I am an experienced educator and researcher working as the Senior Educator at the Bald Head Island Conservancy. I graduated from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington with a B.S. in Environmental Studies and a M.S. in Marine Science. While at UNCW I interned at Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Center and Hospital where I fell in love with sea turtle conservation. I earned my Ph.D. in Marine, Earth and Atmospheric Science from NC State University and completed a postdoctoral research and teaching position in Geoscience Education. I transitioned to Museum of Life and Science in Durham, NC where my work focused on outdoor education, nature play and community science projects focused on nature observations.

I love the outdoors and was fortunate enough to be surrounded by the ocean, marshes, and mountains for the majority of my life. I pivoted from strictly field-based research to educational research and teaching because I realized my passion really lies in science communication and informal education.

I believe Environmental Education is important because it instills a feeling of connectedness to the natural world and to each other. When students can have a 'moment of awe,' like when they see a 300-year-old Live Oak tree or the fall migration of Cloudless Sulfur butterflies across the island, and they share that moment with their peers, it instills a sense of awareness and wonder of how connected we all are and creates better environmental stewards.