Science Policy Fellow - Christen Steele
Implementing Organization
Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council
Overview
DWH Project Funding
$60,000
Known Leveraged Funding
$0
Funding Organization
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine – Gulf Research Program (NASEM - GRP)
Funding Program
NASEM Gulf Research Program Grants
Details
Project Category
Human and Social
Project Actions
Education and Outreach
Targeted Resources
Project Description
Dr. Steele recently received her Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Tulane University. She received her B.S. in Biology from Ohio University and M.S. in Conservation Biology from the University of Central Florida. Her overall research interests focus on how ecological change impacts animal health within human-dominated ecosystems. For her dissertation research, Christen investigated disease spread in butterflies in urban gardens. Her research investigated the role of climate change and urbanness in shaping patterns of disease transmission in monarch butterfly populations in the southeastern U.S. Prior to this, she set out to gain ecological field experience by working at field stations across the southeastern U.S. While working in Lake Placid, FL at MacArthur Agro-ecology Research Center, a division of Archbold Biological Station, Christen developed her Master’s thesis work. She obtained an Environmental Protection Agency’s Science to Achieve Results Fellowship and studied how changing pasture management can alter insect communities, leading to downstream changes in dung decomposition rates and the abundance of livestock parasites. In addition to her drive for research, Christen is also passionate about science communication, which has led to her participation in numerous outreach and educational groups including Girls in STEM at Tulane, Tulane K-12 STEM Education and Outreach, GE Girls Science Summer Camp, and co-founding the New Orleans Butterfly Club, a citizen science group advocating for pollinator health and conservation.
Contact
Christen SteeleNone
csteele3@tulane.edu
Project Website
None
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