I have over 15 years of experience leading diverse research projects related to ecology and conservation science. In my current position as the Conservation Science Manager for the Walker Basin Conservancy (WBC), I lead monitoring and research projects that contribute to our understanding of the natural and cultural resources of Walker Basin, evaluate the success of WBC’s habitat restoration efforts, and inform adaptive resource management and conservation planning within our program.
I previously worked for the Institute for Wildlife Studies, where I manage a project focused on predicting how climate change will impact the population trajectories of a variety of protected species. My research background also includes studying the population dynamics and movement patterns of threatened and endangered amphibians and butterflies as part of Nick Haddad’s lab while earning a B.S. in Zoology from North Carolina State University. I then went on to study the influence of genetic and functional trait diversity in eelgrass (Zostera marina) communities while earning my PhD from the University of California – Davis as part of Jay Stachowicz’ lab. You can read more my work on my ‘Research‘ page.
While completing my doctorate, I was a member of the UC Davis responding to rapid environmental change Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (REACH IGERT). It is a NSF funded program designed to engage PhD students in collaborative interdisciplinary research. For more information about the IGERT program and the research I conducted as part of the program see my ‘IGERT‘ page.
I was also part of an international marine conservation collaboration between UC Davis, Universitas Hasanuddin, and MARS inc. Symbioscience’s Sustainable Solutions program. You can read more about in on my ‘International Collaboration‘ page.
If you have any questions or comments I would love to hear from you! Feel free to leave me a message. Thanks for visiting.
Jessica Abbott 