Samantha M Maher

Samantha M Maher (Sam) is a PhD student in the Middleton lab in the Department of Environmental, Science, Policy, and Management at UC Berkeley and is studying how wildlife migrations can support human wellbeing. Her research interests are interdisciplinary and cover a wide range of methodologies (surveys, economic valuations, spatial conservation planning) with the underlying goal of building out practical toolkits for conserving wildlife species in multi-use landscapes. Before coming to Berkeley, Sam worked at EcoHealth Alliance on the Conservation and Health team, where she studied how zoonotic disease prevention and conservation objectives can align to promote holistic stewardship of ecosystems and the provisioning of ecosystem services. Some of her past research includes an analysis of the socioeconomic factors driving rhinoceros poaching in Namibia, a natural capital valuation of woodland caribou in the Alberta Oil Sands, and a habitat selection model for Trumpeter Swans in the Green River Basin. Sam holds a BA in Geography from the University of Texas and a Master’s degree from the Yale School of the Environment, where her work focused on interfacing environmental economics and nature resource management tools with applied conservation. Sam’s interests include hiking, soccer, colorful maps, and trying to justify doing fieldwork from horseback.