(10) Noriko Smallwood
MSc, Environmental Sciences, August 2021
Thesis Title: The influence of native plants on urban wildlife in Southern California residential yards
Noriko is currently working as an environmental consultant in Los Angeles.
(9) Christian Benitez
MSc, Biological Sciences, August 2021
Thesis Title: Using data from remote sensing to characterize avian habitat across a megacity
Christian is currently working as an environmental consultant in Los Angeles.
(8) Lilian Chou
MSc, Biological Sciences, Cal State LA, May 2021
Project Title: Patterns of street-tree diversity and density across a socioeconomic gradient in California cities
(7) Peter Larramendy
MSc, Environmental Sciences, Cal State LA, May 2020
Project Title: The effects of drought on the avifauna of an island archipelago
Peter is a biologist working in the Channel Islands National Park.
(6) Amy Vasquez
MSc, Biological Sciences, Cal State LA, May 2020
Project Title: The influence of urban park features and the surrounding cityscape on birds across a socioeconomic gradient
Amy is a Ph.D. student at Johns Hopkins University.
(5) Austin Xu
MSc, Biological Sciences, Cal State LA, December 2020
Project Title: The effects of a megafire on butterfly and bird communities in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area
Austin works as an environmental consultant in the LA area.
(4) Bob Taylor
MSc, Biological Sciences, Cal State LA, December 2019
Sadly, Bob is no longer with us. He will always be a big part of our lab community and a valuable spirit cheering on the birds.
Project Title: Monitoring the response of riparian bird and butterfly communities to restoration of the Lower Owens River, California
Bob studied the response of the avian community to rewatering efforts on the Owens River, CA. For more information about the Lower Owens River Project (or LORP) see the following.
(3) Sevan Esaian
MSc, Biological Sciences, Cal State LA, July 2018
Sevan is currently a PhD student at UCSB
Project Title: The importance of the Los Angeles urban forest as habitat for migratory and resident birds
Sevan studied avian communities in LA across a socioeconomic gradient. His thesis work focused on (1) understanding street tree-species preferences by birds in the urban forest, and (2) distributions of birds throughout the city based on environmental factors.
(2) Heather Mackey
MSc, Biological Sciences, Cal State LA, June 2018
Heather is currently a wildlife biologist with the National Park Service.
Heather was also one of the co-stars of the documentary, ‘The River and the Wall’ (trailer). She was able to take part in the epic project based on her contributions to wildlife research in the Big Bend Region.
Here is a write-up from the Forest Service on Heather and Juile’s work.
Project Title: The effects of land-cover composition and invasive species on birds and butterflies along the Rio Grande, Big Bend National Park, Texas
Heather studied the effects of invasive species and land cover composition in structuring bird and butterfly communities along the Rio Grande in Big Bend National Park, Texas.
(1) Julie Coffey
MSc, Biological Sciences, Cal State LA, May 2018
Julie is currently an assistant scientist with the UC Irvine Eco Preserve Project
Project Title: Avian and lepidopteran community response to invasive species management along the Rio Grande in Big Bend National Park.
Julie studied the response of avian and butterfly communities to the removal of Giant Cane (Arundo donax) along the Rio Grande/Rio Bravo in Big Bend National Park, Texas.