Jessica is the new Environmental Scientist for the Statewide Bobcat Monitoring Project in Region 4 of California. She graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Animal Science from Cal Poly, SLO back in 2016. Recently, she has been exploring a new passion of her’s: the Spanish language. She has taken introductory through advanced Spanish classes at Allan Hancock College in Santa Maria and attended a Tropical Ecology & Conservation Leadership Field Course in Costa Rica where she practiced speaking Spanish in a research setting. She would one day love to study bobcats, or other poorly understood wild cats, in Spanish speaking countries in Latin America. 

 What are you hoping to gain from the conference?

I hope to learn more about recently developed techniques to study carnivores, especially felines such as bobcats. I am hoping to learn about methods that make studying shy critters like bobcats more efficient, so that I can apply them to future studies.

Which program topics or sessions are you most looking forward to?

I am looking forward to the session “Estimating the population size and habitat associations of cougars in Yosemite National Park by combining detection dog team surveys and trail camera data” by David Green. I am also excited for the Wildlife Biologist Construction Awareness Training (WildC.A.T.)  workshop, as I have never had the chance to get any training specific to monitoring construction sites before.

What else does 2022 have in store for you?

I am excited to begin serving as the new secretary for the SF Bay Area chapter of The Wildlife Society!