Conservation Science

Fellow Story

Wilkinson shares beaver science behind-the-scenes of Pixar’s Hoppers

In an episode of Disney’s Movie Surfers, Christine shares beaver facts, shows how to look for beaver signs, and helps bring the real role that beavers play in an ecosystem to life for Disney fans.
March 26, 2026
Fellow Story

Fraga shares Spring 2026 Southwest Superbloom status and science

Naomi Fraga shared her perspective on spring blooms in the Southwest this season with the LA Times, and City Cast Las Vegas. According to the LA Times story, Naomi said a superbloom is typically classified as a regional phenomenon where you...
March 26, 2026
Fellow Story

Expanding biodiversity through art and globally accessible citizen science

Kristy Deiner is “fascinated and humbled by biodiversity.” She works to determine “how it is generated and why it's important to maintain.” We recently spoke with Kristy about two projects she founded: SciArt and SimplexDNA. Both efforts expand community access to biodiversity science through innovative collaborations.
March 25, 2026
Fellow Story

Pendleton publishes a front lines look at peer-to-peer sharing of Indigenous knowledge and academic science

The Ocean Knowledge Action Network community created a bespoke “workshop focused on the sharing of Indigenous knowledge and academic science by Indigenous academics,” and described the success of the approach in a December 2025 paper in ICES Journal of Marine Science.
February 18, 2026
Fellow Story

Timm authors forthcoming America is Wild! wildlife encyclopedia

Brad Timm’s forthcoming America is Wild! A State-By-State Encyclopedia of American Wildlife is a definitive, illustrated guide to the wildlife and plants of North America featuring nearly 200 animals and 200 plants found in the U.S. Inside...
February 18, 2026
Fellow Story

Edelman publishes second edition of California Naturalist Handbook

Co-authored by Deborah Stanger Edelman, this book is "the go-to guide to California’s natural history, now updated with fresh insights on stewardship for a changing climate and diverse naturalist perspectives."
January 29, 2026
Leadership Grant Grant

Creating Place-based Curriculum to Connect Students with the Mystic River Watershed

Hosted by the Mystic River Watershed Association, Meghna will create a set of place-based and experiential learning curriculum for environmental science students, with a focus on highlighting local environmental justice issues in a heavily urbanized watershed. This curriculum aims to root environmental courses in community impacts and local connections to better support the learning needs of college students from diverse backgrounds and help them feel welcome in the environmental field.
December 18, 2025
Fellow Story

Steele recognized for lifetime of achievement in conservation

Nancy Steele received the inaugural 2025 Arroyos & Foothills Conservancy Urban Conservation Oak Leaf Award, awarded in October.
November 20, 2025
Fellow Story

Zeller becomes Senior Director of Science at The Wilderness Society

“It is a dream to be in a position that helps develop and direct science at an organization with a long and impressive history of public land conservation,” Kathy shared.
November 20, 2025
Fellow Story

Cronin publishes fisher-designed solution to manta and devil ray bycatch

Manta and devil rays are among the ocean’s most threatened species — and bycatch in tropical tuna purse seine fisheries is an important source of mortality. Melissa Cronin recently published results from a study working directly with tuna...
November 20, 2025