Recent News:
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December - March 2024:
1) A preprint for one of my dissertation chapters is out! "Historical redlining impacts wildlife biodiversity across California". Find the preprint here! This work is currently in revision and will be resubmitted in March!! 2) My first dissertation chapter is out now in Environmental Science & Technology Letters. Check out "Historical redlining is associated with disparities in environmental quality across California" as an open access article here! 3) A perspective piece I co-led with Dr. Elizabeth Carlen all about how social and ecological factors shape the uptake of data sources like eBird and iNaturalist is out now People & Nature! Check out "A framework for contexualizing social-ecological biases in contributory science data" as an open access article here! |
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June - November 2023:
1) I presented my research on redlining, city health, and biodiversity at the International Urban Wildlife Conference and the Ecological Society of America this summer! I also presented prelim data for my research looking at social-ecological heterogeneity and risk-prone behavior in mesocarnivores! 2) A podcast episode with me came out! Check out the Urban Ecology episode on K9 conservationists! 3) New preprint is out, led by labmates Tyus Williams and Sam Kreling: "Of Rarity and Symbolism: Understanding the Human Social Perceptions of Charismatic Color Morphs". Check it out here! 4) An updated preprint for my queer ecology paper is up! Check out "Queering ecology: (Re)Constructing ecology as a home to better understand the social-ecological pressures of wildlife", previously titled a More Intimate Ecology. |
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May 2023:
1) I passed my qualifying exam! I've advanced to candidacy and am officially a PhD Candidate now! I'll get to spend more time focusing on my dissertation research examining how environmental injustices influence wildlife in cities. 2) I went to SEEP and participated in some great work thinking about better integrating society and ecology. Exciting work to come in the future! 3) I put on another iteration of PEN in collaboration with Dr. Jennifer Hunter at Hastings! 4) I got to speak on a panel at California Academy of Sciences about the role of identity in sciences! 5) My paper on the NSF GRFP was featured in an Inside Higher Ed article called "Tweet calls for change in the NSF" - check it out! |
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Feb - April 2023:
Two collaborations were published! 1) Championing Inclusive Terminology in Ecology and Evolution in Trends in Ecology and Evolution and open access! This work is a part of the EEB Language Project and a survey article is currently in progress. Stay Tuned! 2) Perturbations highlight importance of social history in parakeet rank dynamics in Behavioral Ecology from the Hobson Lab! 3) The symposium the Environmental Justice section submitted to ESA has been accepted! We'll be hosting a symposium called "Justice First: Interdisciplinary approaches in environmental research and efforts" 4) Abstracts for oral presentations at Ecological Society of America, International Urban Wildlife Conference, and Animal Behavior Society were accepted! Excited to present work around legacy effects and biodiversity as well as environmental health and carnivore boldness. |
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November - December 2022:
1) My main project from my postbac with the Hobson Lab was published! - Temporary behavioral responses to playbacks by pest parrots and implications for management in Animal Behavior & Cognition 2) Gave a guest lecture at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a seminar in the UK at the University of Leeds! Thanks to the folks who invited me!! Recording for the seminar can be found on the presentations page. 3) Set up some urban field sites for the winter and submitted some papers in revision/new papers, fingers crossed for all of them! |
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August - October 2022: 1)The ESA EJ Section put on a Modeling Workshop at ESA 2022 and 60+ people attended! We're looking forward to what we have in store for ESA 2023! 2) Two publications went live! - Reimagining the NSF GRFP's Broader Impacts in Frontiers in Education - Demystifying the Graduate School Process in Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America |
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June + July 2022: New preprints and a conference presentation! 1) Preprint for an article I led as a Chair for ESA EJ Section is live! In this, we discuss some pitfalls of the NSF GRFP and imagine a more equitable future for the award. Preprint can be found here: Estien et al 2022 2) Two preprints from work I supported during my postbac is up! - van der Marel et al: Social manipulations disentangle rank effects of individual characteristics and social history - van der Marel et al: Perturbations of key-level individuals trigger shifts in group-level dominance patterns 3) I gave a lightning talk in the "Social Competency" Symposium at the Animal Behavior Society Conference! You can read more about that work (and my other work in the Hobson Lab) here! |
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May 2022: A handful of exciting things have happened!
1) I presented a poster at SEEP! Check the poster out here. 2) Our first iteration of PEN happened!! You can read more about PEN here. 3) I received a small grant to support my current project investigating landscape heterogeneity and risk-prone behaviors! & 4) I received ESA's Trailblazing Award in Education for the PEN program! This award recognizes "Leaders passionate about improving various aspects of ecology education, from teaching to hands-on field experiences. We aim to highlight student excellence in the realm of ecology education". |
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April 2022: April was a busy month! A first-author paper from one of my projects as a post-bac was submitted (preprint)! Abstracts for ABS and SEEP were also submitted - stay tuned for some presentations this summer!
