MESM 2027
Pronouns: she/her
Bio
Growing up in a town nestled between the redwoods and the ocean, Alicia Magliato developed an early appreciation for biodiversity and ecology. She earned an A.S. in Biology before transfering to UCSB, where she graduated with Dean's Honors for a B.S. in Zoology and a minor in Spatial Sciences. During and after her undergraduate education, Alicia worked as a wildlife rehabilitation specialist for predatory birds and as a biological technician for the U.S. Forest Service throughout California.
In response to the pandemic, Alicia returned to school and earned an A.S. in Landscape Horticulture. Inspired by Professor Doug Tallamy’s book Bringing Nature Home, Alicia started a small landscape design business focused on transforming lawn space into ecologically functional wildlife habitat using regionally appropriate plants. She then joined the Natural Resources Department of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission as an ecology intern, where she continued her work with native flora in both urban and wildland contexts. While living in the Bay Area, she established roots with environmental justice communities she met while volunteering at local urban agricultural spaces.
Alicia is now pursuing a graduate degree at the Bren School in Conservation Planning and Water Resource Management with a Communication focus. Her academic interests lie at the intersection of ecosystem resilience and community engagement, and she is particularly interested in the integration of environmental equity into our urban and degraded landscapes through thoughtful restoration projects and collaborative land management strategies.