Keara Clancy

Keara Clancy MS Candidate

Research Interests

I am interested in the small scale impacts of invasive species introductions on ecosystems.

Education

B.S. Wildlife ecology and Conservation, University of Florida, 2020

About Me

growing up between South Florida and the Philippines, nature played a strong role in my life. between these two places, I saw the immediate impacts of unregulated harvest, poaching, invasive species introductions, and habitat degradation. hoping to better understand these impacts, i pursued research in invasion ecology, which led me to the university of florida.

as an undergraduate, i worked for dr. andrea lucky's ant lab, coauthoring a publication on the presence of women in myrmecology over time. i spent time interning in the florida museum of natural history's herpetology department, where i assisted in a project centered around gopher frog morphometrics. I spent two years in the doris duke conservation scholars program, where i conducted occupancy modeling for three species of woodpecker in ocala national forest. my last semester was spent as a university scholar in Dr. ana longo's lab, where i helped to trace the historical presence of batrachochytrium dendrobatidis in florida.

Outside of research, i am an advocate for increased justice, equity, inclusion, and diversity. after four years of service as an undergraduate to the Natural Resources Diversity Initiative (NRDI), i now serve as the graduate assistant. we facilitate community outreach in underserved areas around alachua county, as well as providing career development and mentorship for undergraduates at uf. off campus, i serve as the youth conservation director for the Florida Wildlife Federation. most of these inclusion efforts revolve around increasing science communication, which i often tweet about (@motherofmantids).

in my free time, i practice wildlife illustration, tend to my houseplants, and volunteer/foster for local animal rescues.