The 2025 Alumni Steering Committee (Bri Betke- Collab, Cam De Jesus- Collab, Kianna Dieudonné- UW, and Portia Bharath- UM) has begun meeting and working on our network's pivot! You can learn more about these awesome folks below and check out this blog if you want more background on how we got here. Stay tuned to learn more about how to get involved!
Briana (she/her) participated in the 2015 cohort of the DDCSP Collaborative at the University of Arizona where she received her BS in wildlife conservation and management. She was in the first Alumni Leadership Cohort in 2017 while in graduate school in the EEB program at the University of Texas at Austin. She specializes in the macroecology of diseases of wildlife and human concern. Currently, she is an NSF postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Oklahoma where she uses computational, field, and laboratory approaches to study impacts of anthropogenic change on pathogen transmission and emergence. Briana likes container gardening, cooking, and making specialty coffee.
Cam (they/them)
- My housewives tagline: “Even outside the zoo, they call me a keeper.”
- ❀ Zookeeper since 2023
- ❀ DDCSP UF 2015 cohort
- ❀Participant in 2023 and 2019 DDSCP Homecomings
- ❀ Mentee in ELP’s Emerging Leaders Mentorship Program in 2020
- ❀Participant in ELP’s 2018 Environmental Leadership Retreat
- ❀ Graduated from UF in 2019 with a Bachelor’s degree in Forest Resources and Conservation and a minor in Sustainability
- ❀ Skilled in: animal husbandry, field work, environmental education
- ❀ Passionate about: DDCSP, inspiring stewardship, outreach and education, creating community
- ❀ Loves: crocheting, playing video games, and watching reality TV
- ❀ Fun fact: I have a huge board game obsession with a bunch hidden under my table and in my closet.
- My housewives tagline: “Even outside the zoo, they call me a keeper.”
Kianna (she/they) is a researcher, writer, and community connector who cares deeply about environmental justice, Black futures, and collective care. As part of the alumni steering committee, Kianna is helping shape the next chapter of our network by focusing on sustainability, storytelling, and staying rooted in our shared values. She brings experience in organizing, qualitative research, and holding space for conversations that matter.
Portia is an alum of the DDCSP University of Michigan 2019 cohort. Currently based in Baltimore, Maryland, she attended Prince George's County Community College and graduated from Towson University in 2020. Portia is now a Senior Digital Content Coordinator at the National Wildlife Federation, where she has been since 2021. In her free time, Portia likes to volunteer with local events in the Baltimore and DMV areas, connect with other Black women in the environmental space through Black Girl Environmentalist, and is participating in the alumni network steering committee. Portia likes to read, journal, spend time with friends and family, hike, go to the cinema, take walks, and try new restaurants.