As we reckon with the effects of climate change, so too must the other organisms that call Earth home. But what if you couldn’t move away from your dwelling to escape a threat? What if your shelter, your refuge, was a part of your body?

A UC Davis doctoral candidate investigating the hydrochemistry of southern Africa’s largest and most precious freshwater wetland was recently selected as a winner of the National Geographic Society’s 2023 Wayfinder Award. Goabaone Jaqueline Ramatlapeng joins 14 other trailblazers who were selected for their exemplary achievements in exploration through science, education, conservation, technology and storytelling.

Working in the lab of Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences Ryosuke Motani, doctoral candidate Benjamin Faulkner is exploring how plant-eating developed in diapsids, a lineage that includes dinosaurs and modern day lizards, snakes, turtles, birds and crocodilians.