I met a staff member who actually used to work with Dian Fossey! He told me about a conservation biology program at Columbia University. They had scholarships for teachers to help cover costs. It was in that certificate program that I learned about citizen science.
Let me share a bit more about about my area of study. I have a degree in biology and attended a certificate program in conservation biology at Columbia University. I chose to do both of these because I love learning and wanted to make a positive impact on the world. As a citizen scientist, I have the opportunity to contribute to scientific research and then share my experience with my students. Being a citizen scientist allows me to combine my passions of being an educator and exploring the world. I like to remind my students that if you work hard you can achieve anything!
If I could go back and tell the younger version of me about the things that I’ve done now, she wouldn’t believe it! My very first expedition was studying the ecology of grey whales in British Columbia. Now I know what a whale’s breath smells like! A grant made my participation in that project possible. Many other grants afforded me the opportunity to contribute to studies about elephants in South Africa, wildlife habitats in Kenya and climate change in the Pyrenees mountains in France. I have also traveled to India, Brazil, Costa Rica and Borneo for different projects. Quite a few of the research teams that I have worked with were mostly women.
In 2013, I volunteered for a study investigating threats to chimpanzees in Uganda at the Budongo Conservation Field Station. After that study, I trekked to see mountain gorillas.
