Elizabeth Forbes is an ecology PhD student at UC Santa Barbara (department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology), in the lab of Dr. Hillary Young. While hailing from the Northeast US and beginning her career in coastal marine ecology, since moving to the west coast she has focused on the interactions between large wildlife communities and ecosystem carbon, as well as the dynamics of ecological networks like food webs. While she spends much of her time pursuing these topics, she is also passionate about science writing, science policy, environmental justice, and conservation. In her free time, she loves running in road races as well as moonlighting as an artist. As a National Geographic Young Explorer, Elizabeth does most of her research in Laikipia County, Kenya, at Mpala Research Centre; you can follow more stories from the field on her blog, at https://elizabethatmpala.wordpress.com/.
