Bio

I'm an undergraduate ('25) and coterminal masters student majoring in biology (concentrating in ecology, evolution and environment). I previously completed a minor in education, a Notation for Science Communication, and will co-instruct BIO 121/221 (Ornithology) for the third time this spring.

Broadly, I'm interested in three main topics (which all have to do with birds!): 1) how birds can be used as indicator or sentinel species for environmental disturbance; 2) how interactions between humans and birds are shifting thanks to gradients of anthropogenic change; and 3) how these interactions can be shaped to better promote wider ecological health and beneficial services. I'm currently in the middle of a year-long study with Marty Freeland, funded by Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve's ('Ootchamin 'Ooyakma) (JROO) Mellon Grant, to compare the riparian bird communities at JROO and TomKat Ranch using three different survey methodologies (in-person transects, passive acoustic monitoring, and mob tape deployments). I'm also working closely with the San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory (SFBBO), where I volunteer as a bird banding trainee, and the Stanford SIGMA lab to quantify heavy metal contamination in the feathers of songbirds caught at the bird banding stations in JROO and the SFBBO's main station in Milpitas.

I previously conducted my senior honors thesis on how heavy metals affect raptors on the North American Pacific coast. My primary study species were the peregrine falcons (Falco peregrinus) breeding on top of Stanford University’s Hoover Tower, and the golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) breeding at JROO, where I'm a docent and former avian transect leader.

Links

2023-24 Courses

All Publications

  • Urban community gardens foster positive human-avian interactions across an income gradient in San Francisco LANDSCAPE AND URBAN PLANNING Langhans, K. E., Echeverri, A., Xu, M., Callahan, M., Li Palmeri, M., Nguyen, O., Ardoin, N. M., Daily, G. C. 2025; 261

    View details for DOI 10.1016/j.landurbplan.2025.105391

    View details for Web of Science ID 001494465600001

  • Global decline of apex scavengers threatens human health. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America Sonawane, C., Xu, M., Ward, N., Chichilnisky du Lac, A., Kamets, B., Dirzo, R. 2025; 122 (25): e2417328122

    Abstract

    Vertebrate scavengers play a critical role in ecosystem functioning worldwide. Through the cascading effects of their ecological role, scavengers can also alleviate the burden of zoonotic diseases on people. This importance to human health fuels a growing need to understand how vertebrate scavengers and their ecosystem services are faring globally in the Anthropocene. We reviewed the conservation status of 1,376 vertebrate scavenging species and examined the implications for human health. We uncovered that 36% of these species are threatened or decreasing in population abundance and that apex (large-bodied or obligate) scavengers are disproportionately imperiled. In contrast, mesoscavengers (small-bodied or facultative) are thriving from anthropogenic food subsidies and ecological release. We posit that this global shift in scavenger community structure increases carrion persistence enabling zoonotic pathogens to propagate. Our analysis also indicates that the release of mesoscavengers is associated with reservoir host proliferation, potentially further exacerbating human disease burdens. Urgently tackling the key threats to scavengers-intensive livestock production, land use change, wildlife trade, and the interactions among them-is critical to securing the long-term public health benefits of the world's diverse scavenger communities.

    View details for DOI 10.1073/pnas.2417328122

    View details for PubMedID 40523183