{"id":22146,"date":"2017-08-01T08:48:36","date_gmt":"2017-08-01T12:48:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sciencescosmaincms.cm.ucf.edu\/news\/?p=22146"},"modified":"2017-08-01T08:48:36","modified_gmt":"2017-08-01T12:48:36","slug":"alumna-takes-conservation-studies-across-pond","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/alumna-takes-conservation-studies-across-pond\/","title":{"rendered":"Alumna Takes Conservation Studies Across the Pond"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

From the Everglades to the Florida panther, it\u2019s no secret that Florida is home to many endangered ecosystems and animals. Conservation is a huge topic of conversation as it impacts the lives of most Floridians and researchers daily. For one University of Central Florida alumna, Florida piqued her interest in zoology and wildlife conservation and she is ready to take her talents abroad.<\/p>\n

Molly Grace graduated from the conservation biology<\/a> Ph.D. program this past May. Her dissertation work at UCF focused on road ecology, the study of how wildlife and transport infrastructure interact. Specifically, she researched how human behavior can potentially be modified to reduce collisions with animals and also how traffic noise negatively influences wildlife. Grace\u2019s next steps will take her overseas where she will conduct postdoctoral work at Oxford University in England. Grace will focus on a new research topic: how to define successful conservation. Many times success is defined as no longer at risk of extinction. Grace wants to change that.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will work with a team of scientists in the UK and US to\u00a0create a new system for measuring the success of conservation efforts,\u201d Grace said. \u201cRight now, we tend to focus on extinction risk, so if a species has been brought back to a stable point, that’s as far as conservation usually goes. It’s hard to get funding after that point. But ecologists have long realized that this is not necessarily what our goal should be; it’s possible to have a species that is safe from extinction but is still a much smaller population than we might want to see, or is no longer found in all of the places that it was historically.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"During her work in England, Grace is most looking forward to working on a project that tackles a known problem in conservation and encourages conservationists to aim higher in their goals for endangered species which plants, animals and fungi.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to use the great research that ecologists and conservation biologists have been producing to create a new standard,\u201d Grace explained. \u201cThis is a great example of\u00a0applying science to the real world.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Grace was studying at UCF she became very active on campus and served as president and faculty liaison for the Biology Graduate Student Association. She also worked with the Learning Environment and Academic Research Network\u00a0and the Research and Mentoring Program, where she mentored undergraduate students in research. Grace describes this experience as one of the most rewarding experiences she has had in her academic career.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of my best memories from UCF come from working with the students I’ve mentored,\u201d Grace said. \u201cWatching them grow from complete newbies to scientists presenting their own independent research has been such an awesome experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her line of work brings Grace outside often, and much of her time in Orlando was spent out in nature trails and local parks. Grace wants current students and alumni alike to make sure they appreciate the world that is around them.<\/p>\n

