Phoenix Aguilar McFarlane is a sophomore at the University of Idaho

Phoenix Aguilar McFarlane is a sophomore majoring in Environmental Science at the University of Idaho College of Natural Resources at the USGS Idaho Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Program. She came to the Doris Duke Conservation Scholars Program (DDCSP) with a can-do attitude and a passion for volunteering in community service and sustainability projects. Through the DDCSP, Phoenix gained a broad array of professional skills in the wildlife field. During her first summer with DDCSP, she worked with a field crew and a Graduate Student Mentor in Bear, Idaho studying the northern Idaho ground squirrel, a threatened mammalian species endemic to only two counties in the state.  She researched whether food preferences of northern Idaho ground squirrels were based on availability or nutrient quality within their environment and presented her poster at the annual Ecological Society of America conference. In the summer of 2020, she completed an internship at the Hatfield Marine Science Center as an Oregon Sea Grant Summer Scholar. This academic year (2021), Phoenix serves as a College of Natural Resources (University of Idaho) Student Ambassador engaging current, incoming, and prospective students to the college and all it has to offer. Phoenix was also elected President of the Conservation and Environment Club at the University of Idaho and plays an instrumental role connecting fellow students to environmental conservation through service and learning. Phoenix has a bright future ahead of her and will continue to excel as a dynamic leader in the wildlife and environmental science field.