Congratulations to all of our graduating students who will be sharing their research at GradFest 2025 & other seminars!
GradFest 2025 Environmental Science, Policy & Management Graduating Speakers
Maggie Grundler
PhD Advisor: Bree Rosenblum
Talk Title: “Evolution of dietary specialization in Thamnophis garter snakes.”
Maggie Grundler is a finishing Ph.D. student in the Rosenblum Lab in the Department of Environmental Studies, Policy, and Management at UC Berkeley. Her research is focused on the evolution of dietary specialization and ecological speciation in reptiles and amphibians.
Robert Shortt
PhD Advisor: Dennis Baldocchi
Talk Title: TBA
Robert Shortt is a finishing Ph.D. student in the Biometerology Lab in the Department of Environmental Studies, Policy, and Management at UC Berkeley. His primary background is in wetland flux science, and he has experience working with data and directly measuring greenhouse gas fluxes from a variety of ecosystems ranging from rangeland to forests. His research is connected to the global flux science community through both Ameriflux and Fluxnet, which have helped to build and inhabit a community of open data sharing and international collaboration.
Armando Valencia
Master of Rangelands Advisors: Lynn Huntsinger & Peter Nelson
Title: “Restoring Fire To Manage Acorn Infestations in Sonoma County California.”
Armando Valencia is a finishing Rangelands Master’s student in the Nelson Group in the Department of Environmental Studies, Policy, and Management at UC Berkeley. He is a wildlife biologist, designer, and researcher specializing in fieldwork and data collection in California’s Mediterranean ecosystems. He conducts research analyzing the role of prescribed fire in enhancing acorn viability. This work supports fire management practices that have been impacted by fire suppression and the displacement of Indigenous stewardship systems, aiming to reduce insect pest infestations, increase foraging rates, and regenerate historically significant acorn crops.
Alder Wheeler
Master of Forestry Advisor: Michael Mascarenhas
Talk Title: “It felt immediately like a community of support: On the Transformative Potential of Affinity Learning Spaces in Land Stewardship.”
Alder Wheeler is a finishing Forestry Master’s student in the Critical Environmental Justice Lab and the Disabled Ecologies Lab in the Department of Environmental Studies, Policy, and Management at UC Berkeley. Drawing on their background in botany, natural history education, land stewardship, social services, and community organizing and collectives, they organize stewardship trainings at the UC Berkeley Point Reyes Field Station that center marginalized identities. These community workshops, such as Queer Chainsaw Trainings, attempt to collectively re-define stewardship education and practice using participatory action research.
ESPM Distinguished Lecture by a Finishing Graduate Student
Congratulations to the student who was nominated to give their finishing talk as part of the ESPM Spring 2025 Colloquium!
Ryan Reed
Master of Forestry Advisor: Peter Nelson
Ryan Reed is a finishing Forestry Master’s student in the Indigenous Environmental Studies Lab in the Department of Environmental Studies, Policy, and Management at UC Berkeley. He is an Indigenous Fire Practitioner, wildland firefighter, and prides himself as a Karuk Medicine person and strongly connected to his cultural practices and Pikyavish (World Renewal) ceremonies. In addition to his education, Ryan is the Co-Founder and Program Director for FireGeneration Collaborative and recently accepted a committee seat on the USDA Forest Service Northwest Forest Plan Federal Advisory Committee.
