Awardee: Colleen De Allaume
Bio:
Colleen De Allaume is a third year undergraduate Ecology, Behavior, and Evolution Major. They are originally from Chicago, IL and grew up traveling the country in a camper collecting badges from national parks. They interned for the Chicago Zoological Society and the Lincoln Park Zoo before coming to UCLA, where they hope to get their B.S. before eventually pursuing graduate school. They are particularly interested in reptiles, amphibians, and bats, especially their behavior and how it can inform conservation efforts and policy, particularly in urban areas. Their ultimate goal is to have some impact on environmental and species protection and to contribute to the broader scope of zoology through their research.
Project:
This research project is conducted to better understand the psychobiology of Sceloporus occidentalis, a small and abundant lizard in the Los Angeles area. Specifically, I am interested in understanding how stress responses increase and change in response to urbanization, including the introduction of feral cats, a novel predator. Stress levels will be measured by morphological (ex. BMI), physiological (ex. methylation levels), and behavioral (ex. FID) factors. Despite the commonness of this lizard, its conservation concerns desperately need to be revisited; the goal of this research is to inform future conservation efforts for S. occidentalis and to broaden this research to reptile conservation and urban ecology in Los Angeles as a whole.