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Isaac N Aguilar Caltech GPS PhD Student
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Publications & Media

Media

  1. Barajas, Julia. Feb 12 2026. The president froze their research money; now they're asking California to create a safety net. LAist. https://laist.com/news/education/sb-895-science-research-ucla-caltech-nih-nsf
  2. Mello, Felicia. Feb 3 2026. At science fair, researchers lobby for $23B bond to offset Trump's cuts. Berkeleyside. https://www.berkeleyside.org/2026/02/03/california-foundation-for-science-and-health-research-bond-ballot-measure
  3. Adamo, Madeline. Jan 16 2026. How can we chart a safer path forward in the wake of the historic LA fires? UCLA Newsroom. https://newsroom.ucla.edu/stories/ucla-helps-chart-a-safer-path-forward-after-historic-la-fires
  4. Dajose, Lori. Jan 07 2026. One Year Later, Fire Research Continues to Support the Community. Caltech Newsroom. https://www.caltech.edu/about/news/one-year-later-fire-research-continues-to-support-the-community
  5. Berbeo, Lucy. Sep 3 2024. Bruins of a feather. UCLA Newsroom. https://newsroom.ucla.edu/stories/bruins-of-a-feather
  6. Burciaga, Matthew. Apr 6 2022. Student Spotlight: Isaac Aguilar. Breakthroughs: The Magazine of Rausser College of Natural Resources https://issuu.com/raussercollege/docs/starno.breakthroughs.spring22. binder.07.web_
  7. Aguilar, Isaac. 2022. Toolik Field Station Naturalist Journal. Spatial and Environmental Data Center. various.
    1. https://www.uaf.edu/toolik/edc/journal/index.php?date=2022-06-28
    2. https://www.uaf.edu/toolik/edc/journal/index.php?date=2022-06-30
    3. https://www.uaf.edu/toolik/edc/journal/index.php?date=2022-07-01
    4. https://www.uaf.edu/toolik/edc/journal/index.php?date=2022-07-03
  8. Aguilar, Isaac. 2021. Ecology, Best of The Leaflet. UC Berkeley Student Environmental Resource Center. various.
    1. https://theleaflet.org/home-1/grizzly-bears
    2. https://theleaflet.org/home-1/mountain-lions
    3. https://theleaflet.org/home-1/vaquita-conservation

Podcasts

  1. Ehlert Nair, Julia. Jun 09 2025. Episode 3: Lead in the Environment, an Update. After the Fires. In Caltech Science Exchange. Caltech Connect. https://scienceexchange.caltech.edu/connect/after-the-fires
  2. Feltman, Rachel and Ashleigh Papp. Dec 18 2024. Can a New Generation of Conservationists make the Field more Accessible. In Science Quickly. Scientific American. https://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode/can-a-new-generation-of-conservationists-make-the-field-more-accessible/

Presentations

  1. Caltech Science Exchange. April 10 2025. Studying Lead in the Environment After the Fires. Conversations After the Fires. California Institute of Technology. https://scienceexchange.caltech.edu/topics/sustainability/ask-expert-sustainability/ask-expert-fires/lead-after-the-fires
  2. PANGEA Workshop. September 24 2024. Black Mammalogists Week. National Geographic. Virtual. https://youtu.be/AcyYKd_ehEY?si=sjfRgG6HgJygagxr&t=1
  3. Toolik Field Station Talking Shop Series. 3 August 2022. Monitoring Biodiversity with Environmental DNA in the Sierra de Manantlán, México. https://www.uaf.edu/toolik/outreach/events-meetings/talking-shop.php
  4. UC Berkeley Bio 1B Field Section Symposium. Dec 12 2019. Burnout: The Impact of the Mytilus californianus (Mytilidae) Die-off on the Local Intertidal Community in Bodega Bay. Dept. of Integrative Biology. VLSB 2063. https://ib.berkeley.edu/courses/bio1b/field/Bio1BFieldSectionProjectsF19.pdf

Papers

  1. Corona-Núñez, R. O., Aguilar, I., & Jasso-Flores, I. 2026. Bridging the gap between global environmental change and local realities: implications for biodiversity and nature's contributions to people in a tropical dry forest of southern Mexico. Environmental Conservation, 1–10. doi:10.1017/S0376892925100313
  2. Aguilar, Isaac N. 2022. Distribution of Birds in a Heterogeneous Tropical Pacific Island Forest. Perennial Research: The Undergraduate Environmental Journal of Berkeley 4:62-69 https://issuu.com/berkeleyperennial/docs/issue_4/62
  3. Ordway, E.M., M.M. Keller, M. Longo, R. Negron-juarez, Y. Feng, H. Stouter, I.N. Aguilar-rivera, A. Alencar, A. Bey, R.K. Braghiere, A. Cardoso, K.D. Chadwick, J.D Fuentes, R. Eckert, L. Fatoyinbo, A. Ferraz, L. Guild, M.S. Johnson, E. Kane, L.S. Koutika, Y. Li, J. Liu, I.B. Mccubbin, F. Meunier, C.E. Miller, H.C. Muller-landau, T. Nkuintchua, M. Nunes, L.B.S. Takougoum, M.J. Santos, F.D. Schneider, M. Simard, B. Sonke, C. Terrer, M. Von essen, M.Y. Wong, S.R. Worden, X. Xiao, V. Zaunbrecher, M. Bauters, P. Boeckx, J. Bowen, I. Chiari, O. Csillik, G. Diez, M. Doroso, D.D. Pugley, W. Hubau, A.E. Ochoa, E. Gora, A. Hoyt, J.C. Jintiach, V. Maqque, C. Perryman, Z. Pierrat, L. Saraiva, D. Singh, I. Tanshi, J. Thompson, and H. Verbeeck. 2025. The PANGEA Scoping Study Final Report. ORNL DAAC, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA. https://doi.org/10.3334/ORNLDAAC/2405

