The University of Arizona
Fish and Wildlife Society
2024-2025 Officer Team.
Welcome to the UA Student Chapters of TWS and AFS! We are here to help; if you have any ideas, suggestions, or questions please don't hesitate to reach out to us!
Learn more about us below!
Ramine Mohebbi
President.
Major: Natural Resources - Wildlife Conservation and Management, Junior
Hello, my name is Ramine Mohebbi (he/him) and I am honored to be the 2024-2025 president of the University of Arizona's student chapter of the Fish and Wildlife Society. I am a member of the Doris Duke Conservation Scholars program which has given me field experience in Arizona, West Virginia, and Florida with a primary focus on snakes. I was the secretary of the club my freshman year and I'm excited to be part of the team once again!
I am from Phoenix, Arizona and I've spent most of my life in the valley. I'm a sucker for the desert and it’s wildlife and spend the majority of my free time outdoors hiking, herping, or taking photos. After my undergrad I plan to study environmental law and use my field and leadership experience to inform my practice as an environmental attorney. I hope to improve the national and global state of the environment and its wildlife through the collaboration of legislation, outreach, and fieldwork!
Eduardo Cota
Secretary.
Major: Natural Resources - Wildlife Conservation and Management, Junior.
Hey Everyone! My name is Eduardo Cota (he/him), most call me Eddie. I am looking forward to the year as secretary and can’t wait to contribute to this club and continue to have great new experiences. I am a lead for a project run by the University of Arizona Fish and Wildlife Research committee.
I was born and mostly raised in Tucson, Arizona. I say mostly because for 4 years of my life from 6th grade to the sophomore year of high school I lived in Alabama. Traveling as much as I have with my family, I have been to multiple national parks and natural preserves across the country seeing native animals, plants and ecosystems across the U.S, my favorite being New Orleans and its swamps. After My undergrad I plan on working with a government or private agency for experience, then plan to buy land to open my own ecotourism business so people can have some of the same experience I’ve had or better witnessing wildlife in its natural habitat with minimal management.
Malachi McCardell
Treasurer.
Major: Natural Resources - Wildlife Conservation and Management, Junior.
Hey all, my name is Malachi McCardell (he/him), and I am a junior at the University of Arizona majoring in Natural Resources with an emphasis in Wildlife Conservation and Management and am extremely passionate about it. I will be the treasurer this year for the University of Arizona’s student chapter of the Fisheries and Wildlife Society. Throughout my life I have loved any opportunity that I’ve had to learn about various factions of the animal kingdom, though herpetology is what I am most knowledgeable and passionate about.
I was born in Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, but I have moved around a lot, including spending 5 years in England. In that time I have had some great experiences in a variety of ecosystems and places, such as having experience in the zoo at Capel Manor College in Enfield (a town in London England). I was able to work with various exotic species from the ring-tailed lemur to an ornate monitor lizard. I have also loved the experiences that I have been allowed to have with this club. From the Bioblitz to the surveys of the Santa Cruz River, I have learned so much about the biodiversity of the ecosystems in Tucson and Pima County in general. I’m glad that I can work with the club and hopefully give members of the club or even those who have a novice interest in the natural world opportunities to experience the incredible wildlife and natural diversity that can be found in Arizona.
Woods Nystedt
Vice President.
Major: Natural Resources - Wildlife Conservation and Management while minoring in Film and Television, Senior
Hi all, my name is Woods (he/him) and I am excited to be the UAFWS Vice President for the 2024-2025 year! I’ve been an active member of UAFWS since my freshman year and am now going into my senior year. This is my second year as an officer for this club, having served as the Secretary from 2023-2024.
I grew up in Flagstaff, Arizona where I developed a strong appreciation for nature and wildlife. During my time at UA, I’ve participated in a variety of projects including stream surveys in the Verde River basin, turtle surveys in the Santa Cruz River, a Chinook Salmon study in Alaska, and wildlife camera monitoring in Tucson. I’ve had the privilege of attending and presenting at multiple professional conferences in Arizona, New Mexico, Washington, and Kentucky. After graduation, I hope to participate in a wide variety of seasonal fieldwork positions, especially in aquatic environments, and gain personal experience in wildlife filmography before attending grad school. I am passionate about using formats such as film to bridge the communication gap between wildlife science and public understanding.
Isabella Erlenbach
Historian.
Major: Natural Resources - Wildlife Conservation and Management while minoring in Entomology, Sophomore.
Hello, thank you for your interest in the Fish and Wildlife Club! I'm Isabella Erlenbach (she/they) and I've been an active member since I first joined UA last year as a freshman. This year I took over the historian position from a good friend of mine that I met through this club. I enjoy bringing people together to work on projects no matter the task because I think every opportunity is one we can learn from. I'm also a big advocate for bugs as I think they could really use some good PR since they're the exoskeleton of our world.
Originally from Yuma, I come from a family with a long history in agriculture and had little exposure to careers in conservation. While this has drastically changed in the time I've spent here in Tucson, I first saw these types of jobs as a viable option from the period I lived in Phoenix. Having spent the year prior to starting college volunteering at a wildlife rehabilitation center in Phoenix where I worked closely with reptiles and all types of birds, I realized the amount of opportunities available within this field. I've also always enjoyed doing fieldwork and manual labor despite the hardships of the Sonoran Desert. I strive to to create positive changes in how we manage our urban and natural landscapes while stressing the importance of public outreach.
Emilio Romero
DEI Chair.
Major: Natural Resources - Conservation Biology, Senior.
Hello, my name is Emilio Romero (he/him) and I am the new DEI chair for this club. I am in charge of making sure this club is as inclusive as possible. Please feel free to reach out to me if you have any suggestions or stories that may help with this. I was born and raised in Tucson Arizona and my ancestors have been here for thousands of years. So this place is important to me and that includes all its wildlife. In order to spread this importance, our education must reach as many people as possible.
I work at the Centennial Hall Theatre but spend most of my time around Tucson documenting wildlife. This means traveling around and taking pictures of every living thing I can find. From birds to fungi, I may not focus on one thing but my pictures have variety. You may find my work under the name Theearthworm at inaturalist.com. Hopefully, I will continue on working with wildlife in the future.