Laura Cisneros

Extension and Research Scope

As Director of UConn’s Natural Resources Conservation Academy (NRCA), my work is devoted to providing place-based, culturally-relevant programs that integrate technology used by professionals and support and empower teens and community partners as they carry out local environmental action projects. Since 2014, I have collaborated with a multidisciplinary team to expand NRCA programming from our flagship program (Conservation Ambassador Program) to include leadership opportunities for undergraduate students (Difference Maker Mentors), professional development for teachers (Teacher Professional Learning), and justice-oriented environmental advocacy via digital media storytelling (Eco-Digital Storytellers). My recent program efforts centered on using equitable, inclusive, and authentic community engagement practices.

My integrated research efforts focus on: 1) understanding how place-based environmental action programs impact learners’ environmental science identities, environmental science self-efficacy, environmental science interests and career goals; 2) identifying educational practices and program design principles that promote intergenerational partnerships and expansive forms of participation and retention of students from historically excluded populations in environmental science fields; and 3) exploring how place-based environmental action programs build capacity to implement projects that have lasting environmental and community benefits.

Education Background

Before joining the NRCA, I received a B.S. in Zoology at Michigan State University and a Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Connecticut. My Ph.D. research explored how human land use and forest fragmentation affect bat communities in Costa Rica. I began my undergraduate career as a science education major before pivoting to zoology. Today, my work with the NRCA has allowed me to bring my passion for both education and ecological research together.

Fun Facts

I am a proud Chicana/Latina and Michigander. Growing up, I did not consider myself an “outdoorsy” person. It was not until I was in college that I realized the possibility of an environmental career. In fact, my first-time camping was after college during my first field research assistant position in Manu National Park, Peru. Now, I enjoy being on the move, whether it be running, biking, hiking, or camping. I’m a “mammalogy nerd” and love looking for animal tracks, identifying skulls, and bat acoustic monitoring. If I could travel anywhere in the world, I’d visit either a local Connecticut lake, a neotropical rainforest (where I did my PhD research), or the Oaxacan mountains (where my family is from).

Cisneros, L.M., Campbell, T., Freidenfelds, N., Lindemann, A., Elliot-Famularo, H., Chadwick, C., Dickson, D. & Park, B-Y. (2023) Eco-digital storytelling: Engaging historically excluded populations in environmental action through mentoring, geospatial technology, and digital media storytelling. Frontiers in Education, DOI: 10.3389/2022.1083064.
Simmons, J., Campbell, T., Moss, D.M., Volin, J., Arnold, C., Cisneros, L.M., Chadwick, C., Dickson, D., & Freidenfelds, N. (2022) Part of our DNA”: Intergenerational family learning in informal science. International Journal of STEM Education, DOI: 10.1080/21548455.2022.2099032.
Freidenfelds, N.A., Cisneros, L.M., Cabaniss, A.D., Colby, R., Meadows-McDonnell, M., Kumar Singh, A., Arnold, C., Campbell, T., Chadwick, C., Dickson, D., Moss, D.M., Simmons, J., & Volin, J.C. (2022) Pivoting during a pandemic: transforming in-person environmental STEM field programs into immersive, online experiential learning. Connected Science Learning. URL<https://www.nsta.org/connected-science-learning/connected-science-learning-march-april-2022/pivoting-during-pandemic>
Cisneros, L.M., Simmons, J., Campbell, T., Arnold, C., Chadwick, C., Dickson, D., Freidenfelds, N., Moss, D. & Volin, J. (2021) Program design principles to support teen-adult community conservation efforts. Frontiers in Education –STEM Education, 6, 674667.
Rodriguez, L., Campbell, T., Volin, J., Moss, D., Arnold, C., & Cisneros, L.M. (2021) Assessing STEM identities in intergenerational informal STEM programming. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 21, 680-712.
Park, B-Y., Campbell, T., Kelly, M., Gray, R., Arnold, C., Chadwick, C., Cisneros, L.M., Dickson, D., Moss, D., Rodriguez, L., Volin, J.C., & Willig, M.R. (2021) Improving NGSS focused model-based learning curriculum through the examination of students’ experiences and iterated models. Research in Science and Technological Education, DOI: 10.1080/02635143.2021.1978962.
Campbell, T., Rodriguez, L., Moss, D.M., Volin, J., Arnold, C., Cisneros, L.M., Chadwick, C., Dickson, D., Rubenstein, J.M. & Abebe, B. (2021) Intergenerational community conservation projects, STEM identity authoring, and positioning: the cases of two intergenerational teams. International Journal of Science Education, Part B: Communication and Public Engagement, 11, 174-190.
Freidenfelds, N.A., Cisneros, L.M., Rodriguez, L., Park, B-Y., Campbell, T., Arnold, C., Chadwick, C., Dickson, D., Moss, D., Volin, J.C., & Willig, M.R. (2020) Investigating human impact on local water resources & exploring solutions: Next Generation Science Standards-designed unit. American Biology Teacher, 82, 619–623.
Burgio, K.R., Davis, K.E., Dreiss, L.M., Cisneros, L.M., Klingbeil, B.T., Presley, S.J. & Willig, M.R. (2019) Phylogenetic supertree and functional trait database for all extant parrots. Data in Brief, DIB103882.
Presley, S.J., Cisneros, L.M., Klingbeil, B.T. & Willig, M.R. (2019) Landscape ecology of mammals. Journal of Mammalogy, 100, 1044–1068.
Chadwick, C., Dickson, D., Arnold, A., Cisneros, L., Volin, J. Campbell, T., Moss, D. & Rodriguez, L. (2018) Connecting generations through informal geospatial and conservation education. Journal of Extension, 56, 5IAW2.

