Jamile Carlino

​ How did you become interested in this feld of study?
I’ve loved animals, including wildlife, since I was young. I frst thought I wanted to be a veterinarian because I wasn’t aware of all the career possibilities that involve working with animals. For my junior and senior years of high school, I attended the Center for Advanced Research and Technology (CART) in Fresno. This school aims to reform secondary education by developing technical and critical thinking skills with career-oriented labs that students can enroll in and be mentored by professionals all while earning the credits needed to graduate. I was in an environmental science lab and conducted great gray owl surveys under the mentorship of Kim Sorini-Wilson, a wildlife biologist for the U.S. Forest Service.

This experience inspired me to study wildlife biology and ecology as an undergraduate student at Humboldt State​University (now called Cal Poly Humboldt), and now as a graduate student at Cal Poly Humboldt.

What is the title of the ARI project you are working on?
“Effects of Habitat Preferences and Intrinsic Quality on the Reproductive Success of Barn Owls“

Briefy describe your project and why it is important to California agriculture or natural resources.
As human populations grow and consumption continues to rise, there are greater pressures placed on agricultural areas to increase yield. The pressure to increase agronomic yields is often associated with the conversion of natural habitats to agricultural land. Additional side effects of agricultural expansion and intensifcation include increased use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, typically accompanied with decreased crop diversity, all of which contribute to decreased biodiversity across landscapes. To mitigate these impacts, growers can incorporate native, uncultivated habitats to support wildlife within and adjacent to agricultural lands.
I study barn owls that occupy nest-boxes in the wine grape vineyards of Napa Valley, CA. Nest-boxes are installed to attract barn owls who will remove rodents residing in and around the vineyards, and this provides farmers with an effective and low-cost ecosystem service that is good for the environment. The owls help eliminate the need to use rodenticides, which almost always end up in carnivores. My project objectives include 1) evaluating the relationship between different measures of barn owl breeding habitat quality, 2) examining spatial patterns in barn owl nest-box selection at multiple spatial levels and 3) examining the relationship between observed habitat preferences, measures of the intrinsic quality of adults and barn owl reproductive success. This research will provide insight into whether there is a mismatch between barn owl habitat preferences in Napa Valley and measures of ftness such as reproductive success. For example, this will allow us to compare the reproductive success in barn owls residing in vineyards with those living outside of a vineyard.

Why are you interested in this project?
I grew up in the Central Valley, the country’s largest agricultural producer. I was exposed to agriculture from a very young age, but I was naïve to the different types of agriculture. Not until I was an undergraduate at Cal Poly Humboldt (previously Humboldt State University) did I learn that a heterogeneous matrix of agriculture and native uncultivated lands can beneft humans while simultaneously providing habitat for wildlife. This inspired my desire to study wildlife at this nexus connecting agriculture, human communities and wildlife. I’ve also had a special fondness for owls since I was young, so working with barn owls was a plus.

Describe your role as you’ve conducted research in this ARI project.
My role in this project has been to conduct feldwork alongside two other graduate students on our research team. This includes monitoring nest-boxes for reproductive occupancy throughout the barn owl breeding season, collecting demographic data, including age and reproductive success, and collecting plumage data. My other role on this project has been to coordinate property access with over 60 vineyard owners and managers, provide them with annual reports, as well as organize and manage seven years of occupancy data, nest-box data, and habitat composition data that have been collected since the start of our research team in 2015.

What do you hope to learn, or have you learned, through your involvement with this ARI project?
My involvement in this ARI project has reinforced my abilities to conduct the full cycle of scientifc research, including identifying research topics, defning study objectives, hypotheses and predictions, organizing and conducting feld research, analyzing feld and remotely sensed data, interpreting statistical results and presenting the fndings in the form of reports, manuscripts, presentations, and community outreach. I have also gained the skills necessary for data management and version control, both of which are crucial in maintaining data integrity.

What do you want to do after graduation, and how will working on this ARI project help you to achieve that goal?
I hope to work for a nonproft organization or government agency conducting research on raptors and/or wildlife in a variety of working landscapes (e.g., forests, agriculture, etc.). Working on this ARI project has provided me with the feld research, planning, data management and quantitative skills necessary to conduct quality research with theoretical and applied value.

Is there anything else you would like to share with us regarding your background and interests?
I am also the secretary of Cal Poly Humboldt’s Wildlife Graduate Student Society (WiGSS) and help coordinate our biweekly speaker series known as EcoSeries. Additionally, this research is a collaboration between our research team, Cal Poly Humboldt Barn Owl Research, and over 60 vineyards in Napa Valley. Huge thanks go out to the vineyard owners and managers who provided us property access, as well as the previous and current students who have furthered the goals of our research team. If you’d like to know more about our team, follow us on Instagram @calpolyhum.barnowls and on Facebook by searching Cal Poly Humboldt Barn Owls.

What did you fnd most rewarding about the ARI program?
Working with the ARI program on this project has allowed me to attend numerous academic conferences where I was able to network and gain mentors. Additionally, the skills I have strengthened and acquired working in this program have made me a competitive applicant as I begin searching for jobs.