Jessica Moreno, Conservation Science Director

Pronouns: she, her, hers 

I was raised by the desert. I don’t know exactly when this led to my decision to be a biologist, but maybe it was that moment, shin-dagger thorns in my jeans, when I saw the sunset light up the Atascosa mountains after my first volunteer trip setting wildlife cameras. Or maybe it was leaving my bed at night with a flashlight to find the spadefoots calling after a flash flood. But the desert led me right here.

After graduating from the University of Arizona with a degree in Wildlife Management in 2007, I led mountain lion and bobcat studies in the Tucson Mountains for the UA Wild Cat Research and Conservation Center, which I also co-founded. For the next seven years I work with Sky Island Alliance teaching wildlife track and sign identification skills, managing the Wildlife Linkages Program, studying jaguars and ocelots in the borderlands, and protecting Wilderness through outreach, research, policy, and planning. I developed an interest in road ecology and served on the Arizona Wildlife Linkages Working Group, the Pima and Cochise County Wildlife Linkages Assessment Working Groups, and the RTA Wildlife Linkages Committee. I have also served as President of the Arizona Chapter of The Wildlife Society in addition to other roles on the Executive Board, and formerly wrote the Sonoran Sage column for Tucson’s Catalina Foothills Desert Leaf magazine.

With the Coalition I have found a community that brings my experience and passion full circle to protect the desert that I call home. CSDP’s superhero team of staff, partners, and volunteers is a joy to work with. I lead our community science wildlife monitoring projects, from volunteer data collection to analysis, and applying what we know to build safe passages for wildlife. In my spare time I like to explore reading, writing, and gardening in and out of the house. I have two children, Sofia and Mateo, and love outdoor cooking, wading barefoot in creeks, and the scent of wild open spaces.