The Team
Shuhan Song
Co-Data & Financial Manager
Passionate about biodiversity and conservation, Shuhan is currently studying Environmental Science and Management at Bren School at UCSB in the completion of her master’s degree. She is seeking a career that will create and protect a more sustainable, diverse, and productive ecosystem. She loves being in the field to observe and learn no less than sitting in front of a computer to code and map. Born in Beijing, China, Shuhan speaks both English and Mandarin. In her free time, she enjoys drawing, hiking, visiting museums, and listening to jazz and violin solo.
AJ Zekanoski
Outreach Coordinator
Growing up in the shadow of the Santa Cruz Mountains, AJ joins the Pig Patrol team as an avid outdoorsman and lover of natural spaces. He received his undergraduate degree in Forestry and Natural Resource Management at Cal Poly SLO where he concentrated his studies on watershed management. After graduating in 2016, AJ spent several years as a wilderness therapy guide in beautiful and wild backcountry environments in Utah. The time spent enjoying public lands drove AJ to the Bren school where he hopes to learn more about land conservation and environmental policy.
Benson Truong
Co-Data & Financial Manager
Benson Truong was born and raised in San Gabriel, California. He is currently a graduate student at UC Santa Barbara pursuing a Master of Environmental Science & Management degree. In this program, he plans to specialize in Conservation Planning with a focus in Environmental Data Science. After volunteering for the United States Forest Service and attending several professional environmental workshops, his interest in ecological conservation grew, especially dealing with invasive species. Benson’s ideal job is to perform a mix of field work and data analyses.
Peter Omasta
Project Manager
Peter is a Colorado native that moved to Santa Barbara and the Bren school in 2019. He is specializing in the Economics and Politics of the Environment with a focus in Strategic Environmental Communication. He is interested in the field of impact investing and finding ways to make conservation efforts financially sustainable.
Advisors
Kelly Caylor
Kelly Caylor is the director of the UCSB Environmental Research Institute and holds joint appointments at the Bren School and the Department of Geography. In his research, Professor Caylor seeks to develop improved insight into the way that land use and climate change are interacting to affect the dynamics and resilience of global drylands.
Chris Costello
Professor Costello focuses on the economics of environmental regulation and natural-resource management under conditions of uncertainty (inaccurate, unavailable, or contradictory information), with a particular emphasis on the value and effect of information on management decisions. Correlate to this is his interest in adaptive-management programs that have a learning component intended to resolve uncertainty.