Katie Smith, PhD

Katie Smith, PhD, has a diverse work experience in the field of wildlife biology. Katie started their career in 2006 as an Overnight Coordinator at the Sacramento Zoological Society, where they supervised education employees, volunteers, and zoo guests while also presenting educational programs and handling zoo animals.

In 2007, Katie joined the California Department of Fish and Wildlife as a Scientific Aid in the Wildlife Group. During their time there, they performed monitoring of the endangered salt marsh harvest mouse and played a key role in implementing radio telemetry to track their movements. Katie also conducted research for their Master's thesis on refuge use and movement behaviors of the mice in different habitat types. Katie continued working with the department until 2018 and is currently involved in their PhD research, which focuses on examining habitat values of tidal and managed wetlands and improving multispecies management for salt marsh harvest mice and waterfowl through live trapping, radio telemetry, and captive diet experiments.

In 2018, Katie joined WRA, Inc. as a Wildlife Biologist.

Katie Smith, PhD, has a strong educational background in ecology and wildlife conservation. Katie completed their Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Ecology at the University of California, Davis from 2012 to 2018. Prior to that, they obtained a Master's Degree in Biology and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) from New Mexico State University, where they studied from 2009 to 2012. Furthermore, they hold a Bachelor of Science (BS) in Wildlife Conservation from the University of California, Davis, which they earned between 2002 and 2007.

In addition to their formal education, Katie has also acquired additional certifications to enhance their expertise. Katie obtained a certification in Visualizing Geospatial Data in R from DataCamp in August 2021. Moreover, they completed a certification program in Conservation Management from the University of California, Davis in December 2018.

Overall, Katie Smith's educational background demonstrates a strong foundation in ecology, wildlife conservation, and geographic information systems, with a focus on research and conservation management.