Dr. Miranda K. Melen

I am an applied plant restoration ecologist who focuses on the conservation and restoration of sensitive habitats in California. I have a Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (University of California, Santa Cruz), an M.A. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (UC Santa Cruz), an M.S. in Environmental Studies (San José State University), and a B.S. in Environmental Science (Santa Clara University).

For my Ph.D., I investigated the ecological and evolutionary drivers of invasion for the roadside plant Dittrichia graveolens (stinkwort). I consulted with local land practitioners to develop my dissertation projects on D. graveolens; I actively engaged with restoration managers to apply my findings and continue work on this aggressive invader in the South Bay. For my M.S., I studied pollination and the mating system of the endangered Santa Cruz wallflower (Erysimum teretifolium), a plant endemic to the highly fragmented Zayante Sandhills of the Santa Cruz Mountains. 

My current research focuses on using population biology to understand and manage invasive plants and using species assembly and plant-plant interactions to restore salt marsh ecosystems.

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I am grateful for funding provided by the US Department of Agriculture NIFA program; the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at UC Santa Cruz; the UC Santa Cruz Plant Science Fund; the Jean H. Langenheim Graduate Fellowship in Plant Ecology and Evolution from UC Santa Cruz; and the Howard-Kohn Memorial Scholarship from the Marin Chapter of the California Native Plant Society.