Yani is an associate ecologist with over six years of experience in endangered species management, restoration ecology, habitat connectivity, and environmental permitting. Yani previously worked as a biological compliance monitor on solar development projects in the Antelope Valley preforming pre-construction surveys and relocation projects for desert kit fox and burrowing owls. She holds a Master of Environmental Science and Management (MESM) from the Bren School at the University of California Santa Barbara where she was the project manager for a master’s project that developed a habitat connectivity model for Grauer’s gorillas and provided technical recommends for a wildlife corridor conservation plan in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Throughout her career, Yani has worked on multiple conservation projects focused on species recovery ranging from nest monitoring for peregrine falcons with the Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group to developing stream restoration projects for coho salmon recovery in Lagunitas Creek with the Salmon Protection and Watershed Network. She has also served as a technician with the National Park Service in Pinnacles National Park monitoring the recovery of the California Condor.