CURRICULUM VITAE
Please email me for the most current version, or for a pdf.
Annie Finneran (Ann E. Finneran)
Graduate Student
[email protected]
www.linkedin.com/in/annie-finneran
ORCID: 0000-0002-0705-711X
EDUCATION
PhD Candidate – Ecology and Evolutionary Biology 2022 - Present
Rice University, Houston, TX USA - Dr. Matthew McCary’s lab
Dr. Lydia Beaudrot’s lab: 2022-2024
Investigating consequences of fragmentation and disturbance on mammal food webs and the role of food webs in nutrient cycling and ecosystem functioning.
Bachelor of Science, Biology; Minor in Conservation Biology June 2021
University of California, Los Angeles, CA USA
Departmental Honors, GPA: 3.83, cum laude, Dean’s List
Study abroad student - University of Auckland - NZ Spring term 2020
COURSEWORK AND RELEVANT EXPERIENCE
Credited: Topics in Ecology | Topics in Evolution | Core Course in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology | Research Seminar | Public Science Communication Seminar | Graduate Teaching in EEB | Note. All coursework for graduation is completed.
Audited: Evolution | Environmental Management | Nature-Based Carbon Sequestration | Network Science and Analytics | Elements of Analysis | Spanish for Intercultural Communication
Field Season in Costa Rica Summer 2023
La Selva Biological Research Station, Heredia Province, Costa Rica
· Led a two-month field season deploying camera traps and acoustic recorders to examine occupancy weighted food webs in old growth. vs secondary growth forest sections
UCLA Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology 2018 - 2022
Los Angeles, CA, USA
Student Researcher and Staff Research Associate in the Grether Lab
Friends of Ballona Wetlands, Marina del Rey, CA, USA 2021 - 2022
Intern
· Collaborated on restoration through non-native plant removal, collection and distribution of native seeds, and vegetation monitoring
· Guided community outreach programs and led educational experiences for grade-school children
Navy Marine Mammal Program, San Diego, CA, USA Summer Term 2019
Student Intern
· Led research project to examine effects of sound temporal structure on dolphin hearing abilities. Conducted daily psychophysical test sessions with dolphins, calibrated underwater sound system, analyzed data, and published results in peer-reviewed journal
UCLA Field Biology Quarter, Manú National Park, Peru Winter Term 2019
Student
· Planned and executed research project to examine effects of anthropogenic noise on bird calling behavior. Collected and analyzed data, submitted research paper describing study results
PUBLICATIONS
Finneran, A. E., Beaudrot, L., Uribe, C.A. “Food network structure varies within and among regions as a function of productivity and anthropogenic pressure”. In prep.
Hung, K.M., Zalles, A.G., Finneran, A. E., Beaudrot, L., Uribe, C.A. “Towards Ecological Network Analysis with Gromov-Wasserstein Distances”. In review at Methods in Ecology and Evolution.
Zalles, A.G., Hung, K.M., Finneran, A. E., Beaudrot, L., and Uribe, C.A. (2024). “An optimal transport approach for network regression,” arXiv preprint arXiv:2406.12204 Accepted IEEE Conference on Control Technology and Applications (CCTA2024).
Hung, K., Zalles, A., Finneran, A. E., Beaudrot, L., and Uribe, C.A. (2024). “Towards Ecological Network Analysis with Gromov-Wasserstein Distances”. ICLR 2024 Workshop on Tackling Climate Change with Machine Learning.
Zalles, A., Hung, K., Finneran, A. E., Beaudrot, L., and Uribe, C.A (2023). Network Regression with Wasserstein Distances. NeurIPS 2023 Workshop on Optimal Transport for Machine Learning.
Grether, G.F., Finneran, A.E. & Drury, J.P. (2023) Niche differentiation, reproductive interference, and range expansion. Ecology Letters, 00, 1–15.
Finneran, A. E., Mulsow, J., & Finneran, J. J. (2020). “Detection of simulated patterned echo packets by bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus)”. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 148(2), 1007–1013.
Drury, J.P., Barnes, M., Finneran, A.E., Harris, M., & Grether, G.F. (2019). “Continent-Scale Phenotype Mapping Using Citizen Scientists’ Photographs.” Ecography 42(8),1436–45.
POSTER PRESENTATIONS
Finneran AE, Beaudrot L, McCary M, Secondary Rainforest Supports Similar Trophic Structures as Primary Rainforest. Yale Chapter of the International Society of Tropical Foresters
Conference. New Haven, CT, USA, January 2025.
