2026 Swift Endowment Fellow
Dept. of Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology
My name is Sonya Black and I am a third year WFCB major with a minor in statistics. I am especially interested in ecosystem interactions and how changing environments may affect organisms and their ecological relationships. My experiences as a wilderness guide and growing up with an exposure to the natural sciences has led to a passion not only for conservation, but also for scientific education and outreach. Beyond academics I also enjoy art, roller skating, and rock climbing.
With the Post Lab I am currently looking at how the restrictions of night length affect Little brown bat activity in Alaska. Specifically, we are attempting to determine whether the shorter summer night lengths at high latitudes are correlated with bat activity outside of true night. I am also looking forward to assisting with bat surveys for the 2026 summer field season in Alaska!
Post Lab @ UC Davis 