Marie Bouffard | Co-Project Manager
Marie is a life-long nature lover and decided to combine her drive for environmental conservation and love of writing to study science communication at Villanova University where she graduated in 2017. After graduating, Marie went on to work in science communication as an environmental journalist, outdoor educator, and finally project manager for NASA’s DEVELOP program. Marie came to the Bren School to specialize in Conservation Planning to further her career goals of addressing environmental issues through the application of geospatial science, policy, and community engagement. She is also pursuing the Strategic Environmental Communication and Media focus because of her passion for science communication and her belief that an engaged public is critical to scientific collaboration and improving the way our society interacts with the environment.
Contact: mariebouffard@bren.ucsb.edu
Lauren Manzo | Co-Project Manager
Lauren Manzo graduated from the Academy of Art University in 2013 with a Bachelor of Arts in Fine Arts. After college, Lauren worked at Jeffrey Berkus Architects where she was involved in the development of a hurricane proof, LEED certified project in Corpus Christi, Texas. Lauren was able to balance her artistic life with her passion for the ocean by being a youth sailing instructor during the summertime and volunteering at Channel Islands Marine and Wildlife Institute and Channel Islands Restoration year-round. It is through her volunteer work that she knew she had to pursue a career in conservation to protect the delicate coastal marine environment from harmful human impacts. Lauren is specializing in both Conservation Planning and Coastal Marine Resource Management so that she may gain the skills to create ethical and sustainable relationships between humanity and the coastal marine environment.
Contact: laurenmanzo@bren.ucsb.edu
Cameryn Brock | Co-Data Manager
Cameryn is passionate about using effective data visualization to communicate science for conservation purposes. She is returning to UC Santa Barbara after graduating in 2016 with a Bachelor of Science in Zoology. During her undergraduate, she studied abroad in Costa Rica where she took courses in tropical biodiversity and conservation and learned more about the importance of international collaboration in conservation, which still inspires her today. Since her undergraduate, she has worked in ecological research, addressing anthropogenic impacts on birds in the United States, South Africa, Australia, and Greece; in photography; and most recently, in environmental consulting. Now, she is specializing in Conservation Planning and Environmental Data Science at the Bren School to marry her background in ecology with technical skills in data analysis and drive real solutions.
Contact: cbrock@bren.ucsb.edu
Julia Dagum | Co-Data Manager
Julia graduated from Cornell University in 2016 with a Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Sciences and a minor in English. As an undergraduate, Julia conducted research in primate abundance on Bioko Island and sustainable olive pest management in Italy. She then worked in community outreach for the City of Sunnyvale’s sustainability team as a Climate Corps Fellow and later taught marine science to elementary school children. Most recently, Julia served as Communications Specialist for Silicon Valley Clean Energy. In this role, she was responsible for strategic marketing through articles, videos and community engagement to educate residents about their local electricity provider. After exploring a wide range of interests within the environmental field, she plans to specialize in Energy and Climate at the Bren School. Julia aims to improve her technical skills and understanding of economics and policy to work towards eliminating our global dependence on fossil fuels.
Contact: jdagum@bren.ucsb.edu
Bret Folger | Outreach Manager
After graduating from Old Dominion University in 2016 with a degree in International Studies focused in latin America, Bret had several experiences that guided him to the Bren School. Travel and coursework in Latin America, work on a small composting farm in his hometown in Massachusetts, and a graduate certificate in GIS fueled Bret’s interests in agriculture, tropical ecosystems, and geospatial analysis. He hopes to use these experiences and tools and knowledge he gains at the Bren School to develop holistic, dynamic conservation plans to reduce agricultural encroachment into forests and other ecosystems.
Contact: bret@bren.ucsb.edu
Advisors
Dr. Ashley Larsen | Faculty Advisor
Assistant Professor, Bren School of Environmental Science & Management
larsen@bren.ucsb.edu
Dr. Frank Davis | External Advisor
Professor, Bren School of Environmental Science & Management
fwd@bren.ucsb.edu
