Vanessa Komada

Interests: paleoecology, tropical forestry, disturbance regimes, agroforestry, livelihoods.

Vanessa is a Masters of Forestry graduate student interested in exploring disturbance and its effects on forest resilience and livelihoods using paleoecological and remote sensing methods. In tandem with this, she believes in the importance of uniting scientific research with community involvement, education, and policy. Prior to attending UC-Berkeley, Vanessa completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point where they studied a variety of topics including porcupine behavior, parasite bioindicator assessments, vegetative responses to fire, and seed bank analysis. Outside of research and school, Vanessa enjoys identifying plants, hiking, ballet, and expressing them self through art.