Finneran AE, Beaudrot L, McCary M, Secondary Rainforest Supports Similar Trophic Structures as Primary Rainforest. The Wildlife Society Conference. Baltimore, MD, USA, October 2024.
Finneran AE, Beaudrot L, McCary M, Secondary Rainforest Supports Similar Trophic Structures as Primary Rainforest. Student Conference on Conservation Science. New York City, NY, USA, October 2024.
Finneran AE, Beaudrot L, McCary M, Protecting Mammal Diversity as a Nature-Based Solution to Carbon Emissions. Rice Sustainability Institute Chevron Energy Fellows Reception, Houston, TX, USA, September 2024.
Finneran AE, Beaudrot L, Uribe CA, Examining Food Web Network Structure Variation as a Function of Primary Productivity and Fragmentation at Regional and Continental Scales. Houston Regional Ecology and Evolution Symposium, Houston, TX, USA, May 2024. (WINNER: BEST POSTER)
Finneran AE, Beaudrot L, Uribe CA, Examining Food Web Network Structure Variation as a Function of Primary Productivity and Fragmentation at Regional and Continental Scales. NSF Macrosystems Biology Community Virtual Meeting. February 2024.
Finneran AE, Beaudrot L, Uribe CA, Examining Food Web Network Structure Variation as a Function of Primary Productivity and Fragmentation at Regional and Continental Scales. Rice Biosciences Welcome Symposium, Houston, TX, USA, August 2023. (WINNER: BEST POSTER)
Finneran AE, Beaudrot L, Uribe CA, Examining Food Web Network Structure Variation as a Function of Primary Productivity and Fragmentation at Regional and Continental Scales. Ecological Society of America, Portland, OR USA, August 2023.
Finneran AE, Beaudrot L, Uribe CA, Examining Food Web Network Structure Variation as a Function of Primary Productivity and Fragmentation at Regional and Continental Scales. International Congress for Conservation Biology, Kigali, Rwanda, July 2023.
Finneran AE, Baca J, Grether GF, Shier DM, Cowen M, Vaz MC. Call of the wild: The effect of anthropogenic noise on bird vocalizations in a Western Amazon forest. UCLA Undergraduate Poster Day & UCLA EEB Poster Day, Los Angeles, CA, May 2019
GRANTS, HONORS AND FELLOWSHIPS
Expanding Horizons Fellowship: January 2025 ($4000)
Wagoner Foreign Study Scholarship: December 2024 ($5000)
NSF Graduate Research Fellowship: April 2024 ($159,000)
Rice Biosciences Grad Student Travel Award: May 2024 ($300)
Rice Graduate Teaching Award for Student Support: March 2024 ($250)
Lewis & Clark Fund for Exploration and Field Research: May 2023 ($5000)
Rice Biosciences Grad Student Travel Award: May 2023 ($300)
Rice Biosciences Peter Savvas Nelson Award for Community Citizenship: May 2023 ($100)
Expanding Horizons Fellowship: March 2023 ($4000)
NSF Graduate Research Fellowship – Honorable Mention: April 2022
Deans Prize for Excellence in Research: May 2021
Whitcome Undergraduate Summer Research: 2020 ($4000)
Alpha Lambda Delta & Phi Eta Sigma: National Honor Societies for academic excellence
TEACHING & MENTORING
Biosciences 127: Teaching (in) Restoration, Ecology, & Environmental STEM Fall 2024
Graduate Student Mentor
Biosciences 338/538: Analysis and Visualization of Biological Data Spring 2023 & 2024
Teaching Assistant
Research Experience for Teachers (NSF RET) Mentor Summer 2023 & 2024
Caroline Pollan, Rice University, Biosciences Department, Spring 2025
Mallory Tucker, Rice University, Biosciences Department, Fall 2023 & Spring 2024
Meghan Paral, Rice University, Biosciences Department, Spring 2024
Alex Zalles, Rice University, REU Scholar, Summer & Fall 2023, Spring 2024
Kai Hung, Rice University, ECE Department, Spring, Summer & Fall 2023, Spring 2024
Isabella Estes, Rice University, SER Scholar Fall 2022
Foster Graf, Pepperdine University, Chemistry Department, 2022
LEADERSHIP AND SERVICE
Journal of Animal Ecology January 2025
Manuscript Reviewer
International Conference on Learning Representations: Tackling Climate Change with Machine Learning 2024
Program Committee Member
· Reviewed five papers submitted to workshop, aimed to bridge the communities of machine learning and climate change mitigation / adaptation / climate science
Communication Consultant August 2024 - Present
Rice U. Center for Academic & Professional Communication
Weiss School of Natural Sciences Graduate Student Advisory Board Fall 2024 – Present
Delegate for EEB Program
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Graduate Student Association Spring 2023 – Present
Co-President - 2024
Graduate STRIVE at Rice University Spring 2023 – Present
Secretary
Owls Outreach at Rice University Spring 2023/2024/2025
Volunteer
Houston Botanic Garden October 2022 – January 2024
Volunteer
Life Sciences Student Association at UCLA 2021 - 2022
Research Mentor
Special Olympics of Southern California 2018 - 2022
Coach
· Proficient in R, Excel, Collab, and Maxent, Basic Skills in ArcGIS, Python, SQL, Blender, Google Earth Engine, QGIS
· Spanish: Intermediate-Proficient with oral, listening comprehension, reading, and writing.
