2
years of professional experience
Self-taught naturalist with a bachelor’s degree in biology and environmental science. Excellent at plant and animal identification and have utilized those identification skills for various projects, nature education, species surveys, stewardship and ecological restoration, and undergraduate research.
Work History
Center Assistant
5 Months- Maintain the building and grounds of The Discovery Center
- Duties include opening and closing the building, custodial work (sweeping, mopping, trash cleanup and removal), and grounds maintenance work (mowing, weed removal, and evening and leveling parking lot gravel )
Fall Stewardship and Conservation Intern
6 Months- General natural area stewardship, involving learning how to operate electrical equipment, including electric string trimmers for mowing, electric leaf blowers for maintenance of paved paths, and electric chainsaws for cutting logs for debris removal
- Boardwalk construction, involving learning how to use a drill
- Planted native trees and installed caging around trees and hammered stakes into ground to hold cages
- Mechanically removed invasive plants on the grounds and around tree cages using clippers and loppers
- Wrote the narrative for a grant from the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society’s Trees for Watershed Grant Program to plant native coniferous and deciduous trees to create a shelter belt by the headquarters
- Selected native tree/shrub species for shelter belt and quantities of each species
Nature Educator
6 Months- Educated visiting schools and summer camps at the Wissahickon Environmental Center about the plants and animals of Wissahickon Valley Park via guided nature walks, showing and teaching visitors about mammal pelts and bird artifacts, and teaching visitors about macroinvertebrates in the Wissahickon Creek
- Mechanical invasive plant removal done on the grounds of the Wissahickon Environmental Center using loppers and pruners
- Assisted in planting native plants on Wissahickon Environmental Center property grounds
- Collected and removed trash from trails and parking lots
Summer Undergraduate Student Researcher
1 Month- Piloted an undergraduate student research project with a biology professor after receiving the Mary T. Carothers Summer Environmental Studies Scholarship from The Garden Club of America that focused on understanding legume and Brady rhizobium symbiosis
- Found and collected native legume and rhizospheric soil samples with permission at the Huyck Preserve and Biological Station (Rensselaerville, NY), and Albany Pine Bush Preserve (near Albany, NY)
- Excavated legume roots with sterilized shovels and trowels, observed roots under microscope for evidence of nodules, counted the number of nodules, weighed nodule and legume root masses, and measured nodules per gram of root for each sample
- Collected legume and soil samples will be used for future inoculation of Brady rhizobium strain
Education
Bachelor of Science - Biology and Environmental Science
- Major(s): Biology and Environmental Science
- GPA: 3.58, Cum Laude
- Relevant Coursework: Biochemistry, Biostatistics, Calculus I, Earth Materials, Environmental Air Quality, Environmental Chemistry, Evolution & Ecology, Fundamentals of Soil Science, General Chemistry I & II, Intro to Geographic Information Systems, & Organic Chemistry I & II
Skills
Software: ArcGIS
RStudio
InsightMaker
Microsoft Office (Word Document
Excel
& PowerPoint)
Laboratory: Microscope and micro pipetting
Field/Outdoor: Plant and animal identification for species native to eastern North America (excellent at bird identification by sight and sound)
experience using loppers and clippers for invasive plant removal
experience using electric string trimmers for mowing
electric leaf blowers
and electric chainsaws for cutting logs
Office: Grant writing and writing management plans
Timeline
Center Assistant
The Discovery Center
05.2026 - CurrentRead More
Fall Stewardship and Conservation Intern
Pennypack Ecological Restoration Trust
09.2025 - 03.2026Read More
Nature Educator
Philadelphia Parks & Recreation
06.2025 - 12.2025Read More
Summer Undergraduate Student Researcher
La Salle University
06.2024 - 07.2024Read More
La Salle University
Bachelor of Science from Biology and Environmental Science
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