Serena received her undergraduate degree in Environmental and Sustainability Studies from George Mason University, which included a minor in Conservation Biology and numerous internships and research experiences. In 2019, Serena spent a semester at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI) gaining hands-on experience in animal care of endangered ungulates and the reintroduction project for the Scimitar-Horned Oryx. She met Dr. Lucy King at SCBI and became familiar with using bees to deter elephants from crop fields, prompting her to take a beekeeping course. Serena was the the first elephant conservation science intern at White Oak Conservation in Yulee, Florida and prior to entering the graduate program in biology at WKU Serena served as an Animal Welfare Science Intern at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, IL. For her MSc research, Serena will be working on marine mammal conservation and human wildlife interactions in Kachemak Bay, Alaska.