Susanne Marczak ’08 is in her second year as a Research Technician at the San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research, Applied Animal Ecology Division, where she participates in a variety of research projects and assists with the administration of the Cocha Cashu Biological Station in the Peruvian Amazon. Her primary research focus concerns a local western burrowing owl habitat restoration program utilizing California ground squirrels as ecosystem engineers to help restore and maintain grassland environments that serve as habitat for burrowing owls.