Aspen Ellis is a Ph.D. Student in the Conservation Action Lab in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology department at the University of California Santa Cruz. She earned her B.S in Environmental Science from the University of Michigan, where she contributed to research on climate-related declines in songbird body size using museum specimens. She has since worked with an array of federal agencies, NGOs, and non-profits on seabird research and monitoring projects across the United States.

Aspen’s research is focused on exploring tangible seabird conservation measures, with a current emphasis on examining and mitigating the potential effects of offshore wind energy on at-risk seabird populations. She is passionate about teaching, mentorship, and finding ways to make her field more accessible to future generations.