· Determined, Creative, Attentive, and Passionate
· Wilderness First Aid Certified
MEMBERSHIPS
Ecological Society of America (ESA)
Graduate Women in Science
British Ecological Society
Society for Conservation Biology
HOBBIES
Distance running, hiking through National Parks, wobbling through new yoga poses, conquering technical baking feats, and getting lost in Vonnegut
Graduate Student
[email protected]
www.linkedin.com/in/annie-finneran
ORCID: 0000-0002-0705-711X
EDUCATION
PhD Candidate – Ecology and Evolutionary Biology 2022 - Present
Rice University, Houston, TX USA - Dr. Matthew McCary’s lab
Dr. Lydia Beaudrot’s lab: 2022-2024
Investigating consequences of fragmentation and disturbance on mammal food webs and the role of food webs in nutrient cycling and ecosystem functioning.
Bachelor of Science, Biology; Minor in Conservation Biology June 2021
University of California, Los Angeles, CA USA
Departmental Honors, GPA: 3.83, cum laude, Dean’s List
Study abroad student - University of Auckland - NZ Spring term 2020
COURSEWORK AND RELEVANT EXPERIENCE
Credited: Topics in Ecology | Topics in Evolution | Core Course in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology | Research Seminar | Public Science Communication Seminar | Graduate Teaching in EEB | Note. All coursework for graduation is completed.
Audited: Evolution | Environmental Management | Nature-Based Carbon Sequestration | Network Science and Analytics | Elements of Analysis | Spanish for Intercultural Communication
Field Season in Costa Rica Summer 2023
La Selva Biological Research Station, Heredia Province, Costa Rica
· Led a two-month field season deploying camera traps and acoustic recorders to examine occupancy weighted food webs in old growth. vs secondary growth forest sections
UCLA Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology 2018 - 2022
Los Angeles, CA, USA
Student Researcher and Staff Research Associate in the Grether Lab
- Examined distribution and pigmentation of the damselfly Hetaerina titia through behavioral ecology field experiments in Costa Rica for six weeks, chemical analysis of insect energy stores through Professor David Green’s lab at Pepperdine, and environmental niche modeling
- Selected for position through prestigious NSF REPS (Research Experience for Post-Baccalaureate Students) due to strengths in research proposal and execution
Friends of Ballona Wetlands, Marina del Rey, CA, USA 2021 - 2022
Intern
· Collaborated on restoration through non-native plant removal, collection and distribution of native seeds, and vegetation monitoring
· Guided community outreach programs and led educational experiences for grade-school children
Navy Marine Mammal Program, San Diego, CA, USA Summer Term 2019
Student Intern
· Led research project to examine effects of sound temporal structure on dolphin hearing abilities. Conducted daily psychophysical test sessions with dolphins, calibrated underwater sound system, analyzed data, and published results in peer-reviewed journal
UCLA Field Biology Quarter, Manú National Park, Peru Winter Term 2019
Student
· Planned and executed research project to examine effects of anthropogenic noise on bird calling behavior. Collected and analyzed data, submitted research paper describing study results
PUBLICATIONS
Finneran, A. E., Beaudrot, L., Uribe, C.A. “Food network structure varies within and among regions as a function of productivity and anthropogenic pressure”. In prep.
Hung, K.M., Zalles, A.G., Finneran, A. E., Beaudrot, L., Uribe, C.A. “Towards Ecological Network Analysis with Gromov-Wasserstein Distances”. In review at Methods in Ecology and Evolution.
