The Channel Islands that rise from the ocean just off the coast of Santa Barbara are a nexus of irreplaceable biodiversity. They house populations of endangered and rare plants that don’t exist anywhere else on Earth — except at the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden. There, a new fellowship aims to safeguard these island ecosystems as well as honor Kendra Chan, one of the 34 individuals who died in the September 2019 Conception boat fire.
A unique partnership between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the Ecological Society of America, the two-year fellowship offers research experience and leadership training to aspiring biologists as well as a potential long-term position with Fish & Wildlife.
In the days following Chan’s death, a group of the federal agency's leaders in Ventura decided to create the fellowship in her honor — “something that could help embrace the characteristics that they saw in Kendra and provide an opportunity for someone to embrace that,” said Chris Diel, an assistant field supervisor who worked with Chan.