Madeline Sanchez Email & Phone Number

I am currently a Research Associate II in the Community Engagement department at the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. I help lead the Native Biodiversity Corps (NBC) program, in which I work with 9th- 12th grade students in urban San Diego to design, implement, and maintain California native gardens on their school campus. The goal of the NBC program is to provide small-scale native wildlife habitat in developed areas, while also exposing high school students to our organization's conservation work and potential career pathways. Working with the NBC program has ignited my passion for equity and accessibility in conservation. I am currently serving a term as a Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) committee member for the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. My background is in wildlife biology. I earned my M.S. in Biology (Marine Ecology and Conservation focus) from Sonoma State University where I researched the use of camera traps and machine learning as a tool to monitor sea otters in estuaries. I received my B.S in Biology (Ecology focus) from California State University San Marcos, where I conducted undergraduate research in monitoring the movements of medium and small mammals through a local reserve.