coding, programming, and data vis
understandable and approachable instruction in beginner-to-advanced programming
advancing programming in ecology
Though computational techniques are broadly applicable to ecological questions, I have found that data science and ecology are built from fundamentally different skills that are difficult to master within a single program of study. In order to propagate these skills in fellow ecologists, I teach R programming workshops on data manipulation, data visualization, web application development, and statistical modeling.
Since 2020, I have instructed over 40 workshops and courses on computational and programming skills, mostly in the programming language, R. I have instructed scientists from all fields and educational levels at McGill University's Computational & Data Science Institute, to Canadian graduate students through the Quebec Centre for Biodiversity Science and the BIOS2 Program, and have led guest lectures in statistics and data science at McGill University, Western Washington University, and the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology.
I obtained an Instructor Certification in Data and Software Carpentry from The Carpentries in 2024.
outdoor education, ecotourism, & outreach
Promoting interest in natural science through connecting people to the outdoors.
outdoor guiding & ecotourism
I believe one of the most effective ways to engage people with natural science is to help them experience it up close and personal. To do so, I spent three summers guiding 1- to 5-day sea kayak tours in the San Juan Islands, the most beautiful place in the world, and one additional summer as an international guide for a high school conservation biology trip through Thailand. I also worked as the High Adventure Director at a central Texas summer camp, teaching outdoor skills and leading a 5-day kayak trip through the Chihuahuan Desert. From 2017-2020, I was a certified Wilderness First Responder, leaving me with valuable skills in preparedness and leadership that have been helpful in many scientific fieldwork endeavors.
K-12 education
I have a long history of sharing natural science through experiential teaching. I have taught weekly marine ecology lessons to second grade classrooms in Anacortes, WA, run after-school science programs in low-income grade schools in Austin, TX, and instructed outdoor classrooms for coastal ecology field schools in the San Juan Islands. I have worked in education for youth of all ages, from outdoor preschool to high school. In 2013, I founded the Environmental Stewardship Program at a Central Texas summer camp which persists to this day.
In fact, I secured my first ever research-adjacent position— husbandry assistant in an animal behavior lab— thanks, in part, to the skills I gained from my undergraduate weekend job as an animal handler at an educational mobile petting zoo, so I will never understate the validity of nature education as a pathway to a career in scientific research.