Marina Karastamatis

Site Affiliation: San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance

… works for the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance as a Research Coordinator I on the Community Engagement team in the Conservation Science Wildlife Health department. Her primary role is to assist in coordinating and facilitating San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance’s branch of Dragonfly’s Advanced Inquiry Program (AIP). As an AIP alumna herself, she strives to support and encourage current students on their graduate school journey. She earned her bachelor’s in visual arts from the University of California, San Diego, and her master’s in biology through Miami University. Her Master Plan focused on the role of visual media in shaping public perceptions of threatened species and environmental issues, and how media can be used as a tool to promote positive attitudes, beliefs, and action towards conservation. Prior to joining the Community Engagement team, Marina spent several years working with animal ambassadors at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. She is very interested in regenerative agriculture and spends much of her free time gardening and running her small organic farm consisting of wine grapes, babydoll sheep, chickens, and honeybees.