Jennifer Hunter

Last updated
Jennifer Susan Hunter
Alma mater University of Washington (BS)
University of California, Davis (PhD)
Scientific career
Institutions University of California, Berkeley
Thesis Adaptations to intraguild competition in mesocarnivores

Jennifer Susan Hunter is an American mammalogist and Resident Director at the Hastings Natural History Reservation.

Contents

Early life and education

Hunter was an undergraduate at the University of Washington, where she studied wildlife sciences and statistics. For her graduate studies she moved down the West Coast, joining the University of California. Hunter completed her doctoral degree at the University of California, Davis. [1] As part of her doctorate she worked on the University of California reserves. [1] After graduating, Hunter volunteered with Audubon California's Landowner Stewardship program.

Research and career

Hunter studied the carnivorous animals of the Americas. [2] As part of these efforts, Hunter showed that, unlike other mammals, skunks did not have strategies to avoid predators. [3] Instead, skunks have an abrupt discrimination of dark and light colouring, which warns predators of their noxious scent. [3] [4] In 2012 Hunter joined the Monterey Bay Aquarium, where she studied mahi-mahi, Cobia and Spanish mackerel.

In 2014 Hunter returned to the University of California, joining Berkeley as project coordinator for the Eel River Critical Zone Observatory [5] at Angelo Coast Range Reserve. The laboratory investigates the interaction of abiotic and biotic factors with the near-surface environment. [6]

Hunter was appointed Director of the Hastings Natural History Reservation in Carmel Valley, which is one of the oldest field stations in the world. [7] The reserve is 2,500 acres and home to three seasonal creeks. [8]

Personal life

Hunter is married with two children. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of California</span> Public university system in California

The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Oakland, the system is composed of its ten campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, and Santa Cruz, along with numerous research centers and academic abroad centers. The system is the state's land-grant university. Major publications generally rank most UC campuses as being among the best universities in the world. In 1900, UC was one of the founders of the Association of American Universities and since the 1970s seven of its campuses, in addition to Berkeley, have been admitted to the association. Berkeley, Davis, Santa Cruz, Irvine, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, and San Diego are considered Public Ivies, making California the state with the most universities in the nation to hold the title. UC campuses have large numbers of distinguished faculty in almost every academic discipline, with UC faculty and researchers having won 71 Nobel Prizes as of 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern California</span> American geographic and cultural region

Northern California is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California, spanning the northernmost 48 of the state's 58 counties. Its main population centers include the San Francisco Bay Area, the Greater Sacramento area, the Redding, California, area south of the Cascade Range, and the Metropolitan Fresno area. Northern California also contains redwood forests, along with most of the Sierra Nevada, including Yosemite Valley and part of Lake Tahoe, Mount Shasta, and most of the Central Valley, one of the world's most productive agricultural regions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Año Nuevo State Park</span> State park in California, United States

Año Nuevo State Park is a state park of California, United States, encompassing Año Nuevo Island and Año Nuevo Point, which are known for their pinniped rookeries. Located in San Mateo County, the low, rocky, windswept point juts out into the Pacific Ocean about 55 miles (89 km) south of San Francisco and the Golden Gate. Año Nuevo State Natural Reserve, formerly a separate unit of the California state park system, was merged into Año Nuevo State Park in October 2008. The coastal geographic center, or coastal-midpoint of California is located at the Northern end of this park at N 37°09′58″, W 122°21'40", as the absolute geographic center of California falls at N 37°09′58″, W 119°26′58″W.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Reserve</span> Unit of the University of California Natural Reserve System

The James San Jacinto Mountains Reserve, a unit of the University of California Natural Reserve System, is a 29-acre (120,000 m2) ecological reserve and biological field station located at an altitude of 5,200 feet (1,600 m) in a wilderness area of the San Jacinto Mountains near Lake Fulmor in Riverside County, California, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mendocino War</span> Genocide of Yuki tribes in California

The Mendocino War was a conflict between the Yuki and white settlers in Mendocino County, California between July 1859 and January 18, 1860. It was caused by settler intrusion and slave raids on native lands and subsequent native retaliation, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of Yuki.

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Joseph Grinnell was an American field biologist and zoologist. He made extensive studies of the fauna of California, and is credited with introducing a method of recording precise field observations known as the Grinnell System. He served as the first director of the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology at the University of California, Berkeley from the museum's inception in 1908 until his death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort Hunter Liggett</span> US Army base in Monterey County, California

Fort Hunter Liggett is a United States Army base in Jolon, California, in southern Monterey County, California. The fort, named in 1941 after General Hunter Liggett, is primarily used as a training facility, where activities such as field maneuvers and live fire exercises are performed. It is roughly 25 miles northwest of Camp Roberts, California.

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The 3,848 acres (6.013 sq mi) Landels-Hill Big Creek Reserve located in the southern region of Big Sur, California is owned by the University of California Natural Reserve System. It is located off State Route 1 in 50 miles (80 km) south of Monterey and adjacent to the Big Creek State Marine Reserve and Big Creek State Marine Conservation Area. It is open only for approved research or educational purposes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pacific Grove Marine Gardens State Marine Conservation Area</span> Marine protected area in California

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References

  1. 1 2 3 "Jen Hunter, New Director Of Hastings Natural History Reservation". UCNRS. 12 December 2018. Retrieved September 15, 2020.
  2. Sergio, Fabrizio; Caro, Tim; Brown, Danielle; Clucas, Barbara; Hunter, Jennifer; Ketchum, James; McHugh, Katherine; Hiraldo, Fernando (2008). "Top Predators as Conservation Tools: Ecological Rationale, Assumptions, and Efficacy". Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics. 39 (1): 1–19. doi:10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.39.110707.173545. hdl: 10261/59719 . ISSN   1543-592X. S2CID   51824378.
  3. 1 2 "American carnivores evolved to avoid each other, new study suggests". EurekAlert!. Retrieved 2020-09-13.
  4. Seeker (12 November 2009). "Skunks: The World's Most Unpalatable Animals?". Seeker. Retrieved 2020-09-13.
  5. "| Eel Critical Zone Observatory". criticalzone.org. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
  6. "ABOUT | Eel Critical Zone Observatory". criticalzone.org. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
  7. "BNHM Directory". Berkeley Natural History Museums. January 17, 2016. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
  8. Brown, Jessie. "Monterey Peninsula Water Management District" (PDF). Sponsored Projects Office. Retrieved September 13, 2020.