Isabelle graduated from California Polytechnic Humboldt with a Bachelor of Science in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation Management. While earning her degree, she worked as a Science in the Service intern for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Arcata, California. During her time with the Service, she focused on water temperature management within the Klamath Basin and how water temperature affects the growth of juvenile Chinook salmon. She also volunteered as a student aid for the Telonicher Marine Lab in Trinidad, California, where she assisted a Master’s student project on salinity effects on purple sea urchin grazing on bull kelp. Through this volunteer role, she co-authored her first scientific paper Effects of Freshwater on Purple Sea Urchin and Bull Kelp Dynamics at the Mouths of Rivers Along the Mendocino Coast.
Before this experience, Isabelle was an intern for Legal Rights of the Salish Sea and the Northwest Animal Rights Network. Through these internships, she worked alongside the City of Arcata to sign a proclamation recognizing the inherent rights of Southern Resident Orcas, making Arcata the first city in California to recognize such rights. This accomplishment has helped strengthen the case for legal protection for Southern Resident Orcas, who remain a threatened population in the Pacific Northwest.
Isabelle has been granted a partial scholarship by the Center for Animal Law Studies at Lewis & Clark Law School, where she will be participating in the online Animal MSL program. She aims to pair her biological background with knowledge of the law so that she may continue working as an informed advocate for all wildlife. Isabelle’s long-term goal is to resume working for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service within its Ecological Services division, where she can work with the Endangered Species Act and the procedures that accompany it.