Emily Burson

Emily Burson serves San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance as a Research Associate in Plant Conservation. She helps collect and process seeds of native plants for the Native Plant Seed Bank and organizes field operations for the Natural Lands Program in the Safari Park Biodiversity Reserve. Emily is responsible for planning invasive species treatments and restoration projects to conserve the native coastal sage scrub habitat, as well as performing plant surveys and monitoring populations with various tools such as GIS. She also conducts research projects to better understand the ecological effects of invasive plants.

Emily earned her bachelor’s degree in Outdoor Recreation and Education from Ohio University with a minor in Environmental and Plant Biology. She worked for land management agencies prior to coming to San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance and is very happy to be a member of this conservation driven organization, being able to work outdoors and gain new research skills.