Public Outreach
Bird Biology for K-12 students
During my time as a graduate student in Ithaca, NY, I developed a series of lessons for fifth graders at a local elementary school, in collaboration with Jenn Houtz and Rachael Mady. The program, entitled a "Bird's Eye View," included class visits throughout the year for fieldwork demonstrations on school property as well as games and activities designed to teach kids about bird ecology and biodiversity. As part of this program, we had students decorate nest boxes that we then set up adjacent to school property.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, our in-person classes were put on hold, and so we re-designed our lessons to take students on virtual field trips to check on the status of the nest boxes. We wrote about our efforts to move this outreach online in a paper in Ecology and Evolution.
I have also led outreach efforts for a bird biology workshop for Expanding Your Horizons, an event for middle school girls.
Public Lectures and Events
I enjoy engaging with local birding groups and science organizations. I have given public lectures for the Delaware Valley Ornithological Club, Bucks County Birders, Southern Ocean Birding Group, and Long Beach Island Foundation for Arts and Sciences. For several years, I have also organized informational tables for the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Migration Celebration, a day-long event for the public.
Check in for updates on outreach efforts in West Chester, PA, coming soon!
During my time as a graduate student in Ithaca, NY, I developed a series of lessons for fifth graders at a local elementary school, in collaboration with Jenn Houtz and Rachael Mady. The program, entitled a "Bird's Eye View," included class visits throughout the year for fieldwork demonstrations on school property as well as games and activities designed to teach kids about bird ecology and biodiversity. As part of this program, we had students decorate nest boxes that we then set up adjacent to school property.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, our in-person classes were put on hold, and so we re-designed our lessons to take students on virtual field trips to check on the status of the nest boxes. We wrote about our efforts to move this outreach online in a paper in Ecology and Evolution.
I have also led outreach efforts for a bird biology workshop for Expanding Your Horizons, an event for middle school girls.
Public Lectures and Events
I enjoy engaging with local birding groups and science organizations. I have given public lectures for the Delaware Valley Ornithological Club, Bucks County Birders, Southern Ocean Birding Group, and Long Beach Island Foundation for Arts and Sciences. For several years, I have also organized informational tables for the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Migration Celebration, a day-long event for the public.
Check in for updates on outreach efforts in West Chester, PA, coming soon!
De-mystifying research and graduate school for undergraduates
A slide from our DPW workshop
As an undergraduate, I didn't realize that I could pursue a career in ecology until one of my professors structured his course around exploring careers in ecology and evolutionary biology and navigating the graduate school application process. The course was life-changing for me; I always knew I had a passion for birds, but I didn't realize it was possible to pursue avian ecology as a career. Ever since, I have been determined to de-mystify the process of finding research opportunities and applying to graduate school.
For many years, I have been closely involved with Cornell's Diversity Preview Weekend (DPW), a weekend-long workshop designed to inform students from underrepresented backgrounds about the STEM graduate school application process. As part of those efforts, I worked with Kelsey Jensen to design and lead a workshop entitled "Strategic Planning for Graduate School," which helped students decide when they were ready to apply for graduate school and what to do in the meantime.
Cornell's DPW has now been absorbed into a larger program, Consider Cornell, which includes both virtual and in-person programming. Many other STEM graduate departments now offer similar programming. See this link for one tool to find more programs.
For many years, I have been closely involved with Cornell's Diversity Preview Weekend (DPW), a weekend-long workshop designed to inform students from underrepresented backgrounds about the STEM graduate school application process. As part of those efforts, I worked with Kelsey Jensen to design and lead a workshop entitled "Strategic Planning for Graduate School," which helped students decide when they were ready to apply for graduate school and what to do in the meantime.
Cornell's DPW has now been absorbed into a larger program, Consider Cornell, which includes both virtual and in-person programming. Many other STEM graduate departments now offer similar programming. See this link for one tool to find more programs.