Meet Our Newest Research Allstar, Dr. Christina Aiello

Christina Aiello, our California Wildlife Biologist, collecting pellets for genetic data during bighorn sign surveys in Mojave Trails National Monument. Photo by Patrick Emblidge

In an exciting step forward for our California Program, we’re lucky to have Dr. Christina Aiello join our team as our new California Wildlife Biologist! Christina is an all-star researcher who has spent the last 15 years studying desert habitats and their wildlife. In the process, she has researched desert tortoises and bighorn sheep movement near major highways.  

Naturally, her experience applying scientific findings to wildlife crossing designs along I-15 and I-8 fits right into our work at Wildlands Network. She will now support our California Program by analyzing wildlife movement, connectivity, and road ecology throughout California’s unique desert habitats.  

I had the opportunity to sit down with Christina and learn more about her fascinating work and desert persona. I think you’ll love her as much as we do! Check out our conversation below.

I’d love to hear about what got you started in the desert – why did you choose this habitat initially?

Christina: I grew up very far from any desert – in the heart of Chicago. Being surrounded by buildings was my norm for so long. So, after I graduated college, I wanted to experience something really different. I found a temp job doing tortoise surveys for Utah’s wildlife agency - I knew nothing about Utah so it seemed the perfect chance to experience something totally new. What I didn’t expect was that the desert and I just clicked, and I felt like I belonged there. After that job, I wanted to get back to the Mojave as soon as I could.

How has your understanding of this ecosystem evolved through your research?

Christina: Wildlife behavior is complex. Species have a Swiss army knife set of tools to survive, and they use these tools as needed based on intimate relationships formed with their local environment over generations. I initially took this for granted, but being able to work for many years in the same ecosystem has taught me patience and humility – once you think you know an animal, you see it doing something you never expected! But a single species can behave quite differently in a new context or under a new stressor – that takes time to fully understand.

Christina hiking out to conduct a sign survey for bighorn sheep in Death Valley National Park. Photo by Kristin Fratella

What are the biggest connectivity challenges you see in California?

Christina: California has such a large, established, and busy infrastructure that trying to modify it now to accommodate wildlife is an enormous task. And Californians love to drive! It’s going to be a real challenge to re-work a system that so many people rely on in their daily lives. But Californians also love and appreciate their diverse habitats and wildlife – so I think there is the will to do what it takes to make sure both people and animals can get where they need to go.

In what ways has your bighorn sheep research supported wildlife connectivity? 

Christina: Many highways cut right through bighorn home ranges, while others prevent bighorn from crossing between adjacent mountains, which is important for gene flow, dispersal, and adaptation to climate change. I’ve used different data sets to estimate how much of a barrier these roadways can be to bighorn, what habitat characteristics are associated with natural movement corridors and where along the highway they occur.

I use this information to suggest ideal locations for crossing structures like overpasses that can help reduce fragmentation effects. California plans to build overpasses at three of these locations, and we’re working on plans for more! 

What other practical applications does your research have?

Christina: I’m always looking for ways to refine how we monitor wildlife so that we get more information out of our efforts while limiting stress on the animals. My PhD research helped managers refine how they screen tortoises for disease by documenting how effective each diagnostic test was as the disease progressed. I designed and tested methods to survey mountain ranges for signs of bighorn use by looking for clues like tracks, scat, and bedding sites instead of flying loud and expensive helicopters that can startle any present bighorn during a search.

I’m also currently gathering decades of genetic information collected from bighorn throughout the desert, so that we can compare gene flow patterns before and after crossing structures are built over highways to tell if our efforts are improving connectivity and genetic diversity.

Christina health screening desert tortoises while working as a biologist with the United States Geological Survey

We are all excited about the recent designation of Chuckwalla as national monument. How does this new land protection support your work in the area?

Christina: One of the major barriers to desert wildlife movement is I-10, which runs along the southern boundary of Joshua Tree National Park and separates it from the newly designated Chuckwalla National Monument. Now that the habitat south of the highway has additional protection thanks to President Biden and all the monument supporters that made this a reality, seeking out ways to improve wildlife movement across I-10 becomes more viable and important. Wildlands Network’s California team wants to be a part of this effort!

What are you most excited to study or bring to life in this role?

Christina: I not only want to take the steps needed to make California more connected for wildlife, but I’d also like to be part of the effort to study the benefits of reconnecting our landscapes. We have an incredible opportunity to measure the effectiveness of crossing structures and their impact on wildlife movement and ecosystem biodiversity. By collecting the right data, we can further identify what locations and types of wildlife crossing structures have the most benefit so we can continue to improve our approaches.

What does a connected California look like to you in the next 10 years? The next 50?

Christina: California will have alleviated the worst of its barriers to wildlife movement and solidified its approach to develop with wildlife connectivity in mind. Far fewer deer, bighorn sheep, and mountain lions will risk becoming roadkill to reach valuable habitat. In 50 years, there will be fewer wildlife-unfriendly fences and more friendly ones – fences that help animals like tortoise and pronghorn reach a safe road crossing. Travelers in cars and on rail will pass below wildlife overpasses without a thought because they're so common now, and the animals traversing overhead will represent a new generation that can’t recall a time without travelling this corridor.