Jann Vendetti

I am an Associate Curator in Malacology (Mollusks) and the Twila Bratcher Chair in Malacological Research at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, and an adjunct instructor of biology at Glendale Community College (Glendale, California). My interests are in land snail systematics and their modern and historical biodiversity in Southern California and beyond. I oversee the SLIME (Snails and slugs Living in Metropolitan Environments) project on iNaturalist and use these data to understand ranges of native and introduced species. Along with a staff of collections managers, I oversee the Museum’s malacology collection of nearly 5 million specimens. I am the co-director of the Museum's Urban Nature Research Center, was the PI of an NSF-funded RaMP (Research and Mentoring for Postbaccs), have been an advisor to the Nature Conservancy’s Biodiversity Analysis in Los Angeles (BAILA) project, am a member of the UCLA La Kretz Center Postdoctoral Fellowship Search Committee. I have taught Evolution, Marine Biology, and Intro Biology at Glendale Community College, Cal Poly Pomona, and Cal State Los Angeles. I currently run an internship program jointly between the Natural History Museum of LA County and Glendale Community College. I have a B.A. from Colgate University in Biology and Geology and a Ph.D. in Integrative Biology from the University of California, Berkeley.

September 2025