Last summer, on a misty morning in Pacifica, Eliza ’26 was following the nose of a specially trained Belgian Malinois in pursuit of mountain lion scat. As an intern for the Bay Area Puma Project, she spent the day hiking 11 miles alongside two doctoral researchers and their conservation canine, collecting scat to test for traces of rodenticide. A positive result would mean that local mountain lions were being inadvertently poisoned by humans attempting to control their prey.

The mission was part of Eliza’s Social Entrepreneurship in Action (SEIA) grant project, a summer opportunity for Menlo students focused on developing and implementing solutions to social, cultural, or environmental issues. When she first applied for the grant last year, she knew she wanted to focus on puma conservation, proposing a network of wildlife cameras to monitor the distribution of local mountain lion populations. 

Peaceful Coexistence

“My camera traps renewed my faith in coexistence,” she said, noting that—within one day—her footage would capture a hiker, a biker, a mountain lion, a bobcat, an owl, a grey fox, and a skunk, all on the same trail. “It’s inspiring to see that humans and mountain lions can share the same space,” she added.

Combing through thousands of photos every time she checks the cameras, Eliza noticed something else of note. Her footage only ever showed mountain lions after dark, which is unusual since the species is typically crepuscular. She believes that because of the considerable traffic in the parks, the mountain lions have shifted their schedule to avoid human confrontation.

Her research was fascinating, and once she learned about the concept of poisoned predators as an unintended threat to her favorite animal, her instincts to protect them grew even stronger. She also realized how much she loved the hands-on experience of wildlife conservation, and decided to take advantage of Menlo’s Interdisciplinary and Personalized (IP) Scholars Program to pursue her work further. The IP Program offers students the opportunity for in-depth exploration of a subject of their choosing, assisted by a faculty member, and culminating in a final presentation to the Menlo community at the end of the semester. 

A Passion for Pumas

Eliza’s IP Project has allowed her to continue to raise awareness about the risks of rat poison to pets, people, and predators through a multipronged wildlife protection campaign. To be able to pursue her passion for pumas while earning high school credits is a dream come true for Eliza. In 2023, she founded a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization called Puma Potions, selling handmade soaps at farmers’ markets to raise money for mountain lion conservation and research. As important as her sales are the dozens of like-minded citizens that she interacts with at every market, educating and advocating for the Bay Area’s big cats.

Eliza has also spearheaded an initiative convincing Menlo to replace rodenticides with a wildlife-friendly rodent fertility reduction solution. She has negotiated with local hardware stores to get rat poison off the shelves, successfully removing hundreds of dollars worth of toxic products from circulation. So far, two stores have vowed to stop selling it, with two more headed in a similar direction. 

Walking into a store, having a conversation about rodenticides, and leaving with all of the remaining stock and a promise that no more would be sold has been one of the highlights of her IP experience. The idea of sharing her concerns about a product with a store manager would have never occurred to her before. “Over the course of this semester, I’ve learned how to make the change I want to see on issues that matter to me,” she reflects. 

The Benefits of Barn Owls

According to a 2023 study from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, 88% of raptors test positive for rodenticide exposure. While caring for injured owls at a center for rehabilitated wildlife, Eliza began to consider how rat-eating predators like owls could serve as a natural alternative to the rodenticides. 

Healthy barn owls provide remarkably effective pest control. Eliza decided to use the wordworking skills she honed in her Menlo Mechanical Engineering class, combined with detailed instructions from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology to hand-craft two barn owl nesting boxes in Whitaker Lab to encourage the birds’ successful reproduction. “It was a wonderful way to connect my passion for working with my hands with a desire to do good for the natural world,” she said. 

Inspiring Others

Motivated to share the richness of her experience while expanding its impact, Eliza asked Community Engagement Coordinator Ava Petrash to offer Community Engagement credits to students willing to help out. She’s now mentoring five students, ranging from first-time drill-users to seasoned woodworkers, crafting six owl boxes to donate to Menlo and neighboring towns. 

You may find Eliza spreading the word at various community conservation events. She showcased her owl box and Poisoned Predators poster at both the Upper and Middle School Solutions Fairs during Menlo’s EcoAct Week. To make the experience more interactive, she created a biosimulation game where students selected an owl sticker and then chose three rat tokens as prey, flipping them over to see if they had been poisoned. “It’s hard because the predators don’t know what’s poisoned until they’ve already eaten it,” Eliza explains to a 6th grader. “So the best way to keep our predators safe is to just not use any form of rat poison.”

Lasting Change

Beyond the scope of this project, Eliza hopes to prompt people to reexamine how their lifestyles affect their non-human neighbors, understanding that the first step to coexistence is awareness. She plans to study conservation biology in college, applying the lessons learned through the SEIA grant and IP program to inspire future environmental activism. “One day, instead of talking about rat poison to the manager of Ace Hardware, I’d like to be advising politicians on what legislation we can use to regulate the amount of toxins permeating into our ecosystems,” she says. “Menlo allowed me to explore my passion for wildlife conservation and understand what a future in environmental advocacy could look like.”