Skip to content

People

Breezy Jackson, PhD

Director, Yosemite and Sequoia Field Stations

bjackson10@ucmerced.edu

Breezy Jackson directs and implements research, education and outreach activities at Yosemite and Sequoia Field Stations

  • B.S., Environmental Science, Saint Mary's College, Moraga, California
  • M.S., Environmental Science, University of Idaho 
  • M.S., Leadership in Physical Education and Outdoor Recreation, University of Idaho
  • PhD, Ecosystem Ecology, The Ohio State University

Dr. Jackson comes to UC Merced from Yosemite National Park where she worked as a wildlife biologist and managed multiple research projects aimed at protecting sensitive terrestrial wildlife taxa including mountain lion, Sierra Nevada red fox, butterflies, and bats. Her doctoral and masters research focused on the influence of wildfires on stream-riparian ecosystems of the central Sierra Nevada and Rocky Mountains including changes in riparian vegetation, geomorphology, stream water chemistry, and aquatic-terrestrial food web linkages. Jackson also worked as a fire fighter and fire lookout on the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest in Washington state and as a field coordinator for the United States Antarctic Program.

 

Marlon Spinneberg

Steward, Yosemite Field Station

mspinneberg@ucmerced.edu

Integral to Yosemite Field Station daily operations, Spinnegerg performs multiple operational activities and services for field station buildings, including general maintenance, tracking of repair services, space planning and coordination, and development of procedures, policies and communications related to infrastructure and safety.

Jessica Malisch, PHD

Associate Director UC Merced Natural Reserve System

JMalisch@ucmerced.edu

Jessica Malisch oversees operations and personnel at Merced Vernal Pools and Grassland Reserve, Yosemite and Sequoia Field Stations, and UC Merced-SCICON Field Station.

•B.S. University of North Carolina, Wilmington

•PhD in Biology, University of California, Riverside

Associate Director for the UC Merced NRS since February 2022. Prior to employment at UC Merced Dr. Malisch was the director of Research and Epidemiology at the St Mary’s County Health Department and an Assistant Professor at St. Mary’s College of Maryland.

Dr. Malisch’s research focuses on ecological and evolutionary physiology of vertebrate species. Her research investigates how organisms cope with and respond to challenges. This research has direct implications for species management and conservation. In particular, Dr. Malisch studies metabolic and endocrine predictors of facultative altitudinal migration of white-crowned sparrows breeding at the crest of the Sierra Nevada Range. In addition to white-crowned sparrows, Dr. Malisch’s past research has investigated how a variety of vertebrate species respond to challenge including white-throated sparrows, dark-eyed juncos, desert iguanas, and laboratory mice.

Jessica Blois, PhD

Associate Professor, UC Merced, Life & Environmental Sciences

Faculty Director, UC Merced Natural Reserve System

Jblois@ucmerced.edu

Oversees Merced Vernal Pools and Grassland Reserve, Yosemite and Sequoia Field Stations, and UC Merced-SCICON Field Station

B.S. University of California, San Diego

M.A. in Biological Sciences, Humboldt State University

PhD in Biology, Stanford University

Faculty member at UC Merced since January 2013, serving in numerous roles across the University. Current Faculty Chair for the Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on the Status of Women.

Dr. Blois’ research combines field work, genomics, and ecological modeling to understand the factors influencing changes in genes, species, and communities across time and space. She supervises graduate students in the Quantitative & Systems Biology and Environmental Systems Graduate Groups. She received the 2017 MacArthur and Wilson Award from the International Biogeography Society to recognize her early career scientific contributions, her work has been published in Nature and Science, and in 2018 she received a CAREER from the National Science Foundation for her research.

 

Current Conditions

Updated July 17, 2023

Yosemite and Sequoia Field Stations are open. You can check real time air quality at fire.airnow.gov. For information about road closures and current conditions check the Yosemite National Park and Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Parks websites.