DHL M.S. student Sebastian Summo Elias successfully defended his thesis today with high praise from his committee and other attendees! Sebastian presented on his thesis research titled, “Distribution, Habitat Use, and Conservation Ecology of the Western Ribbonsnake (Thamnophis proximus) in New Mexico,” the culmination of two summers of fieldwork studying this species across the Pecos and Canadian river drainages. His work has helped increase our understanding of this species in New Mexico (the western extent of this species) and provided a lot of great data for land managers and future, follow-up studies. Having passed his defense, he is one step closer to graduation and wrapping things up at ENMU. Additionally, he was also recently awarded a fellowship from the University of Florida to enroll in a Ph.D. program in Fall 2026 studying invasive Burmese Pythons in the Everglades, and we’re all excited to see what all he accomplishes with in that position. Sebastian has been an influential member of the lab, and will always hold the distinction of being the first M.S. graduate from the DHL!

Congratulations again Sebastian, we’re all proud of you!