Summer 2012
- Radio Telemetry Technician tracking western pond turtles at the San Joaquin Experimental Range, under Dr. Brian Todd, UC Davis - project still in process.
- Studied animal behavior and completed two small studies on Mexican jay behavior and on ant lion behavior with Dr. Howard Topoff at the Southwest Research Station, Portal, Arizona.
Spring 2012 to present
- Team Leader, Wild Campus Amphibian and Reptile Team, urban frog call and tadpole dipnet survey project over 25 sites, advised by Brian Todd, UC Davis – currently analyzing data to determine spatial and temporal patterns of breeding activity
Summer 2011 to present
- Studying house finch song complexity, advised by Tom Hahn, UC Davis - analysis of song syntax from about 80 recorded song bouts is still in process.
- Design and creation of the "burrow-snake", a robotic inchworm running on vacuum suction and pressurized air to study behavior of California newts in gopher burrows, advised by H. Bradley Shaffer, UC Davis – my father, an electrical engineer, has been a key part of this process. The snake worked really well in plastic tubes indoors, but failed pretty miserably in real tunnels with highly variable diameters. We are now working on designing quick-release backpack cameras for gophers, so those excellent burrowers can take my equipment into the tunnel systems for me.
Summer 2011
- Studied Amphbian Conservation and completed a research project on substrate preferences and behavior of Plethodon Metcalfi with Dr. Raymond D. Semlitsch at Highlands Biological Station, Highlands, North Carolina. Paper in review at Canadian Journal of Zoology.
- Field Technician for invasive watersnake removal project at wetlands in Roseville, California, under Dr. Brian Todd, UC Davis.
Spring 2011
- Attended the Rare Pond Species Survey Techniques Workshop, Sonoma State University, Sonoma, California - learned survey techniques for California red legged frogs, California tiger salamanders and western pond turtles.
- Published a species account on AmphibiaWeb: Jillian Howard, Thi Ngo, and Galena Robertson. 2011. Atelopus Patazensis Species Account. AmphibiaWeb: Information on amphibian biology and conservation. 2012. Berkeley, California: AmphibiaWeb. Available: http://amphibiaweb.org/. (Accessed: Aug 7, 2012).
Summer 2010
- Biological Technician at US Forest Service Pacific Southwest Research Station - Effects of Forest Biomass Removal on Bird and Small Mammal Communities in the Sierra Nevada, at Sagehen Experimental Forest, Truckee, California - Small mammal trapping.
Summer 2009
- Scientific Aide at California Department of Fish and Game Region II Headquarters - Sierra Monitoring Project - songbird recording, vegetation surveys, small mammal trapping.
Summer 2008 - Spring 2011
- Scientific Aide at California Department of Fish and Game Aquatic Toxicology Laboratory - ran toxicology tests on several kinds of aquatic organisms to test new pesticides and contaminated water samples collected by Fish and Game wardens.