Acknowledgements

Gigliotti, L.C., et al. 2022. Wildlife migrations highlight importance of both private lands and protected areas in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Biological Conservation 275: 109752. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2022.109752

Datasets

  1. Wronkiewicz, M., Parker, C. W., Ochoa, F., Coleman, R. W., Aguilar, I. N., Okin, G. S., Chadwick, K. D., & Brodrick, P. G. (2025). Eaton Fire Ash Mapping and Analysis: Field Spectroscopy (v1.0.0) [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.16538735
  2. Haupert, C., Kade, A., Beaudreault, S., Murthy, A., Noguera, J., Nugteren, A., Rauch, R., Schas, J., Van Dam, B., Funck, J., McPherson, R., Wesolowski, D., Vicich, K., Semnacher, C., Aguirre, D., Aguilar, I. N., Chandar Kouba, M., Bleecker, C., de Sobrino, S., Forester, L., Melendez-Gonzalez, M., Jackson, A., & Young, A. (2024). Plant phenology of species in moist acidic tundra around Toolik Field Station, Alaska (2007–2024). Arctic Data Center. urn:uuid:846b522d-0a55-49e1-afa4-70a2570f03e0
  3. Kade, A., Beaudreault, S., Funck, J., Murthy, A., Noguera, J., Nugteren, A., Rauch, R., Van Dam, B., Wesolowski, D., Vicich, K., Semnacher, C., Aguirre, D., Aguilar, I. N., Chandar Kouba, M., Bleeker, C., de Sobrino, S., Forester, L., Melendez-Gonzalez, M., Jackson, A., & Young, A. (2024). Plant phenology of species in dry heath tundra around Toolik Field Station, Alaska (2011–2024). Arctic Data Center. urn:uuid:8f7fa9a7-9e84-4229-a09c-3cd87437675b

Species Accounts

AmphibiaWeb. 2023. Eleutherodactylus manantlanensis: Sierra Manantlán Trilling Frog. University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. https://amphibiaweb.org/species/8842

Curation Assistance

SF Airport Commission. The Intriguing World of Insects. San Francisco, California. 26 April 2019 - 12 Jan 2020 showcased. Essig Museum student imagery assistant. https://www.sfomuseum.org/exhibitions/intriguing-world-insects

Honors

  1. National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program Honorable Mention 2024, 2025
  2. UC Berkeley Latinxs & The Environment Undergraduate Fellow 2022
  3. UC Berkeley Ecosystem Management & Forestry Scholarship 2021
  4. UC Berkeley Cal Alumni Association's The Leadership Award 2021
  5. UC Santa Cruz Doris Duke Conservation Scholar 2020

Conferences

  1. American Chemical Society 2026
  2. Western Assoc. of Vertebrate Paleontology 2026
  3. UCLA LA Fires Research Conference 2026 Environment & Exposures Poster Award
  4. Gordon Geobiology Research Seminar 2026
  5. Student Conference on Conservation Science NYC American Museum of Natural History 2025
  6. Global Land Programme 2024
  7. American Geophysical Union 2023, 2024
  8. Ecological Society of America 2023, 2024
  9. SACNAS National Diversity in STEM 2022
PANGEA Tropical Forest Scoping 2023-2024
  1. Governors' Climate & Forests Task Force Meeting. October 7-11 2024. Ucayali, Peru. https://www.gcftf.org/summary
  2. Amazon Basin Community Workshop. June 3-4 2024. Lima, Peru. https://www.gcftf.org/summary
  3. NSF-INPA Amazon Basin Workshop. May 20-22 2024. Manaus, Brazil. https://www.nsf.gov/summary
  4. NASA Biological Diversity & Ecological Conservation Team Meeting. Silver Spring, MD. May 7-9 2024. https://cce.nasa.gov/biodiversity/meeting_2024/index.html
  5. International Community Workshop. April 9-11 2024. Washington DC, USA. https://www.ioes.ucla.edu/summary
  6. Congo Basin Community Workshop. Feb 21-22 2024. Yaoundé, Cameroon. https://congobasinscience.net/summary