MS ‘18, now Warden Trainee in California Department of Fish and Wildlife
Justin's thesis research focused on assessing the effects of non-native fish removal on a herpetofauna community in sub-alpine habitats in northern California. Utilizing ongoing efforts by the CDFW to remove non-native trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) from several areas within the Trinity Alps Wilderness, he experimentally assessed the direct and indirect of effects of trout removal on trophic interactions between two species of gartersnake (T. sirtalis fitchi and T. atratus hydrophilus) and the Cascades frog (Rana cascadae), the latter of which is a California Species of Special Concern.
Justin received his B.Sc. in Wildlife from Cal Poly Humboldt in 2012. During his undergraduate years he worked for a variety of federal and university entities on everything from small mammals in Yosemite National Park to gray wolves (Canis lupus) in Alberta, Canada. Since graduating he has captured giant gartersnakes (Thamnophis gigas) with the USGS, banded passerines in the Peruvian Amazon with the University of Florida, and worked on the regulatory side of wildlife management with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW). As reflected in his forays across the western hemisphere and in the diversity of study systems he’s worked in, Justin has broad interests in organismal biology. However, he is most intrigued with questions surrounding population biology, invasion ecology, and community ecology.