Allison Wierzbowski

Background

About Allison Wierzbowski

I obtained my B.S. in Environmental Science at Cleveland State University in May, 2024. I studied abroad at Massey University in Palmerston North, New Zealand from February to June of 2023. While there, I took classes involving New Zealand's environmental issues such as carbon emissions, water quality affected by agriculture, and livestock farming. I also took Terrestrial ecology in which we studied the flora and fauna of New Zealand and also did several studies, writing research papers about our findings. I was a part of the Massey Student Wildlife Club, in which we raised money for conservation organizations and volunteered for things like tree plantings. For my senior capstone, I worked with an ecology professor from Cleveland State University. The project consists of picking study sites in certain Cleveland Metroparks branches and recording the length, weight, sex, and species of salamanders found under cover objects such as logs. Also being recorded is the size and type of trees in the study site to determine if any correlation exists between old-growth and new-growth trees, as well as the species of trees present in the study site. We are also measuring the pH level of many soil samples taken from our various study sites, which I measure in the lab, to examine whether any relationship exists between soil acidity (possibly caused by Amynthus) and salamander abundance. From May-November 2024 and 2025, I worked with the Cleveland Museum of Natural History as a Habitat Restoration Technician at the Mentor Marsh Nature Preserve, removing and managing invasive plant species. During my time there, we released a threatened species of turtles into the marsh and monitored them. We also used Audio recording devices and trail cameras to monitor birds.