Dr. Jen Smith (Principal Investigator)
I am an avian ecologist and my research aims to evaluate the potential effects of urbanization (the process of an area becoming urban) on the space use, demography (e.g., survival, number of offspring produced), and behavior of birds. My research aims not only to explore โhowโ urbanization potentially affects birds, but โwhyโ by considering e.g., backyard bird feeding, habitat loss, and light and noise pollution. I am also interested in the connections between wildlife and humans and how such connections influence wildlife and people in our towns and cities. Overall, my objective is to conduct research that promotes sustainable land uses that consider the conservation of wildlife and human well-being. I am originally from the UK where I completed my undergraduate at Cardiff University and PhD at the University of Birmingham. I am currently an Assistant Professor at The University of Texas at San Antonio – Go Runners!
Dr. Claudia Garcรญa Louis (Co-Principal Investigator)
I am a Mexican immigrant, MamรญScholar, and the proud daughter of former farmworkers. ย I was the first in my family to graduate from high school and go to college. ย Now as an assistant professor in the Education Leadership and Policy Studies Department at the University of Texas San Antonio, I use my lived experiences to inform my scholarship. My research approach is interdisciplinary in nature as I seek to disrupt negative stereotypes about Latinx students, minoritized populations, and underrepresented students through the critical incorporation of culturally appropriate, asset-based methodological approaches. My research goals are to expand the definitions of Latinidad and Blackness in higher education, to make a critical contribution to a newly formed line of inquiry that explores the educational experiences of AfroLatinx, and to conduct research that highlights Latinx intra-group heterogeneity, and the experiences of Latina-mamรญ-scholars. I envision this project breaking down barriers to science education while centering identity formation and parent involvement.
Dr. Amelia King-Kostelac (Co-Principal Investigator)
ย 
For me, the Urban Bird Project represents the culmination of many years of interdisciplinary cultural and scientific research and advocacy work.ย I am excited to be engaging in community-lead research exploring narratives of the culture and ecology of birds alongside students, their families and communities in San Antonio.
I have worn many professional hats over the years, but the unifying theme of my work has been commitment to supporting equitable, culturally-sustaining educational opportunities for both youth and adult learners. For the past several years, I have worked as a researcher and mentor within the University of Texas at San Antonioโs Department of Environmental Science and Ecology, where I coordinate an NSF-funded program focused on supporting minoritized studentsโ success via holistic mentoring, public science communication training, and integration of habitual writing across the curriculum. I study and write about how studentsโ educational experiences can relate to development of a sense of belonging within educational spaces.
My goal is to engage inquiry and practices which identify and dismantle barriers to studentsโ success, and support policies and institutional cultures which center the cultural knowledge and expertise of historically-marginalized peoples and cultures. At present, my research focuses on two aspects of belonging: (1) how studentsโ engagement in free speech, expression and advocacy activities influences their belonging, and (2) how belonging relates to studentsโ disciplinary and professional identities. My background in visual studies informs many aspects of my approach to research, including interest in using drawing, mapping and collage as methods for understanding studentsโ perceptions and experiences. More information about my publications and current research projects can be found here.
Dr. Kenneth Walker (Co-Principal Investigator)
I am a rhetorical scholar/practitioner with expertise in science and environmental communication and transdisciplinary ecological research. Informed by the intersections of critical cultural theory and science and technology studies, my rhetorical scholarship considers how publics affect cultural and political change, especially in relation to ecological justice, crisis, and care. I am the author of Climate Politics on the Border: Environmental Justice Rhetorics, which examines public and political responses to extreme weather events through 100 years of San Antonioโs history, and argues for broad investments into ecological, decolonial, and democratic pluralism in a future characterized by climate breakdown. Originally from the Great Basin in Nevada, I currently have two areas of funded research: 1) Local histories and futures of climate responses in South Texas, the U.S. Southwest, and the Global South, particularly as they function across cultural communities and in political discourses; 2) Community-based science and environmental communication in transdisciplinary science teams seeking to foster success for minoritized students across STEAM education. I am also an Associate Professor of English at the University of Texas, San Antonio: http://colfa.utsa.edu/english/walker.html
Lauren Granger (Mellon Graduate Fellow)
I am an Environmental Science Masterโs Student in the Smith Lab at UTSA. My research will investigate the effects of backyard bird feeding on bird movements by utilizing Cellular Tracking Technology and community science.ย
Over the past 8 years, I have worked with non-profits and research intuitions, including the National Audubon Society, Virginia Tech, Powdermill Avian Research Center, and Klamath Bird Observatory.ย Working on a variety of research projects, I have had the privilege of banding birds along the Mississippi and Atlantic Flyways while gaining knowledge in methods and techniques to survey avian populations.
In addition to fieldwork, I have served as an educator and taught environmental education as a Naturalist at a state park and as a volunteer with Audubonโs Green Leader Program. I am thrilled to be a member of the Urban Bird Project team, where I share my passion for birds while connecting communities to nature.
Carolina Hinojosa (Mellon Graduate Fellow)
I am an English Doctoral Fellow in the College of Liberal and Fine arts at UT-San Antonio. I earned my Master’s degree in Literature, Creative Writing, and Social Justice from Our Lady of the Lake University and an undergraduate degree in English from UT-San Antonio.ย
My research focuses on Chicana feminist ecologies. I am from the Southside of Yanaguana San Antonio, Texas and I am privileged to undertake my shared research in my birthplace.ย
As a poet and scholar-mami, I am elated to be a member of the Urban Bird Project, where I share my passion for birds, comunidad, storytelling, and imagination.ย
ย
Eres Gomez (Community Liaison)
Born and raised in San Antonio, Texas, my family has deep roots in the Yanaguana region. I earned my Bachelor of Arts in Humanities and completed my Master of Science in Environmental Science from the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). My graduate research focused on the effects of anticoagulant rodenticides (rodent poisons) on raptors (birds of prey), and I also worked in raptor rehabilitation where I assisted in the care and husbandry of injured, sick, and orphaned birds of prey like hawks, owls, eagles, falcons, vultures, caracaras, kites, crows and ravens, as well as learning basic falconry techniques. I am Lipan Apache and also perform with the Native American Inter-tribal Group de Tejas and Danza Azteca de Yanaguana where we offer blessing ceremonies for events around the city to include drumming, singing, dance and prayer for healing. I love that the Urban Bird Project brings together my two main passions – Birds and Indigenous knowledge and culture for the community.