Burgio, K.R., Davis, K.E., Dreiss, L.M., Cisneros, L.M., Klingbeil, B.T., Presley, S.J. & Willig, M.R. (2022) Integrating multiple dimensions of biodiversity to inform global parrot conservation. Animal Biodiversity and Conservation, 45, 189-202.
Watling, J.I., Arroyo-Rodríguez, V., Pfeifer, M., Baeten, L., Banks-Leite, C., Cisneros, L.M., Fang, R., Hamel-Leigue, C., Lachat, T., Leal, I.R., Lens, L., Possingham, H.P., Raheem, D.C., Ribeiro, D.B., Slade, E.M., Urbina-Cardona, J.N., Wood, E.M. & Fahrig, L. (2020) Support for the habitat amount hypothesis from a global synthesis of species density studies. Ecology Letters, 23, 674–681.
Burgio, K.R., Davis, K.E., Dreiss, L.M., Cisneros, L.M., Klingbeil, B.T., Presley, S.J. & Willig, M.R. (2019) Phylogenetic supertree and functional trait database for all extant parrots. Data in Brief, DIB103882.
Presley, S.J., Cisneros, L.M., Klingbeil, B.T. & Willig, M.R. (2019) Landscape ecology of mammals. Journal of Mammalogy, 100, 1044–1068.
Presley, S.J., Cisneros, L.M., Higgins, C.M., Klingbeil, B.T., Scheiner, S.M. & Willig, M.R. (2018) Phylogenetic and functional underdispersion in Neotropical phyllostomid bat communities. Biotropica, 50, 135–145.
Pfeifer, M., Lefebvre, V., Peres, C., Wearn, O.R., Marsh, C., Banks-Leite, C., Butchart, S.H.M., Arroyo-Rodríguez, V., Barlow, J., Cerezo, A., Cisneros, L.M., D’Cruze, N., Fariah, D., Hadley, A., Klingbeil, B.T., Kormann, U., Lens, L., Medina-Rangel, G.F., Morante-Filho, J.C., Olivier, P., Peters, S., Pidgeon, A., Ribeiro, D.B., Scherber, C., Schneider-Maunory, L., Struebig, M., Urbina-Cardona, N., Watling, J.I., Willig, M.R., Wood, E.M. & Ewers, R.M. (2017) Creation of forest edges has a global impact on forest vertebrates. Nature, 551, 187–191.
Cisneros, L.M., Fagan, M.E. & Willig, M.R. (2016) Environmental and spatial drivers of taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic characteristics of bat communities in a human-modified landscape. PeerJ, 4, e2551.
Cisneros, L.M., Fagan, M.E. & Willig, M.R. (2015) Effects of human-modified landscapes on taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic dimensions of bat biodiversity. Diversity and Distributions, 21, 523–533.
Cisneros, L.M., Fagan, M.E. & Willig, M.R. (2015) Season-specific and guild-specific effects of anthropogenic landscape modification on metacommunity structure of tropical bats. Journal of Animal Ecology, 84, 373–385.
