Isabella Villanueva, a 2024 Dr. L. David Mech Fellowship recipient and Fisheries & Wildlife Major, shared her journey through the wildlife field, her project experiences and about her future plans in wildlife science in a webinar from the International Wolf Center.
Our 2024 fellows were involved in several unique research projects. Isabella Villanueva joined the Mexican Wolf Recovery Program, monitoring wolf movements and assisting with data collection. John Silva was part of the Gulf Coast Canine Project collecting and analyzing samples to determine the genetic ancestry of distinct canids found in coastal regions of Texas and Louisiana. Kyle Martin worked on a wolf project in Idaho that conducts noninvasive genetic surveys for wolves in various study areas throughout Idaho.
The Dr. L. David Mech Fellowship program began in 2022. It aims to lower barriers, motivate students from various backgrounds to delve into natural sciences and wildlife biology as careers and offer bridge support for early career researchers before entering graduate school. The recipients receive a stipend as well as reimbursements for research related expenses to help support their research goals.
This webinar is being recorded. A link to the recording will be emailed to all registrants within one week of the original date.
Bella's video is part of the 'Next-Gen Wolf Research 2024' webinar that was recorded on December 10, 2024 and can be found at https://go.unl.edu/z76r