SNARL Seminar

Changes in fire regime, including increases in large, high severity fires, are transforming the forests of the Sierra

Nevada, with implications for broader biodiversity. Bat communities are adapted to use every section of our

forests, from chasing down beetles above the canopy to resting in leaf litter on the ground! Rachel will discuss

how the diverse bat community of the Sierra Nevada respond to their fire-prone landscape, with a focus on her

research in Plumas National Forest, Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, and Devils Postpile National

Monument.

Dr. Rachel Blakey is an Assistant Professor of Global Change Biology at Cal Poly Pomona. Before arriving at her

academic forever-home, she worked in the drought and fire affected ecosystems of both Australia (her

homeland) and the Western US, receiving her PhD from University of New South Wales and a Postdoctoral

Fellowship at UCLA.