Dreiss, L.M., Burgio, K.R., Cisneros, L.M., Klingbeil, B.T., Patterson, B.D., Presley, S.J. & Willig, M.R. (2015) Taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic dimensions of rodent biodiversity along an extensive tropical elevational gradient. Ecography, 38, 876–888.
Cisneros, L.M., Burgio, K.R., Dreiss, L.M., Klingbeil, B.T., Patterson, B.D., Presley, S.J. & Willig, M.R. (2014) Multiple dimensions of bat biodiversity along an extensive tropical elevational gradient. Journal of Animal Ecology, 83, 1124–1136.
Pfeifer, M., Lefebvre, V., Gardner, T.A., Arroyo-Rodriguez, V., Baeten, L., Banks-Leite, C., Barlow, J., Betts, M.G., Brunet, J., Cerezo, A., Cisneros, L.M., Collard, S., D’Cruze, N., da Silva Motta, C., Duguay, S., Eggermont, H., Eigenbrod, F., Hadley, A.S., Hanson, T.R., Hawes, J.E., Heartsill Scalley, T., Klingbeil, B.T., Kolb, A., Kormann, U., Kumar, S., Lachat, T., Lakeman Fraser, P., Lantschner, V., Laurance, W.F., Leal, I.R., Lens, L., Marsh, C.J., Medina-Rangel, G.F., Melles, S., Mezger, D., Oldekop, J.A., Overal, W.L., Owen, C., Peres, C.A., Phalan, B., Pidgeon, A.M., Pilia, O., Possingham, H.P., Possingham, M.L., Raheem, D.C., Ribeiro, D.B., Ribeiro Neto, J.D., Robinson, W.D., Robinson, R., Rytwinski, T., Scherber, C., Slade, E.M., Somarriba, E., Stouffer, P.C., Struebig, M.J., Tylianakis, J.M., Tscharntke, T., Tyre, A.J., Urbina Cardona, J.N., Vasconcelos, H.L., Wearn, O., Wells, K., Willig, M.R., Wood, E., Young, R.P., Bradley, A.V. & Ewers, R.M. (2014) BIOFRAG – a new database for analyzing BIOdiversity responses to forest FRAGmentation. Ecology and Evolution, 4, 1524–1537.
Durant, K.A., Hall, R.W., Cisneros, L.M., Hyland, R.M. & Willig, M.R. (2013) Reproductive phenologies of phyllostomid bats in Costa Rica. Journal of Mammalogy, 94, 1438–1448.
Presley, S.J., Cisneros, L.M., Patterson, B.D. & Willig, M.R. (2012) Vertebrate metacommunity structure along an extensive elevational gradient in the tropics: a comparison of bats, rodents, and birds. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 21, 968–976.
Willig, M.R., Presley, S.J., Bloch, C.P., Castro-Arellano, I., Cisneros, L.M., Higgins, C.L. & Klingbeil, B.T. (2011) Tropical metacommunities along elevational gradients: effects of forest type and other environmental factors. Oikos, 120, 1497–1508.