Outreach

I am passionate about community engagement and am committed to sharing conservation knowledge with the public!

As a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Texas, I engage with volunteers and restoration practioners through our state botanical garden, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, and share my restoration-focused research across Texas through public outreach talks for gardeners and landowners. During my PhD at Michigan State University, I earned a certification in community engagement at MSU, served as a Kellogg Biological Station Science Education and Outreach Fellow, and developed interpretation and outreach materials for the Native Gardens at the KBS Bird Sanctuary. I am also a regular contributor to the science outreach website ConservationCorridor.org.

Outreach events to date:

Community Events
2019 – Pollinator Workshop at the KBS Bird Sanctuary “Plants for Pollinators” (Organizer and Presenter)
2019 – Night at the Museum (Impression 5 Science Center) – Habitats and Natural History
2019 – Night at the Museum (MSU Museum) – Habitats and Natural History
2019 – Night at the Museum (Air Zoo Aerospace & Science Museum) – Habitats and Natural History
2019 – KBS Dessert with Discussion – Tabled the event; discussed bee conservation and research
2019 – Darwin Day (MSU Museum) – Historical Collections
2018 – Girls STEM Day (Women in Engineering) – Invasion Meltdown!
2018 – Pollinator Workshop at the KBS Bird Sanctuary (Organizer and Presenter)

Talks to the public
2020 – Native Plant Society of Texas Invited Speaker: “Restoring natural habitat to protect our native pollinators”
2019 – 4H Club Invited Presenter: “Bee conservation across fragmented landscapes”
2019 – Presenter at Michigan Science Teachers Association Conference: “Deliberating Climate Choices” and “An Introduction to Community Engagement: Guidelines for Excellence”
2018 – KBS Bird Sanctuary Native Gardens tours (developed and led tours)
2018 – Presenter at the Kalamazoo Master Gardeners Meeting: “Supporting native pollinators through smarter gardening at the Kellogg Biological Station”

Career Fairs
Check out our career quiz based on real science jobs at the Kellogg Biological Station, Michigan!
2019 – Battle Creek Central High School Career Fair

K-12 Partnership Workshops
Summer 2019 – Speaker – “How to bee a pollen detective”
Spring 2019 – Organizer & Speaker – “Designing classroom experiments with insects”
Fall 2018 – Organizer & Speaker – “Plants and Pollinators: A Bee-utiful relationship!”
Summer 2018 – Speaker – “Pollinators in Native Gardens”
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K-12 Programming & Field Trips

2019 – Macroinvertebrate lesson at the Kellogg Bird Sanctuary – Comstock Middle School STEM tour
2019 – Macroinvertebrate lesson at the Kellogg Bird Sanctuary – Comstock High School
2019 – Agriculture and Ecology Tour – Kellogg Elementary School
2019 – Conservorama at the Kellogg Bird Sanctuary (short Macroinvertebrate lesson)
2019 – Godwin Middle School Day at the Park BioBlitz
2019 – Guest speaker for 3rd and 4th grade classes at Comstock STEM Academy
2019 – Macroinvertebrates and water quality – Kalamazoo Math & Science Center AP Environmental Science
2019 – STEAM day at Gull Lake Middle School: “The Pollinator Game”
2019 – Water Movement in the Long-term Ecological Research Site & Dairy Management – Gull Lake HS Environmental Science
2019 – Pollinator lesson at Heronwood (Kalamazoo Nature Center) – HS
2018 – Stream Leaf Packs & Macroinvertebrate Diversity – Parchment HS Environmental Science
2018 – Be a Botanist: creating a classroom herbarium – Parchment HS Botany
2018 – Ecosystem Services – Kalamazoo Math & Science Center AP Environmental Science
2018 – Aquatic Ecology & Macroinvertebrates – Gull Lake Gateway HS
2018 – Owl Pellets – St. Rose-Hastings ES (3rd-6th grade)
2018 – Bird Adaptations – Galesburg/Augusta ES (5th grade)
2018 – Water Movement in the Long-term Ecological Research Site & Dairy Management – Gull Lake HS Environmental Science

Writing for Conservation Corridor

ConservationCorridor.org is a science outreach website whose goal is to raise awareness about current research and conservation efforts related to habitat corridors and landscape connectivity. I served as a Guest Editor in Fall 2017, and continue to contribute to the website regularly. See my posts below.

twitter: @conservationcorridor

Designing habitats for rapid colonization by wild bees May 2021

Habitat loss and fragmentation disrupt plant-pollinator networks May 2020

On the road again: does transportation infrastructure provide habitat and movement corridors for insects? February 2018

Habitat conservation alone cannot fully protect species from the effects of climate change November 2017

Tracking endangered whale sharks to improve habitat conservation October 2017

Railway lines serve as corridors for pollinators September 2017

What will happen to habitat in a changing climate? September 2017

The role of a biological corridor in maintaining genetic connectivity of fruit bats August 2017