UC Irvine

University of California, Irvine

Post-fire Resilience Capstone Project

Experimental Restoration Analysis

Mock Conservation RFP Response

Wildlife Ecology

Sci Communication and Proj Mgmt

After some time working with native plants in a nursery, I became interested in seeing the application of those plants in the context of ecological restoration. I began the professional Masters in Conservation and Restoration Science program at UC Irvine in the fall of 2020. It was a strange time a few months into the COVID pandemic, but it felt like a good opportunity for me to pursue a career change. It is a relatively young program with an excellent curriculum that evolves with each cohort, and I feel technically prepared for ecological work with all that I’ve learned. Here is a sample of various projects I worked on in the program.

POST-FIRE RESILIENCE CAPSTONE PROJECT

Shortly after the Irvine Ranch Conservancy completed its 10-year restoration of Bee Flat Canyon in 2020, a majority of the restoration site burned in the Silverado fire. While unfortunate, this situation presented a unique research opportunity for our capstone group to compare the post-fire resilience of restored, intact, and degraded vegetation in coastal sage scrub and grassland communities.

EXPERIMENTAL RESTORATION ANALYSIS

The UCI Ecological Preserve was being restored to serve as a fuel modifcation zone for an adjacent residential community and provide habitat for cactus wrens and California gnatcatchers. This report examined different planting arrangements of cacti on the preserve and was the final project for my courses in technical writing, ecology, and quantitative methods.

A tale of two cacti: Optimizing native restoration and conservation in a fuel modification zone (pdf)

MOCK CONSERVATION RFP RESPONSE

This mock RFP response for conserving the western spadefoot toad was the final project for my conservation biology and introduction to GIS courses.

Pre-adult Ecology and Conservation Assessment of the Western Spadefoot Toad (Spea hammondii) in Orange County, California Project Proposal (pdf)

WILDLIFE ECOLOGY

I researched the giant kangaroo mouse and drafted a mock wildlife protection plan for the California gnatcatcher for my wildlife ecology course.

SCIENCE COMMUNICATION AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT

For the practical skills aspect of my program, I drafted a blog post about my capstone project and worked with a group to create a mock project management plan to conserve southwestern pond turtles.