Sarah Reed (2006)

Fellowship Year: 2006
Academic Background: University of California, Berkeley - Ph.D. - (Environmental Science, Policy & Management)
Current Position: David H. Smith Conservation Research Fellow , Colorado State University
Sarah Reed is a Postdoctoral Scholar at the College of Natural Resources at the University of California, Berkeley, where she studies human impacts on wildlife populations in the southwestern United States. After receiving her B.A. from the Studies in the Environment program at Yale University in 1999, Sarah worked for a planning firm and affordable housing developer in Boulder, Colorado. In this position, she observed a clear need for ecological information that is explicitly designed to support conservation planning and land management decisions. Sarah’s research focuses on the relationships between human development patterns, land management practices and the distributions and viability of wildlife populations. She employs a wide range of techniques, including non-invasive field surveys, laboratory analysis, quantitative and spatial modeling, to investigate the influences of human disturbances, habitat characteristics and species interactions on wildlife populations and biodiversity. Sarah is particularly interested by research questions that span theoretical and practical issues and which require understanding, for example, the mechanisms that are driving a species’ decline as well as the land use planning or management decisions that are influencing those mechanisms. In addition to conservation science, Sarah has a strong interest in documentary filmmaking and has completed two environmental documentary projects. She has volunteered on several wildlife and plant projects in Grand Canyon National Park and has been an active member of the Berkeley Chapter of the Society for Conservation Biology. Sarah currently serves on the Board of Directors of Golden Gate Audubon Society and the Park & Recreation Commission in her hometown of El Cerrito, California. In fall 2009, Sarah will join the Smith Conservation Research Fellowship program, conducting research in partnership with Colorado State University and the Wildlife Conservation Society.
Expertise: Conservation Science & Biology, Land / Open Space / Smart Growth, Natural Resource Management