Check out the preprint! Estien et al: Playbacks elicit temporary group repulsion, not attraction, in monk parakeets On top of these submissions, I'm getting ready to start some novel object testing this summer at my nonurban sites and launch my outdoor program in May. Stay tuned! |
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January 2022: Busy start to the new year! I received the William Simes Award to support some of coyote research this year! This award will support the portion of my work that occurs at Hastings Natural History Reservation in Carmel Valley, CA.
I gave my first seminar talk to (the wildlife part of) my department! You can watch the talk here. |
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December 2021: I got two grants this month! The first grant, the Baird Award, will support part of my dissertation research and help build an outdoor program! The second grant is given by Carmel Valley and used to support local outreach initiatives. For both, I'll be collaborating with Dr. Jen Hunter at Hastings!
Stay tuned for outdoor program in the Spring! |
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September 2021: I was elected as Co-Chair of the Environmental Justice Section of ESA along with my friend Brandon Quintana. I'm pumped to lead this section with Brandon and to carry out some of the initiatives we have planned!
Picture from @zoecology |
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August 2021: I presented a poster at the Animal Behavior Society's 2021 Virtual Conference on my recent paper "Virtual Conferences: Benefits and How to Support Underrepresented Students" published in the ESA Bulletin earlier this year. You can view the poster here!
Tyus Williams interviewed me for his #SciQFriday series on Twitter. I talked about urban ecology, environmental justice, and coyotes! You can read the whole thread here! I wrote a short piece on how my primary field of research (urban ecology) can begin to center environmental justice. Although I wrote it for folks in urban ecology, the central points apply to other fields as well. You can check it out here! |
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July 2021: I officially wrapped up my Post-Bac with the Hobson Lab and will be getting into the data with the rest of the crew throughout the Fall! You can check out the projects I'm working on with this group here. Until then, I'm getting ready to head out to UC Berkeley to start my PhD with Dr. Christopher Schell in the Environmental Science, Policy, & Management Department! |
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March 2021 PT 2: Absolutely honored and grateful to announce that I was awarded the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship!! It's insane seeing my name on this list!! I'm excited to start my research in the fall examining how sociological factors interact with urban stressors to impact wildlife physiology. I hope this research can be used to combat environmental racism and influence conservation policies! |
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March 2021: Exciting start to March! 1) I was awarded Berkeley's Chancellor Fellowship for Graduate Study!, 2) I'm officially back in the field with the Hobson Lab as a Post-Bac, & 3) My first paper was published! I'm stoked to have published "Virtual Conferences: Benefits and How to Support Underrepresented Students" in the ESA Bulletin. Give it a read on their site or check out my publication page! |
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February 2021: I got accepted into University of California, Berkeley's Environmental Science, Policy, and Management PhD Program! I'll be working in the Schell Lab and researching how socioeconomic factors interact with urban stressors to affect mesocarnivores. Additionally, I was awarded the ESA Student Section Trailblazing Award for Diversity & Inclusion! This award recognizes my undergraduate and current work in DEI Initiatives as well as my future plans for increasing exposure/accessibility to the field of natural sciences for marginalized communities. |
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January 2021: I wrapped up my time with the woodpeckers at Hastings in December and I'm heading back to Florida to do some remote work for the Hobson Lab before starting a field season working with monk parakeets. |
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November/December 2020: Finished deploying camera traps with Jen (the little blue dot in the back)!! We're interested in how mammalian communities are using the burned areas of Hastings, how this assemblage may change over time, and how this is different from the use of the non-burned areas. Additionally, this will (hopefully) establish a long-term study on the movement ecology of mammalian communities here at Hastings. We're looking forward to what we'll find and what will come of this!! |
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October 2020: I participated in the Princeton EEB Scholar Program and was able to give a quick talk on my undergraduate work! This month I also submitted my NSF GRFP Proposal which you can find on my Resources page. Fingers crossed! |
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August 2020: Big month! I was awarded the Charles H. Turner Award from the Animal Behavior Society and attended the conference as a Turner fellow, presented my research at the ESA Virtual Conference, wrapped up my internship in Montana at Benton Lake, and arrived in California to start a field season at Hastings Natural History Reservation! I'll be assisting with the long-term study investigating the ecology and evolution on acorn woodpeckers during my time here. |
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June 2020: Heading out to Montana to begin my summer internship at Benton Lake National Wildlife Refuge! I'll be helping monitor the selenium levels across the refuge, doing point-counts and vegetation surveys during my time here. |
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May 2020: Graduated (virtually) from Florida State University with my Bachelors of Science!! I majored in Biology focusing in Ecology and Evolution and minored in Chemistry. Here's to a gap year before applying to grad school! |
Header image by Sam Hobson
