MEet the Alumni
Davis SEEDS has many outstanding alumni that have gone on to do some pretty awesome stuff. Every so often we will be profiling our past alumni. Read about them here!
New Entries |
Ann Le[email protected]
Year of graduation: Summer 2017 Major: Environmental Science and Management Minor: Insect Ecology & Evolution If you have any questions about SEEDS, research, Peace Corps, and/or Senegal feel free to shoot me an email at [email protected]! |
Involvement:
I was very involved with SEEDS all throughout my undergrad years, during which I served as secretary, research coordinator, and co-president. With the help of SEEDS faculty advisors and fellow SEEDS members I started F.U.N. with the Houlton lab, the Plantago census project with the Gremmer lab, and initial research on Trifolium spp. with the Strauss lab. SEEDS really helped shaped the entirety of my undergrad experience and I learned a tremendous amount on knowledge from the people in it. Once a seedsling, always a seedsling! Current Work: I am serving in the Peace Corps (2017-2019) as an Agriculture Specialist volunteer in Senegal, West Africa. I'm currently stationed along the Senegal river valley next to the Mauritanian border wherein I spend my days butchering the local language, Pulaar Du Nord, in my attempts to teach people different farming techniques. |
As an undergrad, Emma was the SEEDS secretary for two years and participated in the Nitrogen Footprint Project. She also interned in the Houlton Lab and was the Sustainability intern for the Coho. Emma currently has a full time job as a Restoration Technician for a non-profit conservation group working to restore parts of the San Joaquin River. Most of her time gets spent planting native species, removing invasives, and trying not to tip over her canoe as she paddles around the San Joaquin River. Keeping her college tradition of never having free time, Emma also has a part time job as a Scientific Aide for the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board where she assists the Compliance and Enforcement Unit in enforcing water quality rules. She spends her time reviewing monitoring reports, giving violations, and inspecting wastewater dischargers. Emma still manages to find time to hike, rock climb, and water her many potted plants. If you have any questions about state jobs, restoration work, or anything else you can think of, she would love to hear from you and can be reached at [email protected]. |
Emma Hansen-Smith[email protected]
Year of graduation: June 2017 Major: Environmental Science and Management Emphasis: Ecology, Biodiversity, and Conservation Minor: GIS |
Asa Holland |
[email protected]
Year of graduation: June 2017 Major: Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology Minor: Biological Sciences If anyone wants to talk about WFCB, working with the North, Latimer, or Safford labs, wants to do Forestry related work, or talk about Peace Corps email me at [email protected]. |
I'm Asa Holland, and I graduated in 2017 with a major in WFCB and a minor in Biological Sciences. I transferred to Davis in 2016 from Sierra Community College, and joined SEEDS Fall of 2016. My first year I was involved in the research projects, had a blast going to field trips, and attended most of the meetings. In 2016 I was able to find a part time job doing data entry through the SEEDS listserv, and that turned into an internship with the North lab, which turned into full time paid work over the summer of 2017. In fall of 2017, I became the club's co-research coordinator and during that school year continued involvement in the Plantago project as well as two part time jobs in the North and Safford labs as a result of that original work in the North lab. SEEDS defined my two years at Davis, and I can't imagine how my experience would have been without it. After college I eloped into the Peace Corps with Co-President Ann Le, and have been planting trees and saving the world as a AgroForestry Volunteer in Senegal ever since. I'm the hairier and uglier one in the photo. |
Malina Loeher[email protected]
Malina Loeher graduated in June 2015 with a BS in Environmental Toxicology. Post-graduation, she continued to work in an on-campus soil ecology lab and was rehired as Junior Specialist for 2015 Fall. This field season she is in rural Idaho on a University of Idaho wildlife crew studying the population dynamics and restoration of the threatened Northern Idaho Ground Squirrel. (The squirrels are devastatingly cute.) In August she expects to return to the Bodega Marine Lab as a tech for the CA Department of Fish and Wildlife Shellfish Health Lab. Alec ChionoAlec graduated from UCD in June 2015 with a degree in Evolution, Ecology, and Biodiversity and a love for plants. Since then, he has worked as a tech for our beloved faculty advisor, Sharon Strauss, as well as for a lab at CU Boulder studying the restoration of biological soil crusts. Having almost exclusively worked in research, Alec wanted to gain experience “on the ground” working in restoration and conservation, so he currently works with the BLM in Carson City as a botany intern through the Chicago Botanic Garden’s Conservation and Land Management Program. The duties of the job change with the seasons. Now, he is assisting with restoration projects and planning for community outreach events. As the year progresses, he will be conducting rare plant surveys, weed management, and native seed collection.
