Joseph Nikko Curti

Pronouns: He/they
Postdoctoral Fellow, Tingley Lab & Blakey Lab

University of California, Los Angeles

Bio: Joey’s research focuses on the impacts of anthropogenic stressors on bat community composition in urban areas across California. Specifically, using unmanned aerial vehicles with onboard sensors and acoustic microphones, Joey will survey bat populations across urban Los Angeles to understand 1) how light and sound pollution vary with altitude, 2) how bat communities respond to these 3-dimensional pollution gradients in real time, and 3) if functional traits of individual bat species explain their relationship to light and sound pollution at different altitudinal strata. Joey received his Ph.D. in 2024 from the UCLA Ecology and Evolutionary Biology department, where he worked with statewide resource managers on a variety of conservation genomics projects. These included a project aimed at evaluating the impact of roadways in Los Angeles to California quail (Callipepla californica) gene flow and rangewide landscape genomics of the Yuma myotis bat (Myotis yumanensis). 

Wilmer Amaya-Mejia

Pronouns: He/they
Disease Ecologist, Yeh Lab
University of California, Los Angeles

Bio: Wilmer's work applies ecological, genetic, and evolutionary concepts to understand the interaction between diseases and birds, from a community to an individual scale. Outside of his main research focus, he aim to improve diversity, equity, inclusion, and retention within academia. His community-based initiatives focus on supporting students from elementary school, undergraduate programs, and graduate programs. Beginning in 2020, he has started his doctoral degree at UCLA. Much of his current research focuses on urban disease systems throughout California but has expanded to examine epigenetic and the microbiome of birds within a disease framework.

Morgan Tingley

Pronouns: He/him

Professor and Vice Chair for Graduate Studies

Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

University of California, Los Angeles

Bio: Morgan Tingley is an Associate Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of California, Los Angeles. His research focuses broadly on the impacts of climate change and other anthropogenic disturbance on birds, with a specialty in studying how bird populations, distributions, and communities change over time. As an out, queer cis-man, he has long sought to make ornithology, birding, and STEM more accessible and equitable for LGBTQ+ individuals, for example by helping found an oSTEM chapter at the University of Connecticut, and found the Rainbow Lorikeets affinity group of the American Ornithological Society. Currently, he is an Elected Councilor of the American Ornithological Society and the Vice-Chair for Graduate Studies in UCLA’s department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.

Suu Zhou

Pronouns:  They/them
MSc Student, Yeh Lab

University of California, Los Angeles

Bio: Suu Zhou is a second year MS student at UCLA. Their research is seasonal fear response behavior in dark-eyed juncos. As a mentor, Suu focuses on inclusion and accessibility as a foundation for learning. They are an advocate for LGBTQ+ Asian American community building, as well as greater diversity in ecology. They are an artist, photographer, and sculptor. Find their website at suuzhou.com!

Raptor Events

Our mission is to protect the natural world.  Founded in 2017 by master falconer Jonathan Gonzalez with the goal of supporting conservation through education, we offer a variety of unique, memorable raptor and reptile experiences. A portion of our proceeds is donated directly to wildlife conservation efforts. 

Catch the Raptor Events' performance during the Lunch Mixer portion of the event! 

Robin Nelson 

Robin Nelson has been an educator and administrator with San Diego Unified School District for 49 years. A current UCLA Alumni and Mountain Bruin Alumni, Robin is trained as a Mindfulness and Meditation Facilitator through UCLA’s MARC Center as well as Mindful Schools. Robin shares mindfulness and meditation techniques for self-discovery, healing and insight to both children and adults.  A student of MBSR, MBCT, MBSC and MBPM, Robin incorporates research-based benefits of these programs in her work with others. Working with the San Diego Bird Alliance, Robin introduced mindfulness in the training program for future birding leaders. 

 As a past ANAD Board Member, peer mentor and helpline volunteer, Robin volunteers with ANAD and offers a weekly mindfulness corner for peer mentors, support providers and staff working with individuals in recovery from eating disorders. Currently, Robin is developing a Self-Compassion module for a new ANAD coaching academy.

As an ANFT Forest Therapy Guide, (Association of Nature Forest Therapists), Robin understands the importance of Nature, its impact on health, and our personal responsibility to steward and respect all living beings. Robin guides walks in Nature and adheres to the motto of the ANFT Program: “The Forest is the Therapist, The Guide Opens the Doors.”