Lucia Garay 
 
Lucia 
Fire Ecologist  705 Churchill Drive 
Petaluma, CA 94954 

707.658.2757 
luciagaray2002@gmail.com 

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Objective  Seeking a position at Lassen Volcanic National Park as a land steward 

with a specialty in fire management and wildlife ecology. I am hoping to 
use my expertise to improve Lassen Volcanic National Park for the public 
and for the wildlife. 

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Summary  Fire ecologist with 5+ years experience in resource management, land 
stewardship, public relations, research, and general land management. I 
incredibly punctual and dedicated. I am a devoted and talented 
researcher and am skilled at clarifying data to the public or other outside 
parties in a manner that helps them with understand and inspires them to 
care. 

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Experience  Audubon Canyon Ranch / ​Burn Boss Type 2 

August 2032 - PRESENT, Various Locations 
As a Burn Boss Type 1 I directed prescribed fire operations on low, 
moderate and high complexity burns, and oversaw training and 
qualifications of prescribed fire staff and volunteers at the local level. 

Joshua Tree National Park / ​Assistant Resource Ecologist 

March 2026 - June 2032, Joshua Tree National Park 
As an Assistant Resource Manager I collected and evaluated natural 
resource information about Joshua tree and make recommendation for 
the protection, enhancement, and perpetuation of natural resource 
values. 

Bouverie Wildflower Preserve / ​Mountain Lion Project Intern 

October 2019 - November 2022, LOCATION 
I interned to help capture, GPS tag, and study the behavior of mountain 
lions in the bay area. We developed new lion traps, record data about the 
lions, and studied their movements to understand more about their 
behavior. 
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Education  Burn Boss Type 2 Training ​/ National Wildland Fire Training 

September 2030 
Training to become a type 2 Burn Boss includes learning the tools and 
techniques required to carry out a prescribed burn.  

 
California Polytechnic State University / ​BS in Forestry and 
Natural Resources 
August 2025 - May 2029, Arcata, CA 
Within the California Polytechnic State University Forestry and Natural 
Resources program I specifically studied natural resource management, 
environmental science, forest ecosystem management, habitat 
management, environmental policy analysis, and fire ecology. 

University of Colorado, Boulder ​/ BA in Ecology and Evolutionary 

Biology 
August 2020 - May 2024, Boulder, CO 
While getting my Bachelors degree at University of Colorado, Boulder, I 
researched biogeochemistry, conservation and disturbance ecology, 
animal behavior, the geography of evolution, plant-​animal interactions, 
evolutionary developmental biology of plants and animals and biological 
informatics. 

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Skills  ❖ I have extensive knowledge of wildland fire behavior 

calculations. 
❖ I have extensive knowledge of smoke management techniques. 
❖ I am a competent incident commander and leader in the face of 
complications. 
❖ I am a talented communicator and can encourage cooperation. 
❖ I am thorough and prompt when analyzing data or meeting 
deadlines. 
❖ I understand a variety of scientific language pertaining to fire 
and the environment. 

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References  Julia Clothier ​/ ​Education Programs Manager 
Bouverie Wildflower Preserve  
Email: ​Julia.Clothier@egret.org 
 
Sasha Berleman ​/ Ph.D., Fire Ecologist 
Bouverie Wildflower Preserve  
Email: ​Sasha.Berleman@egret.org 
 
Quinton Martins ​/ Ph.D., Wildlife Ecologist 
Bouverie Wildflower Preserve  
Email: ​Quinton.Martins@egret.org  
Lucia Garay

Ms. Gardner

Honors English Period 5

26 March 2018

Reflection

While researching a position as a fire ecologyst and land steward for Lassen Volcanic National

Park, I learned a lot about the experience, education, and skills needed to become a fire ecologyst.

Although the only positions currently open in Lassen are Biology Technician and Resource

Management Assistant, I took the liberty of assuming that in 15 years more opportunities would be

available. It is my goal to one day receive a Ph.D. (if for no other reason than to have the title of doctor);

however, I improvised for this project because the average amount of time to get a Ph.D. is 8.2 years. I

have previously looked at University of Colorado, Boulder as an option for a major in ecology and

evolutionary biology; however, they offered no programs specifically targeted towards fire ecology. For

this reason, I also looked into California Polytechnic State University because it was listed as one of the

top schools in the country with a fire ecology and natural resources program. Studying the options of

various programs and majors at real schools opened my eyes to the possibilities of finding something to

study in college that I have real interest in and that I can truly enjoy. Looking into all the different

options of schools and majors excited me for future opportunities to study the topics that have interested

me all my life in college. I chose fire ecologist as my major because I have always been interested in

habitat and land management and fire ecology would give me an opportunity to focus on managing a

unique aspect of the land I would choose to work on. In California and specifically in Lassen, fire is an

integral part of the ecosystem and it takes a skilled fire ecologist and land steward to ensure that the land

and its relationship to fire is healthy. I always thought this was a fascinating relationship, which is why I

chose to look into it as a major and possibly even a career. Once I began to look into job opportunities as

a fire ecologist, I found that the skills and training needed were much more extensive than I had
previously imagined. I chose to state on my application that had the qualifications of a type 2 Burn Boss

because they are qualified to carry out prescribed burns and care for fuel loads in the wild. After

extensive research on the skills of a burn boss, I included the necessary skills and education in my

resume. For my previous experiences I included interning at the preserve I already volunteer at, I know

for a fact that the mountain lion project of Bouverie preserve in an excellent opportunity for someone

who is interested in ecology and wildlife biology. I also have visited Joshua Tree National Park and

decided it was a an excellent place to get experience for the type of job I would want. My last example

of experience is a job as a burn boss at the various preserves belonging to the Audubon Canyon Ranch,

for whom I volunteer currently. As I burn boss I would aide in resource management and fuel reduction

to ensure the preserves were healthy and would not be affected with a high risk fire. I first learned about

fire ecology from Sasha Berleman, a fire ecologist who came to speak to me and a group of aspiring

young naturalist at a program called the Conservation Science Initiative. Sasha taught us a lot about her

field of expertise and also told us about being a burn boss, as she was aspiring to become herself. I chose

to email Sasha since I have her email through the conservation Science Initiative, but after several weeks

I was forced to contact other individuals with expertise in fire ecology. I emailed four individuals

through email: Sasha Berleman, Quinton Martins, Jennifer Potts, Dennis Martinez, and Edward Willie.

All had experience in fire ecology or natural resource management and none got back to me. For this

reason I was unable to complete the interview part of the assignment.