Anthony LaFetra Point Conception Institute Research Fellow
Terrestrial
erica.nielsen@tnc.org
Erica is a Point Conception Institute Anthony LaFetra Research Fellow, where she helps coordinate TNC’s coastal research collaborations at the Dangermond Preserve. She also focuses on synthesizing existing coastal biodiversity data to understand ecological dynamics and species range shifts under climate change to inform conservation practice both locally and globally.
Erica holds a Ph.D. and M.Sc. in Zoology from Stellenbosch University in South Africa and a B.Sc. in Biology from the University of California, Santa Cruz. Prior to joining TNC, she was a Postdoctoral Researcher at University of California, Davis, where she studied eco-evolutionary dynamics of a climate-driven range shift in owl limpets.
What Erica is working on now:
Erica is working with local partners to identify, protect, and restore coastal ecosystems within California that are particularly vulnerable to threats associated with climate change.