Enrichment Volunteer: Created enrichment items for all animals, specifically the tigers and primates. Worked hands on with food and treat items the animals received as well as built beds and toys for them to engage with.
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Special Projects: Assisted zoo guests with events, such as check in or directions. Helped staff members organize and get events ready for guests and the education department. Assisted on two elephant birth watches and keeping track of both mother and baby elephants taking note of behaviors, such as feedings, nursing's, sleeping, playing, urinating and defecting and relationship building.
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Interpretative Volunteer: Shared stories, conservation messages and biofacts with guests at the tiger, elephant, polar bear, Komodo dragon, several reptile species, and hummingbird habitats.
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Conservation Science and Wildlife Health Research: Assisted Dr. Nicholas Pilfold, on the leopard team within the Population and Sustainability department at the Conservation Science and Wildlife Health. This leopard project is based in Kenya, Africa and I assisted by reviewing and organizing camera trap videos. Watched the camera trap video and placed the videos in certain animal folders or deleted the video depending on what is seen. Assisted on the Burrowing Owl Project with Jean-Pierre Montagne, searching for and measuring squirrel burrows in two field locations. Took note of any latrines, scat, food items, the size of the hole, if is was found under or near a wood pile and other interesting and important notes.
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Visit the SDZ Conservation Science and Wildlife Health
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Vermilion Sea Institute
August 24 - August 29, 2021
This volunteer opportunity, through their Stars to Sea program, allowed me to assist researchers with community science research on whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) in the Bahía de los Ángeles area. I photographed whale sharks while in the water and following them on a boat, keeping a safe and respectful distance. I uploaded my data on the whale sharks that were seen into a worldwide used database, Sharkbook for Whale Sharks. I collaborated alongside researchers to ensure the safety of the whale sharks and all participants while gathering data. ​
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Visit the Vermilion Sea Institute
Mountain Lion Foundation
Intern
November 2019- June 2020
This internship focused on synthesizing wildfire impacts on mountain lions and their habitat, as well as policy that affects mountain lions. Tasks included a thorough literature view on the impacts of fire on mountain lions and their habitat. Intern researched the wildfire impacts on mountain lion habitat, wildfire impacts on animal species including the mountain lion, defensible space standards set forth by Cal Fire and policy that affects mountain lions nationally and in California. Information from the Literature Review was synthesized into a white paper. Intern worked independently and with staff. Staff guided Intern as needed and gave feedback throughout the development of the white paper.
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Mountain lions play an important role in California’s ecosystems. Knowing the impact fires have on mountain lions will help us better plan for their management and conservation in the face of year-round fire seasons and climate change.
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S.P.E.C.I.E.S.
Intern
November 2019- June 2020
Intern managed their social media presence and blog posts leading up to World Jaguar Day on April 10, 2020. Intern created all blog posts on their website from March 24, 2020 to April 10, 2020. There was a different post each day about jaguars, the challenges they face, facts, status and the SPECIES Chaco Jaguar Conservation Project. Intern also shared these posts on the organizations Facebook and Twitter platforms. You can visit their blog here: https://www.worldjaguarday.org/blog
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Intern researched zoological societies that are apart of Quarters for Conservation and kept track of contact personnel's information. Quarters for Conservation is a program that raises money to support wildlife conservation all over the world. Zoo quests are given a token representing a quarter and they 'vote' for their favorite project or organization.
Intern researched articles relating to S.P.E.C.I.E.S. Puma project they were beginning. Research focused on populations, prey, habitat, GPS, spatial associations, depredation, diet, predation, and behavior. Intern also kept track of contact information for the main authors of each article found.
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Intern researched articles relating to S.P.E.C.I.E.S. Pangolin project. Research focused on genetic diversity, mitochondrial genome sequences, and pangolin evolution.
Intern also assisted S.P.E.C.I.E.S. with their collaboration with a start-up app called Key Conservation. Key Conservation is looking to connect the needs of stories of wildlife conservation efforts on the ground, with audiences among the public with whom those stories and needs really resonate with.
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The organization focuses on integrating people and carnivores for a sustainable future, since conservation of wild places begins with its carnivores.
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