Sarah Halperin

PhD Student
Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior
sarahhalperin@u.boisestate.edu
Linkedin
@HalperinSarah

See details on current scholarship below.

Research Interests
Conservation | Ecosystem Services | Agriculture | Farmland Protection Policy

Sarah examines questions related to large-scale conservation that balance the needs of humans and of nature. Her current research develops tools for local stakeholders and the public to make informed decisions regarding farmland protection.

Advisor: Dr. Jodi Brandt
Committee: Dr. Jen Pierce, Dr. Jen Schneider, Dr. Matt Williamson, Dr. Rebecca Som Castellano

CV 

Education 
M.S. Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, UC Santa Barbara
B.S. Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan

Background
Sarah was born and raised in Manhattan, NY. From a young age she dreamed of attending the University of Michigan to follow in her father’s footsteps and luckily that dream came true. She earned a B.S. degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology spending her summers doing research at U of M’s Biological Station. There she noticed that even in a place far from an urban center, humans had introduced invasive species, degraded the water quality, and left evidence of historical forest clear-cutting. This made Sarah realize the need to incorporate the human dimension into ecological research and the need to bridge science and management. Following graduation, she obtained her M.S. from the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management at UC Santa Barbara with a specific focus in conservation. Her research developed reserve designs in the Mackenzie River Basin, Canada that protected vital caribou habitat and limited the impact to natural resource extraction. Following graduation, she spent time as an assistant researcher for Dr. Andrew Plantinga where she studied human wildlife conflict funded by the National Geographic Society, a GIS analyst for the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, and a Ski/Snowboard Instructor for Heavenly Mountain Resorts in South Lake Tahoe, CA. Since accepting a Ph.D. position at Boise State University, Sarah has taught two semesters of BIOL304 and her research has been mentioned in Boise State news, KTVB, Idaho News 6, and the Arbiter.