Jeffrey Haightjdhaight@ucdavis.edu
Jeffrey Haight graduated from UC Davis in Spring 2014 with a B.S. in Environmental Science & Management. As a junior transfer student from Contra Costa College in San Pablo, CA, he became involved with Davis SEEDS and later served his senior year as treasurer and research coordinator. Since his graduation, he has worked as a field technician on a variety of research projects, including a US Forest Service study of woodpecker fire ecology near Yosemite. Jeffrey is currently preparing to begin pursuing a PhD in Fall 2016 with the aim of studying the interactions between wildlife and people within urban landscapes. Angie Munguiaangelica.munguia@oregonstate.edu
Angie Munguia is a UC Davis SEEDS chapter alumni, she graduated in 2013 from the department of Evolution, Ecology, and Biodiversity. Currently, she is working as a graduate research assistant for the Fish and Wildlife department at Oregon State University. Her master’s work will focus around assessing restoration in the Columbia River Estuary and investigating the benefits for juvenile Chinook salmon. Angie will do this by looking at fish diets and using stable isotopes to determine which parts of the estuary are being used the most by juvenile salmon. Please let her know if you have any questions about graduate school applications, Oregon State University, or working for agencies. |
AMy dirksenakdirksen@ucdavis.edu
Amy Dirksen graduated from UC Davis in 2015 with a B.S. in Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology. Shortly after transferring from Folsom Lake College in Folsom, CA, she became involved in Dr. Gail Patricelli’s Animal Behavior Lab assisting a graduate student with a project focusing on male Greater Sage-Grouse displays on a lek and later working on a project identifying off-lek behaviors with the use of tri-axial accelerometers. In her senior year, she became an intern for the CA Department of Fish and Wildlife assisting an Environmental Scientist with CESA permitting and outreach work. In the summer of 2015, she was a Field Technician for graduate student Rachel Wigginton assisting her in her study of invasive plants in the tidal marshes of the San-Francisco Bay Delta Estuary. Amy currently resides in Seattle, WA and is a Corps Member for EarthCorps restoring parks in and around Seattle by removing invasive plants, installing native plants, managing volunteer events, and constructing trails. In the future, she plans to continue her work in conservation and restoration. Kendra Chankenchan@ucdavis.edu
Kendra graduated from UC Davis with a degree in Evolution, Ecology, and Biodiversity in 2015 and was co-president of SEEDS for two years. During her time at Davis, she became involved in several research labs on campus, most notably joining the Stachowicz lab to study biodiversity in eelgrass communities and working as a field and lab technician at the Bodega Marine Lab over two summers. Currently working as a Marine Educator and Science Instructor at the Marine Science Institute in Redwood City, she teaches marine biology and coastal ecology to students of all ages (pre-K through college and beyond). In the future, Kendra plans to attend graduate school to continue ecology research, and hopes to always be involved in science outreach and education. Mariana Diazmdiaz@naturebridge.org
https://naturebridge.org/ Mariana Diaz graduated from UC Davis in Spring 2014 with a B.S. in Environmental Science & Management and a minor in Education. She is now an Environmental Science Educator at NatureBridge in Yosemite National Park. She takes a group of 12-15 middle school students on week-long field trips in Yosemite and guides them on educational hikes. A typical week consists of teaching students about geology, ecology and cultural history, completing a citizen science project, leading the group on a several mile challenge hike, and facilitating team-building activities. |
Jasjeet Dhanota[email protected]
Jasjeet Dhanota graduated from UC Davis in June 2015 with a B.S. in Animal Biology. As an undergraduate, she was a SEEDS officer for two years, interned as a science journalist, and participated in a variety of research projects, ranging from agricultural entomology to canine immunology. Currently, Jasjeet is thrilled to be working at the One Health Institute Laboratory at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. The One Health Institute Laboratory studies viral diseases in marine and terrestrial wildlife, with a special focus on pathogens that can spillover between wildlife and humans. In particular, Jasjeet is helping with a project that is exploring the potential domestic and wild animal hosts of Ebolavirus after the 2014 outbreak in West Africa. Jason ToyAs an undergraduate at UC Davis, Jason majored in Biotechnology with minors in EEB and Technology Management. In his last two years, he became involved with research in the Stachowicz Lab on campus, working with PhD student Matt Whalen on ecosystem function research at the Bodega Marine Lab (BML) and assisting with intertidal surveys for the Zostera Experimental Network (ZEN). After graduating in March last year, he worked as a Junior Specialist for Dr. Eric Sanford (BML), assisting with projects investigating feeding ecology and wasting disease prevalence in juvenile ochre sea stars (Pisaster ochraceus). In early August, Jason became certified as an AAUS Scientific Diver through a two week course taught by Jason Herum, the Dive Safety Officer at BML. Most recently, Jason spent the fall at the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS). He worked as the TA for the Institute’s Marine Invertebrate Zoology course – part of BIOS’s study abroad program for two Rhode Island universities. As an AAUS Scientific Diver, he also supervised diving field trips, helped with the diving course, and volunteered in the field and lab for ongoing coral and lionfish research projects
Genevieve Perduegvp@uoregon.edu
Genevieve Perdue graduated from UC Davis in June 2013 with a B.S. in Evolution, Ecology and Biodiversity. She attended a community college for three years before transferring to UC Davis, where she joined SEEDS as a junior, and served as co-president as a senior. After receiving her bachelor’s degree, she worked in environmental politics for two years. This fall, Genevieve began graduate school at the University of Oregon studying Vertebrate Paleontology. Her future plans include furthering her research, contributing to science education, running for political office, and always saving a little time to garden. Bryan Nguyen[email protected]
Bryan Nguyen is a PhD student in the Department of Biological Sciences at The George Washington University and the Department of Invertebrate Zoology at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. He uses next-generation DNA sequencing to study marine community ecology and patterns of ocean biodiversity. Next-generation sequencing can rapidly identify entire communities of organisms at once—even if you can’t see them. Bryan graduated from UC Davis in 2015 with a degree in Evolution, Ecology & Biodiversity. |