Bianca Perla has a B.S. in Earth Systems Biology from Stanford University, an M.S. in Biology and Behavioral Ecology from Northern Arizona University, and a PhD in Ecology from the College of Forest Resources, University of Washington.  Her dissertation work investigated the influence of park and wilderness designations on social and ecological systems.

Bianca has worked as a conservation biologist for Grand Canyon Trust and Grand Canyon Wildlands Council where she conducted research on desert springs and did conservation planning for the Grand Canyon Ecoregion.  She has also worked as a consulting ecologist for Fred Phillips Consulting which specializes in riparian restoration projects, and as a field science instructor for Yosemite Institute. She has taught at various universities, most recently Deep Springs College in California. 

Bianca just finished co-authoring a book involving her master’s research called: Prairie dogs: communication and community in an animal society. It was released by Harvard University Press in the spring of 2009.  Bianca is currently expanding on her odd group of interests and strange career paths by enjoying motherhood, writing a naturalist hiking guide called Family Walks on Vashon, and creating an Ecological Observatory and field science courses for the newly starting Vashon College.