Sophie Noda

Working Lands Ecologist

I am an ecologist for the Working Lands Group, and primarily I work on the Rangeland Monitoring Network (RMN). During our field season, I am soil sampling and doing vegetation and bird surveys with our Partner Biologists. This field work takes me to ranches all over the state, from Modoc County all the way down to Merced. The rest of the year I can be found at our headquarters in Petaluma entering data from our field season, processing the soils we collected, and helping Partner Biologists share our data with landowners. I am deeply passionate and enthusiastic about the ways our food systems intersect with conservation, and the ways scientists at Point Blue can help facilitate more wildlife, carbon, and overall diversity on rangelands. I love my position because it provides me with a path to pursue my curiosities about the natural world while also giving me the opportunity to work with and learn from a diverse swath of people all over the state.

I grew up in Sacramento, CA near the banks of the Sacramento and American Rivers, where I would run, fish, and walk my dog. After high school, I moved Santa Cruz, to pursue my degree in biology and environmental studies. It was there that I was led by some amazing mentors to the world of birds and natural history, and I quickly became eager for more. From then on, I took every opportunity I could to work on a project related to birds, a trajectory I more or less follow today.

While my field work takes me all over the state, I am based in Sonoma County. When I am not looking through binoculars or kneeling over plants for work, I am often doing the same thing for recreation. I can also be found on a surfboard or kayak fishing out on Sonoma Coast, working on a knitting project, or going through a new sport phase (ping pong, soccer, skateboarding, etc.).

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