Alex Motawi – BA Design, English Minor, Geographic Information Systems Minor – UC Davis

Creative media – marketing project manager

I worked for ASUCD Creative Media from 2022 – 2024, as a Copywriter and then Marketing Project Manager. CM is the marketing unit for the entirety of the UC Davis student body, helping 19 units and over 30 commissions and committees with all of their marketing needs. Some of CM’s main projects were Sunset Fest, in which we organize, plan, market, and run a free for students concert featuring a top 50 artist (like Remi Wolf) , ASUCD Elections, in which we run a campaign in order to inspire the student body to vote for their futures (in both Fall and Spring), and creating the identities of 5 new units all the way from logo ideation to brand guides and social media plans (Information Technology, Innovation and Research Lab, Student Health and Wellness, Pride, and Entertainment Council). As the Marketing Project Manager, I directed all of these projects by meeting with clients, delegating tasks, forming timelines, brainstorming ideas, and following up at and after the events.

Thorne Lab – Senior Research Aide

I started in the Thorne Lab in January 2023, and am now a Senior Research Aide. While working in the Thorne Lab, I have primarily focused on 3 different projects.

Public Domain Allotments: I analyzed land cover on PDA land using ArcGIS Pro and Google Earth Pro in order to offer land use advice to property owners and track historical fire damage on the properties. I also digitized old field surveys and made them accessible on Omeka, an open source web software. I then used both the current and historical data to generate field guides on each allotment. I then practiced the field methods on a sample allotment in order to streamline survey processes and update field guides with only the most relevant information.

California Watershed Vegetation: I analyzed land cover for the entire northern point of Mexico due to the lack of sufficient Mexico land cover data using ArcGIS Pro, with a focused effort on water movement and the areas in Mexico that share watersheds with California. I also formatted and curated monthly predictive temperature and precipitation data up to 2100 in order to fit them into a hydrological model that models water level changes across California.

SeedZone: I digitized seed records tree stand maps from as early as 1960 using Access, Excel and R, tracking species, harvest area, germination tests and more. I geo-referenced them using ArcGIS Pro so that we could fit them into models that predictively account for global warming to offer farmers and foresters advice on which types of seeds to replant in their land after fires. The goal was for farmers to replant trees better adapted to temperature changes caused by global warming in order to grow stronger crops and regenerate forests suffering from fire damage. I presented our information at the CAL FIRE Lewis A. Moran Reforestation Center Open House, and extensively coordinated with CAL FIRE to tour the seed bank facilities and provide them information as valuable as possible.

Monteverde institute – research intern

I spent four months studying abroad in Monteverde, Costa Rica, learning about sustainability and biology, while doing field work at the Monteverde Institute (MVI), in which I focused on 3 different projects:

Plot Surveys: I surveyed plots naturally containing the critically endangered Ocotea Monteverdensis (a variety of wild avocado) tree, tracking canopy cover, soil pH, and soil humidity, in order to gauge what conditions the tree best survives in.

Camera Trapping: I placed camera traps on Quercus Cortesii (a variety of oak) and analyzed the data in order to find seed dispersal interactions between the trees and the Costa Rican fauna.

Mist Netting: I worked with mist nets in order to catalog migratory birds in local secondary forests, which we did by bird banding.