Kenzi Stemp, M.S.

Kenzi Stemp serves San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance as a Senior Research Associate in Recovery Ecology. In this role, she is responsible for daily care of our population of mountain yellow-legged frogs, as well as assisting with reintroduction research and data collection, and post-release monitoring for this species.

Kenzi’s work is broadly focused on how animals interact with their environments as well as with each other. She is interested in how the behavioral and competitive interactions between species impact their survival, as well as the factors affecting post-release success of captive populations. She is specifically interested in potential predators of newly released mountain yellow-legged frogs, and how captive animals can be best prepared for natural threats post-release.

Kenzi received her bachelor’s degree in Zoology at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina. In 2017 she received her master’s degree in Natural Science from Southeast Missouri State University, studying geographic variation and phenological variation in marbled and ringed salamanders. Following her graduation, she worked on several amphibian monitoring and wetland ecology research projects in Arizona, western Montana, and Churchill, Manitoba in collaboration with the U.S. Geological Survey and Appalachian State University. When not chasing frogs, Kenzi enjoys rock climbing, yoga, and top-notch vegetarian food.