Zalles, A.G., Hung, K.M., Finneran, A. E., Beaudrot, L., and Uribe, C.A. (2024). “An optimal transport approach for network regression,” arXiv preprint arXiv:2406.12204 Accepted IEEE Conference on Control Technology and Applications (CCTA2024).
Hung, K., Zalles, A., Finneran, A. E., Beaudrot, L., and Uribe, C.A. (2024). “Towards Ecological Network Analysis with Gromov-Wasserstein Distances”. ICLR 2024 Workshop on Tackling Climate Change with Machine Learning.
Zalles, A., Hung, K., Finneran, A. E., Beaudrot, L., and Uribe, C.A (2023). Network Regression with Wasserstein Distances. NeurIPS 2023 Workshop on Optimal Transport for Machine Learning.
Grether, G.F., Finneran, A.E. & Drury, J.P. (2023) Niche differentiation, reproductive interference, and range expansion. Ecology Letters, 00, 1–15.
Finneran, A. E., Mulsow, J., & Finneran, J. J. (2020). “Detection of simulated patterned echo packets by bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus)”. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 148(2), 1007–1013.
Drury, J.P., Barnes, M., Finneran, A.E., Harris, M., & Grether, G.F. (2019). “Continent-Scale Phenotype Mapping Using Citizen Scientists’ Photographs.” Ecography 42(8),1436–45.
POSTER PRESENTATIONS
Finneran AE, Beaudrot L, McCary M, Secondary Rainforest Supports Similar Trophic Structures as Primary Rainforest. Yale Chapter of the International Society of Tropical Foresters
Conference. New Haven, CT, USA, January 2025.
Finneran AE, Beaudrot L, McCary M, Secondary Rainforest Supports Similar Trophic Structures as Primary Rainforest. The Wildlife Society Conference. Baltimore, MD, USA, October 2024.
Finneran AE, Beaudrot L, McCary M, Secondary Rainforest Supports Similar Trophic Structures as Primary Rainforest. Student Conference on Conservation Science. New York City, NY, USA, October 2024.
Finneran AE, Beaudrot L, McCary M, Protecting Mammal Diversity as a Nature-Based Solution to Carbon Emissions. Rice Sustainability Institute Chevron Energy Fellows Reception, Houston, TX, USA, September 2024.
Finneran AE, Beaudrot L, Uribe CA, Examining Food Web Network Structure Variation as a Function of Primary Productivity and Fragmentation at Regional and Continental Scales. Houston Regional Ecology and Evolution Symposium, Houston, TX, USA, May 2024. (WINNER: BEST POSTER)
Finneran AE, Beaudrot L, Uribe CA, Examining Food Web Network Structure Variation as a Function of Primary Productivity and Fragmentation at Regional and Continental Scales. NSF Macrosystems Biology Community Virtual Meeting. February 2024.
Finneran AE, Beaudrot L, Uribe CA, Examining Food Web Network Structure Variation as a Function of Primary Productivity and Fragmentation at Regional and Continental Scales. Rice Biosciences Welcome Symposium, Houston, TX, USA, August 2023. (WINNER: BEST POSTER)
Finneran AE, Beaudrot L, Uribe CA, Examining Food Web Network Structure Variation as a Function of Primary Productivity and Fragmentation at Regional and Continental Scales. Ecological Society of America, Portland, OR USA, August 2023.
Finneran AE, Beaudrot L, Uribe CA, Examining Food Web Network Structure Variation as a Function of Primary Productivity and Fragmentation at Regional and Continental Scales. International Congress for Conservation Biology, Kigali, Rwanda, July 2023.