\u201cGo outside! Take time to appreciate nature,\u201d she said. \u00a0\u201cThe natural areas around Orlando are full of beautiful and unique plants and animals.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From the Everglades to the Florida panther, it\u2019s no secret that Florida is home to many endangered ecosystems and animals. Conservation is a huge topic of conversation as it impacts the lives of most Floridians and researchers daily. For one University of Central Florida alumna, Florida piqued her interest in zoology and wildlife conservation and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":52,"featured_media":22147,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[31,34,38,13,28,29],"tags":[439,779,2038,2321,2603,4908,3485,4909,3628],"class_list":["post-22146","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni-news","category-biology-departments","category-breaking-news","category-news","category-top-news","category-ucf-news","tag-biology-graduate-student-association","tag-conservation","tag-learning-environment-and-academic-research-network","tag-molly-grace","tag-oxford-university","tag-road-ecology","tag-ucf-biology","tag-ucf-conservation-biology-ph-d","tag-ucf-research-and-mentoring-program-ramp"],"yoast_head":"\nUCF Alumna Studies Conservation Biology in the UK<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/alumna-takes-conservation-studies-across-pond\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UCF Alumna Studies Conservation Biology in the UK\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"From the Everglades to the Florida panther, it\u2019s no secret that Florida is home to many endangered ecosystems and animals. Conservation is a huge topic of conversation as it impacts the lives of most Floridians and researchers daily. For one University of Central Florida alumna, Florida piqued her interest in zoology and wildlife conservation and […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/alumna-takes-conservation-studies-across-pond\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"College of Sciences News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-08-01T12:48:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2017\/08\/Molly-photo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"956\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"960\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Allison Hurtado\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Allison Hurtado\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/alumna-takes-conservation-studies-across-pond\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/alumna-takes-conservation-studies-across-pond\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Allison Hurtado\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8bb1934f9edc028f4b7d6f410d4ed16b\"},\"headline\":\"Alumna Takes Conservation Studies Across the Pond\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-08-01T12:48:36+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/alumna-takes-conservation-studies-across-pond\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":535,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/alumna-takes-conservation-studies-across-pond\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/29\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/Molly-photo.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Biology Graduate Student Association\",\"conservation\",\"Learning Environment and Academic Research Network\",\"Molly Grace\",\"Oxford University\",\"road ecology\",\"UCf biology\",\"UCF conservation biology Ph.D.\",\"UCF Research and Mentoring Program (RAMP)\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Alumni News\",\"Biology\",\"COS News\",\"News\",\"Top News\",\"UCF News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/alumna-takes-conservation-studies-across-pond\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/alumna-takes-conservation-studies-across-pond\\\/\",\"name\":\"UCF Alumna Studies Conservation Biology in the UK\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/alumna-takes-conservation-studies-across-pond\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/alumna-takes-conservation-studies-across-pond\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/29\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/Molly-photo.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-08-01T12:48:36+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8bb1934f9edc028f4b7d6f410d4ed16b\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/alumna-takes-conservation-studies-across-pond\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/alumna-takes-conservation-studies-across-pond\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/29\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/Molly-photo.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/29\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/Molly-photo.jpg\",\"width\":956,\"height\":960,\"caption\":\"A smiling woman wearing a cap holds a small object related to UCF biology in her hands, standing outdoors with a scenic desert landscape in the background.\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/\",\"name\":\"College of Sciences News\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8bb1934f9edc028f4b7d6f410d4ed16b\",\"name\":\"Allison Hurtado\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/941d9de90fb02a8a413287bc0397f3d905623389ca322af7b963e223122b6242?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/941d9de90fb02a8a413287bc0397f3d905623389ca322af7b963e223122b6242?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/941d9de90fb02a8a413287bc0397f3d905623389ca322af7b963e223122b6242?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Allison Hurtado\"},\"url\":\"\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"UCF Alumna Studies Conservation Biology in the UK","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/alumna-takes-conservation-studies-across-pond\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"UCF Alumna Studies Conservation Biology in the UK","og_description":"From the Everglades to the Florida panther, it\u2019s no secret that Florida is home to many endangered ecosystems and animals. Conservation is a huge topic of conversation as it impacts the lives of most Floridians and researchers daily. For one University of Central Florida alumna, Florida piqued her interest in zoology and wildlife conservation and […]","og_url":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/alumna-takes-conservation-studies-across-pond\/","og_site_name":"College of Sciences News","article_published_time":"2017-08-01T12:48:36+00:00","og_image":[{"width":956,"height":960,"url":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2017\/08\/Molly-photo.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Allison Hurtado","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Allison Hurtado","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/alumna-takes-conservation-studies-across-pond\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/alumna-takes-conservation-studies-across-pond\/"},"author":{"name":"Allison Hurtado","@id":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8bb1934f9edc028f4b7d6f410d4ed16b"},"headline":"Alumna Takes Conservation Studies Across the Pond","datePublished":"2017-08-01T12:48:36+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/alumna-takes-conservation-studies-across-pond\/"},"wordCount":535,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/alumna-takes-conservation-studies-across-pond\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2017\/08\/Molly-photo.jpg","keywords":["Biology Graduate Student Association","conservation","Learning Environment and Academic Research Network","Molly Grace","Oxford University","road ecology","UCf biology","UCF conservation biology Ph.D.","UCF Research and Mentoring Program (RAMP)"],"articleSection":["Alumni News","Biology","COS News","News","Top News","UCF News"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/alumna-takes-conservation-studies-across-pond\/","url":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/alumna-takes-conservation-studies-across-pond\/","name":"UCF Alumna Studies Conservation Biology in the UK","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/alumna-takes-conservation-studies-across-pond\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/alumna-takes-conservation-studies-across-pond\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2017\/08\/Molly-photo.jpg","datePublished":"2017-08-01T12:48:36+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8bb1934f9edc028f4b7d6f410d4ed16b"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/alumna-takes-conservation-studies-across-pond\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/alumna-takes-conservation-studies-across-pond\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2017\/08\/Molly-photo.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2017\/08\/Molly-photo.jpg","width":956,"height":960,"caption":"A smiling woman wearing a cap holds a small object related to UCF biology in her hands, standing outdoors with a scenic desert landscape in the background."},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/","name":"College of Sciences News","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8bb1934f9edc028f4b7d6f410d4ed16b","name":"Allison Hurtado","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/941d9de90fb02a8a413287bc0397f3d905623389ca322af7b963e223122b6242?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/941d9de90fb02a8a413287bc0397f3d905623389ca322af7b963e223122b6242?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/941d9de90fb02a8a413287bc0397f3d905623389ca322af7b963e223122b6242?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Allison Hurtado"},"url":""}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22146","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/52"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22146"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22146\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22147"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22146"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22146"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22146"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}