Berkeley Wildlife is driven by a group of core faculty and staff as well as a large and vibrant community of postdoctoral researchers, graduate students, and undergraduates. A number of affiliates and partners, both on and off our campus, participate in and contribute to the Program.
In recent years, the core faculty and affiliates have trained approximately 20-25 graduate students and 10-15 postdoctoral scholars annually. We benefit from close affiliations and collaborations with a large group of faculty affiliates. New affiliates are welcomed with the expectation of participating in our community, including the weekly seminar and other community-building events.
Berkeley Wildlife is a problem-driven group and we benefit immensely from deep partnerships on and off campus. On campus, for example, we interact extensively with the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, Institute for Parks, People and Biodiversity, and the Eric and Wendy Schmidt Center for Data Science and Environment (DSE). Our off campus partnerships take a variety of forms from informal collaborations, to formal research partnerships and MOUs with federal and state agencies, tribal nations, NGOs, and foundations. We welcome interest from prospective partners who can help us utilize our research capacity to address questions and challenges that are meaningful to communities and could lead to beneficial outcomes.
Faculty
Justin Brashares
Justin Brashares is a Professor of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation in the Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management at UC Berkeley. He also holds the G.R. & W.M. Goertz Chair. He received a Master of Science degree in Wildlife Ecology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1997 and a Ph.D. in Ecology and Conservation Biology from the University of British Columbia in 2001. He conducted postdoctoral research as an NSF International fellow at the University of Cambridge. Professor Brashares has studied the population, community and behavioral ecology of mammals and birds in East and West Africa and North America since 1990. In his research, he relies on long-term counts of wildlife populations as well as information gained in the study of individually identified animals to advance the science and practice of conservation biology. His research currently focuses on the causes and consequences of bushmeat hunting in Africa, conservation of small populations in western North America, and landscape ecology and conservation of African ungulates. Professor Brashares also serves as an advisor to California’s Department of Natural Resources and Environment through ongoing service as a panel lead for “Defining Conservation for CA30x30.”
Stephanie Carlson
Stephanie M. Carlson is the A.S. Leopold Chair in Wildlife Biology at UC Berkeley. Her research considers ecology and conservation of fish. Carlson was the first member of her family to attend college. She earned her undergraduate degree in the Department of Evolution and Ecology at the University of California, Davis, her master’s degree in the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Massachusetts, and her Ph.D. from the University of Washington. After graduating, Profesor Carlson was awarded a Marie Curie Early Stage Training Fellowship to join the University of Oslo Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis. In 2007 she was appointed an NSF Postdoctoral Fellow in Biological Informatics at UC Santa Cruz. At UC Berkeley, Professor Carlson specializes in the evolution and loss of biodiversity among salmon populations, impacts of drought and climate change on streams and stream fishes, and the ecological and evolutionary impacts of management (water, fishery, hatchery, and protected areas). Her research identified the importance of population diversity to the resiliency of salmon populations, and that a loss of diversity amongst salmon in managed rivers reduces their ability to respond to climate variability and change. Additionally, Professor Carlson serves as a science advisor for the Wild Salmon Center and a board member for California Trout.
Alejandra Echeverri
Dr. Alejandra Echeverri Ochoa is a biodiversity conservation scientist, professor, science communicator, and advocate for women, Latinx, and youth in STEM. Dr Echeverri’s research sits at the intersection of Neotropical ornithology, conservation psychology, environmental policy, and community ecology. Dr Echeverri’s lab integrates biological field work (such as bird surveys) with quantitative social surveys, qualitative content analysis, and narrative- based methods to understand human relationships with nature. Specifically, she studies how people's behaviors towards the environment (such as habitat conversion) impact the species that live in such environments. She also studies peoples’ attitudes and behaviors towards biodiversity, and the interrelationships between nature and culture to advance the science on biocultural conservation. Her work is coproduced with local communities, governments, and policymakers to codevelop and inform environmental policies.
Echeverri is a National Geographic Young Explorer and a United Nations Youth advocate. Her work has been featured in The Washington Post, Forbes Science, Elle magazine Canada, Nature News and various newspapers and media outlets across the world. Echeverri joined the faculty in the Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management (ESPM) at the University of California, Berkeley in 2023. She was born and raised in the coffee-growing region of Colombia. Her experiences as a Latina in STEM who has held positions in the Norwegian Peace Corps, as an environmental consultant in Colombia, and as a scientist in Canada and the United States inform her practice as a conservation scientist and professor. She is committed to producing good science, training the next generation of conservation scientists, and codeveloping evidence-based policies with governments and local communities so that we can have a better world for people and for many other species with whom we share our planet.
Arthur Middleton
Arthur Middleton is associate professor of wildlife policy and management in the Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management at UC Berkeley. He received a Master of Environmental Management degree from Yale University in 2007, and a PhD in ecology from the University of Wyoming in 2012. He conducted postdoctoral research as a Donnelly Fellow at Yale University. Professor Middleton’s research group studies the effects of environmental change on the behavioral, population, and community ecology of wide-ranging wildlife, with emphasis on habitat conservation and human-wildlife conflict reduction. He has led a variety of research initiatives that connect wildlife movements to large-landscape conservation, and has often collaborated with photographers, artists, filmmakers, and media organizations to communicate about science and conservation to the public. Professor Middleton currently advises the Biden Administration on its America the Beautiful conservation initiative, through an appointment as Senior Advisor for Wildlife Conservation at USDA. He will lead the establishment of the Stone Center for Large Landscape Conservation and the Beyond Yellowstone Living Lab.
Chris Schell
Chris Schell is an Assistant Professor in UC Berkeley’s Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management. He received his BA in Psychology from Columbia University and his PhD in Evolutionary Biology from the University of Chicago in 2015. Prior to joining UC Berkeley, Professor Schell was an Assistant Professor of Urban Ecology at the University of Washington and a NSF Postdoctoral Fellow at Colorado State University. Professor Schell studies the intersections of society, ecology, and evolution in cities to understand how wildlife (mainly mammalian carnivores) are rapidly adapting to urbanization. The work of the Schell lab combines behavioral, physiological, and genomic approaches to demonstrate the myriad consequences of historical and contemporary inequities on organismal, population, and community-level dynamics of wildlife. In addition, Professor Schell and his lab leverage human dimensions and community-engaged data streams to decipher how wildlife adaptation and human perceptions create landscapes of risk that contribute to human-carnivore conflict. This interdisciplinary work requires integrating principles from the natural sciences with urban studies to address how systemic racism and oppression affect urban ecosystems, while simultaneously highlighting the need for environmental justice, civil rights, and equity as the bedrock of biological conservation and our fight against the climate crisis.
Staff
Sean McMahon
Sean McMahon is the Program Manager for Berkeley Wildlife. He has over 10 years experience working at UC Berkeley. Sean is very excited to be working with the Wildlife Group and supporting the amazing work of the faculty, graduate students and post docs. Outside of work Sean has many hobbies, including crochet, bedazzling, and being a cat daddy to 2 lovely fur babies.