Finneran AE, Baca J, Grether GF, Shier DM, Cowen M, Vaz MC. Call of the wild: The effect of anthropogenic noise on bird vocalizations in a Western Amazon forest. UCLA Undergraduate Poster Day & UCLA EEB Poster Day, Los Angeles, CA, May 2019
GRANTS, HONORS AND FELLOWSHIPS
Expanding Horizons Fellowship: January 2025 ($4000)
Wagoner Foreign Study Scholarship: December 2024 ($5000)
NSF Graduate Research Fellowship: April 2024 ($159,000)
Rice Biosciences Grad Student Travel Award: May 2024 ($300)
Rice Graduate Teaching Award for Student Support: March 2024 ($250)
Lewis & Clark Fund for Exploration and Field Research: May 2023 ($5000)
Rice Biosciences Grad Student Travel Award: May 2023 ($300)
Rice Biosciences Peter Savvas Nelson Award for Community Citizenship: May 2023 ($100)
Expanding Horizons Fellowship: March 2023 ($4000)
NSF Graduate Research Fellowship – Honorable Mention: April 2022
Deans Prize for Excellence in Research: May 2021
Whitcome Undergraduate Summer Research: 2020 ($4000)
Alpha Lambda Delta & Phi Eta Sigma: National Honor Societies for academic excellence
TEACHING & MENTORING
Biosciences 127: Teaching (in) Restoration, Ecology, & Environmental STEM Fall 2024
Graduate Student Mentor
- This was an academic class and service program that provides Rice undergraduates an opportunity to learn and teach ecological methods to the Houston community
- I taught students methods of camera trapping and acoustic monitoring for biodiversity surveys and conservation
Biosciences 338/538: Analysis and Visualization of Biological Data Spring 2023 & 2024
Teaching Assistant
- Assisted students learning the R programming language for the first time, offering office hours, help sheets, and discussion boards for 32 undergraduate and graduate students. Guest lectured on the topic of R Markdown
Research Experience for Teachers (NSF RET) Mentor Summer 2023 & 2024
- Advised a high school teacher intern through a summer research project, teaching scientific practices, experimental and writing skills, and conducted a lesson for their classroom. Collaborated with the Commissioner’s office on project looking at restored sites in Houston Precinct 1
Caroline Pollan, Rice University, Biosciences Department, Spring 2025
Mallory Tucker, Rice University, Biosciences Department, Fall 2023 & Spring 2024
Meghan Paral, Rice University, Biosciences Department, Spring 2024
Alex Zalles, Rice University, REU Scholar, Summer & Fall 2023, Spring 2024
Kai Hung, Rice University, ECE Department, Spring, Summer & Fall 2023, Spring 2024
Isabella Estes, Rice University, SER Scholar Fall 2022
Foster Graf, Pepperdine University, Chemistry Department, 2022
LEADERSHIP AND SERVICE
Journal of Animal Ecology January 2025
Manuscript Reviewer
International Conference on Learning Representations: Tackling Climate Change with Machine Learning 2024
Program Committee Member
· Reviewed five papers submitted to workshop, aimed to bridge the communities of machine learning and climate change mitigation / adaptation / climate science
Communication Consultant August 2024 - Present
Rice U. Center for Academic & Professional Communication
- Developed and provided feedback on written and oral communication materials for undergraduate and graduate students
Weiss School of Natural Sciences Graduate Student Advisory Board Fall 2024 – Present
Delegate for EEB Program
- Provided guidance to the Dean on pressing graduate student issues along with other students from each research-active department
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Graduate Student Association Spring 2023 – Present
Co-President - 2024
- Advocated for student needs in the department, organized professional development opportunities, and planned all departmental recruitment activities. Engaged in monthly meetings with first year-students to support their graduate school experience
- Documented minutes for GSA meetings and coordinated finances for event planning
Graduate STRIVE at Rice University Spring 2023 – Present
Secretary
- Provide support and education to address domestic and sexual violence on campus
Owls Outreach at Rice University Spring 2023/2024/2025
Volunteer
- Planned lessons and activities for science communication with elementary and high-school aged students
Houston Botanic Garden October 2022 – January 2024
Volunteer
- Engaged in both hands-on horticulture work, as well as community events and education
Life Sciences Student Association at UCLA 2021 - 2022
Research Mentor
- Mentored three undergraduate life science major UCLA students, offering guidance on finding labs to work in, talking with professors, and advocating for their own research ideas as well as provided a safe space for students to discuss challenges of research
Special Olympics of Southern California 2018 - 2022
Coach
- Led 60 athletes on and off the sporting fields, offering companionship, acceptance, and enthusiasm during every interaction
- Spearheaded liability and accountability team to organize database of pertinent medical information for all athletes
· Proficient in R, Excel, Collab, and Maxent, Basic Skills in ArcGIS, Python, SQL, Blender, Google Earth Engine, QGIS
· Spanish: Intermediate-Proficient with oral, listening comprehension, reading, and writing.
· Determined, Creative, Attentive, and Passionate
· Wilderness First Aid Certified
MEMBERSHIPS
Ecological Society of America (ESA)
Graduate Women in Science
British Ecological Society
Society for Conservation Biology
HOBBIES
Distance running, hiking through National Parks, wobbling through new yoga poses, conquering technical baking feats, and getting lost in Vonnegut
