UCLA

Contributions to conservation biology research are traditionally approached from an ecology and evolutionary biology perspective, but education research can be equally valuable. Population genetics research can inform management decision-making while education research can improve how we teach conservation. My dissertation tackles conservation biology from an interdisciplinary framework. This involves studying the population genetics of the endangered tidewater goby and investigating drawing as an active learning tool in a Restoration Ecology course. For chapter 1, I assessed how the genetic structures between tidewater goby (Genus: Eucyclogobius) populations relate to high rainfall events by analyzing rainfall data and 14 microsatellite loci from 526 samples collected in 1990 and 2008 from the central coast of California. There is evidence that supports tidewater goby dispersal is dependent on heavy rainfall that subsequently breaches lagoons. Results also show that two adjacent management subunits are genetically similar in the 2008 samples compared to 1990, which suggests the subunits should be combined. For chapter 2, I investigated how landscape variables inform genetic structures between tidewater goby populations by analyzing satellite imagery data and 14 microsatellite loci from 1346 individuals covering four management units over an 18-year timespan. Results suggest heterogeneous landscapes that include softer substrates may facilitate movement between sites. There is also evidence that harder substrates, headlands, and kelp vegetation may limit dispersal. For chapter 3, I explored how drawing activities in an ecological restoration course affect learning outcomes and whether students continue to use drawing as a study tool after the intervention. Results suggest students use their notes and lecture slides more frequently than drawing activities to study for the midterm. Students who were instructed to draw (drawers) as part of their response for a midterm scored significantly higher than students who did not (non-drawers). Drawers also had a more complex correlation network of paired works in their midterm responses compared to non-drawers. Collectively, this dissertation expands on how we traditionally address conservation biology by offering insights from population genetics biology combined with innovative applications of pedagogy in higher education.