MEDS 2026
Pronouns: she/her
Bio
Isabella Segarra graduated with honors from the University of California, Merced with a degree in Environmental Science. While at UC Merced, she published research on the interaction between fire and disease in tree species in Big Sur, California, and worked at the Merced Vernal Pools and Grassland Reserve, assisting the reserve director with outreach, educational programs, and ecological monitoring. Her experiences there, including contributing to field-immersion and naturalist training programs, sparked her passion for science communication and vernal pool ecology. Isabella went on to research non-native species invasions in vernal pools, supported by the Swarth-Fogel undergraduate research grant.
After graduation, she interned at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, where she developed educational resources and synthesized water quality datasets for students and teachers. She now works in the non-profit sector with the Multinational Exchange for Sustainable Agriculture (MESA), where she combines her interests in outreach with her interests in building sustainable food systems. Looking ahead, Isabella plans to pursue a career in conservation, guided by her commitment to use her newfound skills and knowledge to help conserve the beauty of this planet.