People

Flappy Bird is an arcade game where you control a likeable bird that has to fly through many obstacles all made up of pipes.

I am a nature lover. I enjoy taking hikes in the mountains and taking in the beauty of the natural world. I am life-long learner across all topics but especially in science-based topics. 

I have always been intrigued by science, especially the outdoors. As an adult, I do lots of gardening. I think learning how to be sustainable is very important. I walk as a form of relaxation/mental health. I try to identify birds, their calls, and nests. I recently have taken an interest in foraging. I find myself asking, what would happen if ....?

I encourage others in my family to reduce, reuse and recycle around our home.

As an educator, I run our school's Environmental Club. I want to pass on my passion to others.

I provide conservation and environmental-themed learning experiences for K-12 students, families, and adults at MSU, W.K. Kellogg Biological Station and serve on the Board of the Michigan Alliance for Environmental and Outdoor Education.

Sydney spent the bulk of her childhood learning and growing under the canopy of the southeastern deciduous forests that make up her home state of Virginia. She earned her B.A. in International Studies with a minor in Environmental Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University. Following her undergraduate schooling, she began working as a youth environmental educator, leading her to eventually pursue her M.A. in the University of Utah's Environmental Humanities Program to study how nature-based programs can better support nature-connections across diverse groups. While in Utah, she also co-founded Camping in Color, an overnight program designed for black youth and their families in the Salt Lake Valley area to enhance a sense of belonging, appreciation, and engagement in the outdoors. She joins the Natural Start Alliance team excited to further her work in making quality early childhood environmental education more accessible to all.

I am an environmental economist and board president of Naturwise Columbus. Naturwise Columbus is a local nonprofit with the vision of nurturing young minds to connect and attune to the natural world around them. Our mission is twofold: providing free and accessible educational resources, while also bringing families closer to local institutions dedicated to the study and preservation of nature. 

I develop educational programming that brings environmental monitoring programs to local communities. Science education allows me to embrace a role that combines making environmental education accessible and connecting educaiton to relevant ecological research efforts. I have had many different roles as before becoming an environmental educator including being a collections assistant for a natural history museum and a field assistant to ornithology researchers.