After graduating from Cal Poly, SLO I worked for a couple of animal behavior studies before turning my attention to small mammal trapping projects. Small mammals make appealing study subjects due to their relatively large numbers and trapability. They play very important but understated roles in their environments and a multitude of ecological questions can be answered using them as subjects (plus they’re totally cute). I am thrilled to be working the giant kangaroo rats (GKR), an important ecosystem engineer in California’s central valley. For my Masters I will be re-mapping GKR’s species range and hopefully investigating the some of the factors that influence GKR populations and the surrounding small mammal community.