Fellow Story

Jesus presents on conservation in the Southern Inyo Mountains

Fellow(s): Maria Jesus, Naomi Fraga
Topic(s): Conservation Science

In November 2020 Maria Jesus discussed her research with Naomi Fraga for the California Botanic Garden. Maria is a graduate student at Claremont Graduate University (at California Botanic Garden) where she is completing a vascular flora of the southern Inyo Mountains. Thanks to a chance encounter with a plant identification course during her undergraduate English studies, Maria abandoned plans to become a librarian and found her way to field botany. She has since completed several field seasons monitoring plants in the Chihuahuan Desert, Sonoran Desert, Southern Plains, Southern Cascades, and the Great Basin. Just prior to graduate school, she managed a multi-agency vegetation monitoring program aimed at informing adaptive management of public lands. Maria is passionate about advancing native plant conservation through her floristic research and beyond.

Meet the Fellows in this Story

Maria Jesus

Maria Jesus

2019 Fellow
Maria Jesus is a Conservation Botanist at the California Botanic Garden (CalBG) where she works to advance native and rare plant conservation. She recently earned her MS in Botany from CalBG/Claremont Graduate University where she studied...
Naomi Fraga

Naomi Fraga

2010 Fellow
Naomi is Director of Conservation Programs at the California Botanic Garden where she provides leadership to the diverse conservation activities at the Garden and works with Federal, State, local agencies, and conservation partners to...