Ximena Gil,

Ximena will be investigating land management practices on rangelands within Point Blue Conservation'sRange Monitoring Network. Specifically, she will attempt to understand the potential co-benefits for grassland bird species from Healthy Soils practices by using a newly described "Bird-FriendlinessIndex '' to measure the impact of conservation ranching on grassland birds. This research comes at a time when habitat loss, climate uncertainty, and continuing decline of grassland bird species are accelerating; making it imperativeto find solutions for both ecosystems and the people that rely on them.