Summer is a wildlife biologist with a passion for conservation. She is currently a master’s student in Ecology at the University of California Davis studying climate change impacts on survival and reproduction of golden-mantled ground squirrels (Callospermophilus lateralis). She is interested in how hibernators respond to variability in weather patterns and hopes her research will aid in the management of wild populations of hibernating ground-dwelling squirrels in the face of climate change. In addition to her master’s research field work in Colorado, she has substantial experience trapping and studying small mammal populations as part of long-term monitoring efforts by The Forest Service in California and Washington state. Prior to starting graduate school, Summer worked as a biologist in San Diego, California where she conducted sensitive wildlife and floral surveys, oversaw habitat restoration projects, and evaluated potential impacts to sensitive species and habitats from public and private development projects.