Cesar Estien

University of California, Berkeley | UCB · Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management

Coloration in wildlife serves numerous biological purposes, including sexual selection signaling, thermoregulation, and camouflage. However, the physical appearance of wildlife also influences the ways in which humans interact with them. Wildlife conservation has largely revolved around humans' propensity to favor charismatic megafauna, but human p...

Ecology is vast and varied, not just in academic subfields but in how individuals equip themselves with it. In this work, I am trying to access a more intentional and intimate ecology by inserting queer theory to rupture Western scientific training that has created a structured ecology that often prevents researchers from fully engaging with the ec...

Dominance hierarchies can provide many benefits to individuals, such as access to resources or mates, depending on their ranks. In some species, rank can emerge as a product of a group’s history of social interactions. However, it can be difficult to determine whether social history is critical to rank in observation-based studies. Here, we investi...

Amid a growing disciplinary commitment to inclusion in ecology and evolutionary biology (EEB), it is critical to consider how the use of scientific language can harm members of our research community. Here, we outline a path for identifying and revising harmful terminology to foster inclusion in EEB.

Human-wildlife interactions continue to increase due to anthropogenic disturbances, with some interactions resulting in conflict. Leveraging a taxa’s bias for a particular sensory cue is a promising management avenue for reducing the potential and realized negative consequences of human-wildlife conflict. For instance, many avian species heavily de...

Navigating the graduate school application process is often challenging, requiring intricate knowledge of academia and graduate institutional structures. This “Hidden Curriculum of Academia” includes what different graduate degrees offer, how to connect with a faculty member of interest, and the skills needed to submit a “competitive” application....

For graduate students, securing prestigious fellowships provides incredible benefits such as increased job opportunities and likelihood of receiving awards. These benefits can be particularly life-changing for a graduate student who may come from a marginalized background. However, the inequity in fellowship distribution hinders the success of grad...

Navigating the graduate school application process is often challenging, requiring intricate knowledge of academia and graduate institutional structures. This “Hidden Curriculum of Academia” includes what different graduate degrees offer, how to connect with a faculty member of interest, and the skills needed to submit a “competitive” application....

Dominance hierarchies direct and structure aggression in a myriad of species. Recent computational approaches have been able to detect additional aggression patterns within animal dominance hierarchies based on relative rank differences between individuals. Within species, distinct groups can follow different social dominance patterns, indicating t...

For graduate students, securing fellowships provides opportunities to progress in research and be involved in professional endeavors. However, the inequity in fellowship distribution hinders the success of graduate students, especially those who are racially oppressed. The majority of the National Science Foundation’s Graduate Research Fellowship P...

Dominance hierarchies can provide many benefits to individuals depending on their ranks. Individuals can establish rank in these hierarchies from outcomes based on individual characteristics to outcomes based on social interactions and memory, and these drivers are not mutually exclusive. Generally, researchers evaluate the basis of rank by employi...

Human-wildlife interactions continue to increase due to anthropogenic disturbances, with some interactions resulting in conflict. Leveraging a taxa’s bias for a particular sensory cue is a promising management avenue for reducing the potential and realized negative consequences of human-wildlife conflict. For instance, many avian species heavily de...

Gaps in accessibility force students from historically marginalized backgrounds to navigate academic spaces, such as conferences, with minimal support. However, the large shift to virtual platforms has opened up a path toward inclusivity by offering more flexible involvement options and new opportunities for students to engage with research profess...

Ecological conferences provide a unique opportunity for scientists in the field of ecology to develop meaningful connections and exchange research in a rapid, multi‐day, in‐person format. For students and early‐career researchers, especially those from underrepresented backgrounds, in‐person conferences are challenging to attend due to the burdens...

Fertilization success within broadcast spawning species is largely dependent on environmental conditions. Previous research has shown that high levels of suspended particles can limit sperm availability in marine broadcast spawners; however, few studies have explored the effects of microplastics on this group of organisms. Purple sea urchins (Arbac...