Educational YouTube channel coming soon...

I love science communication and watching educational videos and seminars on YouTube so I thought I'd start a new project that will help me practice teaching and explaining my research interests regarding various issues in fisheries and aquatic ecology. I have found drawing and doodling in my notes to be extremely helpful for learning and generating knew ideas.

Below is a cartoony salmon life cycle figure that I did recenlty-- eventually I will make a video that will include key information about salmon ecology and physiology in the context of conservation along the Pacific Northwest coast. Stay tuned!

The video will feature a talking head (aka cartoon me) explaining stuff, because why not? This will hopefully make the information more relatable and engaging to a wider audience of all ages.

Exploring Ecological Artistry: A Science Comic

I have an exciting update!  Last winter, an art gallery on campus (Third Space Gallery) kindly hosted a science outreach event and art show for my graduate program and it was a huge success! I loved seeing all of the different media and having a chance to interact with the Davis community alongside other Ecology students to share our research interests, passions, and future plans. My husband and friends have inspired me to learn how to digitize and color my drawings and sketches using my iPad. The video below is a quick timelapse showing how I created a Chinook Salmon comic drawing from start to finish in the program Procreate! Depicted in the comic is a scene of young Chinook Salmon highlighting a few key factors that they face during their first year of life, while developing in freshwater environments of northern California (i.e., Sacramento and Klamath Rivers), just before they begin to prepare for outmigration to the ocean.

Nature Photography, Outdoor Adventures & Field Work

For my first blog post, here are some photos I've taken over the years. I will get better at this blog thing ;P

***2024 Post Update:

Just below are pictures of various hiking and outdoor adventures throughout mostly Northern California (Yosemite, Burney, Shasta-Trinity, etc.) and Zion National Park in Utah. Before the pandemic happened, my partner, friends and I got out quite often and I am very much looking foward to returning to MORE nature therapy :)

Sequioa National Park, CA '21

Yuba River, CA '24

Mendocino, CA '23

Amador County, CA '23

Sacramento River, CA '19

West Sacramento, CA '17

American River, CA '16

Magnolia in Sacramento, CA

Yolo County, CA '23

Zion National Park, Utah '18

Hellgrammite @ Zion

Zion National Park

Frank's Tract, CA

Sacramento

American River

Downtown Sacramento

Luco Pond with a friend <3

UC Davis Arboretum

Grass Valley, CA

Arboretum nap capture

More Arborertum wonders

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Mount Baldy, CA '22

Yuba River, CA '19

Sequoia National Park, CA

El Capitan State Beach, CA '20

Zion National Park <3

A peak moment during my time working for DWR (circa 2016)! I was out volunteering with another field crew out in the Yolo Bypass toe drain, and got to assist during acoustic tagging for a fish monitorig study.

Older post:

This photo was taken in the northern region of the California Delta (right by the Hogback Island boat launch to be specific). The Great Blue Heron was a common sighting when I used to service water quality monitoring stations throughout the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.

This sassy California Sea Lion was waiting by the dock near Marina del Rey, California. I snapped this photo while tagging along for an otter trawl in the Santa Monica Bay with the Hyperion Environmental Monitoring Division (middle photo).

This trail was right at the edge of a neighborhood (would love for this to be my backyard!) near Carmel, California.