Degree:

B.S. Environmental Management and Protection, Cal Poly – San Luis Obispo (2020)

Research Interests:

Hi there!

I’m a master’s student in the Graduate Group in Ecology and the Fangue Fish Conservation Physiology Lab, and I’m interested in using physiological and spatial ecology investigations to inform effective conservation efforts of Bay-Delta native fishes. My graduate research focuses on developing novel acoustic tagging methods for small, sensitive fish (e.g. Delta smelt and longfin smelt), and understanding the effects of tagging on fish behavior and performance. Our hope is that using acoustic telemetry to study these imperiled species in their natural environment will vastly improve our understanding of their ecology and help guide targeted restoration. I’ve been working with and studying California fishes for the past four years, first as a member of the AmeriCorps Watershed Stewards Program at the Lodi Fish and Wildlife Office, then as a Junior Specialist in the Fangue Lab prior to becoming a graduate student. I also have background studying rattlesnake physiology and movement from my time as an undergraduate research assistant in the Physiological Ecology of Reptiles Lab at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo.

Publications:

Crowell, H.L., King, K., Whelan, J.M., Harmel, M.V., Nhu, T., Maier, P.H., Garcia, G., Nolan, J.T., Gonzales, S.G., Taylor, E.N. 2021. Comparative thermal ecology and energy use of inland and coastal populations of Pacific rattlesnakes (Crotalus oreganus). Ecology and Evolution 2021(00)1-13.

Gonzales, S.G., Crowell, H.L., Harmel, M.V., Maier, P.H., Nhu, T., Nolan, J.T., Whelan, J.M., Taylor, E.N. 2020. Variation in rattlesnake spatial ecology among individuals and populations. Herpetological Review 51(4): 680-685.