I am a wildlife conservationist and enthusiastic naturalist based out of California who is currently a biology master's student at California State Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo (https://perl.calpoly.edu/max-roberts). For my master's, I am working in Dr. Emily Taylor's Physiological Ecology of Reptiles Laboratory (PERL) on Project RattleCam (https://rattlecam.org/), where I am utilizing live-streaming technology to study how Prairie Rattlesnake homeostatic behaviors are impacted by multiple environmental factors, including temperature, humidity, wind speed, and UV index. I am also currently a rattlesnake relocation subcontractor for Central Coast Snake Services. I received my B.S. in Zoology from the University of California, Santa Barbara in the spring of 2022. Reptiles, amphibians, and birds are my main taxonomic interests, but I also try to learn about local botany and work with mammals whenever I get the chance. I am interested in several research fields as they relate to wildlife conservation, including spatial ecology, community ecology, ethology, biogeography, and population biology. In addition to my work with PERL, I occasionally assist the Southwestern Herpetologist Society with field surveys and write articles for its newsletter.

Previous Positions:

• Colorado IMBCR field technician for the Bird Conservancy of the Rockies (https://www.birdconservancy.org/)
• Intern for the Crocodile Research Coalition (https://crocodileresearchcoalition.org/)
• Wildlife Technician for Modoc National Forest
• Volunteer for the Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration (https://www.ccber.ucsb.edu/)
• Snowy Plover Docent and Reserve Intern at Coal Oil Point Reserve (https://copr.nrs.ucsb.edu/)
• Field technician for the Briggs Lab at UCSB (https://labs.eemb.ucsb.edu/briggs/cherie/)
• General Volunteer for the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association
• Student Keeper at the Los Angeles Zoo.

My Personal Website (All about me!)
https://livingtothemax12.wixsite.com/maxroberts

My Flickr (Nature Photography):
https://www.flickr.com/photos/195836457@N02/

Favorite kinds of nature watching:

• Flipping cover objects to look for reptiles and amphibians (You never know what you are going to find. Just make sure to put back everything the way you found it!)
• Encountering a wild rattlesnake
• Birding migrant traps during migration (especially in the California deserts during Spring)
• Hiking desert habitats in search of lizards
• Seeing any carnivorous mammal in the wild
• Creek walking

Favorite Ecoregions

• The Sonoran Desert
• The Madrean Archipelago (Sky Islands)
• Cismontane (Coastal) Southern California
• The Chihuahuan Desert
• Peninsular Florida
• The Southern Great Plains
• The Rocky Mountains

Mention me (@tothemax) if you would like my input on an observation or need a response from me. If you don't do this and/or do not make a comment separate from an identification, I will likely not see that you are trying to get my attention.

I also use Herpmapper (https://www.herpmapper.org) and update my Herpmapper account to reflect INaturalist twice a year. I use Ebird to occasionally record full bird walks that I go on, so some of the observations I post on INaturalist may correspond to a bird walk that I recorded on Ebird. I tend to use INaturalist when I am not counting every bird I see or hear (https://ebird.org/home).

Please let me know if you have any questions about my observations or have suggestions for future observations.

Taxones favoritos

Ver todas