About Erik's Work

Erik Grijalva completed his PhD in restoration ecology at the University of California, Davis (UC Davis), where his research revolved around understanding restoration and conservation approaches within highly modified ecosystems. His dissertation research looks at how populations of plant species in tidal marshes of San Francisco Bay respond to inundation regimes anticipated from sea level rise using mesocosms and time-lapse camera networks, and how ecological processes in urbanized environments spillover from conserved or restored habitat patches to adjacent natural habitats. He holds B.S. degrees in both botany and zoology from the University of Washington, Seattle. Erik has an extensive background in invasive species ecology and management, botany, and restoration from work with local, state and non-profit agencies over the course of a 20-year career. He led the development of the control program of the California State Coastal Conservancy’s San Francisco Estuary Invasive Spartina Project, a joint effort by the US Fish & Wildlife Service and the Conservancy to eradicate invasive Spartina from tidal marshes in the nine counties of San Francisco Bay. He has also worked as the habitat restoration scientist with the Save The Bay San Francisco to update plans for the restoration program, and with the King County, Washington, Noxious Weed Control Program developing land-management strategies for landowners of diverse environmental perspectives. Erik is deeply committed to sharing his love of ecology through teaching and community outreach. At UC Davis, he was Associate Instructor for the California plant communities undergraduate course, taught courses in biology and ecology, and has lectured at UC Berkeley and Sacramento State. He is developing an approach to training teachers and community members from local school districts to access scientific concepts aligned with Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) by initiating seasonal ‘walking ecology’ tours of neighborhoods. He is chair of his daughter’s elementary school garden committee, and chair of the school’s campus greening and redesign committee. He grew up in Northern California and currently lives on an island off the coast of Oakland called Alameda.