Ella Villacorta ’26, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Ella Villacorta ’26

Major

Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Project Title

Investigating Phenological Changes in a High Alpine Yellow-bellied Marmot Population

Presentation Link

View Ella's Presentation

I worked at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory in Gothic, Colorado as a research assistant on the Marmot Project, which has been running since 1962 and is one of the longest running studies on wild mammals in the world. I worked alongside other undergraduate and graduate students to collect information on the population of alpine yellow-bellied marmots in the greater-Gothic area. My role as a field technician included trapping and handling live marmots, taking behavioral observations, collecting biological samples like blood, feces and saliva, measuring flight initiation distances, conducting morphological measurements, processing samples and administering the database. I assisted projects that investigated group social structure and the effects of climate change on anti-predator behavior, as well as genomic changes made in response to a changing climate. Conducting fieldwork was a very valuable experience and has opened my eyes to the types of research I can do in the future. The extensive set of fieldwork skills and experience handling wild animals that I have gained from this internship has interested me in working with and researching other animal species. I am excited to continue studying the behavior and evolutionary biology of animals.