Ariana Winkler
UW Honors Graduates
Ariana Winkler

Environmental Science & Resource Management and Environmental Studies
Quantitative Science and Restoration Ecology
Designation: Departmental Honors
Honors Grads 2018/2019
Proudest Moment: On top of winning "Best Poster Presentation" at the Program on the Environment Spring 2019 Capstone Symposium for her internship project, the trail recommendations she produced from a nine week long camera trap study were accepted and included in the Conservation Plan of her organization, Bainbridge Island Land Trust. This showed that Ariana's work and studies were meaningful and impactful for positive environmental change!
Thesis: Barking Up the Wrong Trail: How Trail Users and their Dogs Impact Wildlife
arianamwinkler@gmail.comAriana Winkler is graduating with degrees in Environmental Science and Resource Management (BS, Honors) and Environmental Studies (BA, Honors) with minors in Quantitative Science and Restoration Ecology. With an interdisciplinary approach to academia, her interests include environmental justice, wildlife, camera traps, statistics and modeling, restoration ecology and climate change mitigation. She appreciates the use of statistics and environmental knowledge to solve socio-ecological problems. Over the four years at UW, she has gained experience in camera trapping, analytical science, ecological field research and the interdisciplinary studies of the environment.
Being out in nature is one of Ariana's favorite features of her studies. Her most treasured memories include fieldwork classes like the Friday Harbor Laboratory Marine Biology Quarter, ESRM 459 Wildlife Conservation in the Northwest, ESRM 304 Environmental Resource Assessment in Pack Forest, the entire Restoration Ecology Capstone series and a Costa Rica study abroad course, where she hiked up to three times a day. In partnership with Osa Conservation in Costa Rica, Ariana modeled occupancy for ocelots on the Osa Peninsula, integrating her passions for wildlife and statistics.
With two degrees, she participated in two amazing capstones. As part of a team of six students, Ariana planned and implemented the restoration of a degraded forest ecosystem located in North Rose Hill Woodlands Park. In her other capstone, she interned with Bainbridge Island Land Trust to design and deploy a nine week long camera trap study, producing over six thousand photos. She used this camera trap data to create ecologically sound trail recommendations based on wildlife and human disturbance.
In addition to her studies, Ariana worked part-time throughout college, using her analytical and scientific skills as a lab technician at a private environmental laboratory. Applying her interest of environmental justice and climate change mitigation, she was a Regional Organizer for the Fossil Fuel Divestment Student Network and was heavily involved in DivestUW.
Ariana hopes to apply her skills in wildlife, land management and statistics to a job in the environmental sector. Nonetheless, Ariana knows learning never stops. After gaining some experience and getting a break from academia, she will look into pursuing a Master's degree in quantitative wildlife ecology.