Wendy St. John

Joined: Dec 3, 2017 Last Active: Mar 12, 2024 iNaturalist

I teach at Sonoma State University, in the Biology Department, and also Department of Geography, Environment, and Planning (GEP). A life-long naturalist, I spent a lot of time as a child getting to know every corner of the Los Angeles Zoo, where I learned how to recognize and identify species from all over the world. As a young adult I started venturing out farther afield, with a particular interest in birds and pelagic critters. As far as my university career, I'm an ecologist and herpetologist by training, and did my thesis research on the nesting behavior of Western Pond Turtles. Now I teach field biology, ecology, restoration ecology, conservation biology, and environmental studies to college students, and nothing makes me happier than watching young people (well, people of any age, really) get excited about the natural world. I incorporate iNaturalist into some of the courses I teach, particularly to develop a robust checklist of species present on my university's campus. I'm also involved in riparian restoration of the creek that bisects campus, with an eye to managing invasive blackberry, and increasing the biodiversity of native plants and wildlife in our local area. I also do some biological illustration (mostly birds).

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