Leah Jacobs

Leah Jacobs serves San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance as a Research Coordinator in Recovery Ecology. In this role she is responsible for overseeing our breeding and conservation efforts for the mountain yellow legged frog in Southern California.

Leah specializes in the captive management and breeding of amphibians. Her work focuses on using assisted reproductive technologies to increase reproduction in captive populations of mountain yellow legged frogs. She is specifically interested in using exogenous hormones and in-vitro fertilization techniques to improve breeding and reproduction in this species.

Leah earned her bachelor’s degree in Organismal, Ecological and Evolutionary Biology from California State University, Chico, and her master’s degree in Ecology and Evolution from California State University, Northridge. At CSU Northridge she examined reproductive isolation among divergent populations of Red-eyed tree frogs, using artificial reproductive technologies as a means to induce reproduction to examine the extent of isolation. This research spurred her desire to work in amphibian conservation. When not working with amphibians, Leah enjoys scuba diving, herping, and spending time with her pets.