Growing up in central Indiana, I fell in love with the songbirds that call it home. My world changed when I first heard about climate change's impact on my beloved animals—and it changed again when I heard Dr. Jane Goodall speak about how young people could be the solution. In eighth grade, I founded a nonprofit organization, the Carmel Green Teen Micro-Grant Program, to provide other young people in my community with the inspiration, mentorship, and funding they needed to make a positive difference for the environment. The program has now been running for 10 years, funding over 50 youth-led projects involving more than 900 young people. My role in starting and running the program earned me a "30 under 30" spot on the North American Association for Environmental Education's environmental education list in 2016 as well as Jane Goodall's Global Leadership Award in 2011.
Since leaving my Indiana songbirds in 2013, my environmental work has introduced me to endangered prairie dogs in Utah, protected landscapes in Tanzania, zoo creatures in California, venomous mammals in the Dominican Republic, politicians in DC, and high school students in North Carolina.
My interests are similarly wide-ranging. As an undergraduate at Stanford, I studied earth systems with an emphasis on conservation biology. After five years of technical research informing the protection of the endangered Hispaniolan solenodon resulted in a single scientific paper, I felt that I needed to go a step further to make the research impactful. I needed to learn how to translate my science. I pursued a master's degree in environmental communication with an emphasis in education to learn how to tailor environmental messages a variety of audiences, from small children to federal legislators.
After serving as a 2018 Knauss Marine Policy Fellow in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Office of Education in Washington, D.C., I was hired to lead the office's congressional affairs and youth engagement activities (contracted through TechGlobal). As a doctoral student at North Carolina State University, I continued to work part time for NOAA remotely, leading the conceptualization and implementation of a year-long aquarium youth summit program. My dissertation work focused on the impact that high school students can have on their community's environmental literacy.
Now, I lead NOAA's youth engagement efforts, working to incorporate more youth voice into our agency's choices.
Since leaving my Indiana songbirds in 2013, my environmental work has introduced me to endangered prairie dogs in Utah, protected landscapes in Tanzania, zoo creatures in California, venomous mammals in the Dominican Republic, politicians in DC, and high school students in North Carolina.
My interests are similarly wide-ranging. As an undergraduate at Stanford, I studied earth systems with an emphasis on conservation biology. After five years of technical research informing the protection of the endangered Hispaniolan solenodon resulted in a single scientific paper, I felt that I needed to go a step further to make the research impactful. I needed to learn how to translate my science. I pursued a master's degree in environmental communication with an emphasis in education to learn how to tailor environmental messages a variety of audiences, from small children to federal legislators.
After serving as a 2018 Knauss Marine Policy Fellow in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Office of Education in Washington, D.C., I was hired to lead the office's congressional affairs and youth engagement activities (contracted through TechGlobal). As a doctoral student at North Carolina State University, I continued to work part time for NOAA remotely, leading the conceptualization and implementation of a year-long aquarium youth summit program. My dissertation work focused on the impact that high school students can have on their community's environmental literacy.
Now, I lead NOAA's youth engagement efforts, working to incorporate more youth voice into our agency's choices.
