SERVICE AND OUTREACH
Geography Graduate Club: President and Hiring Committee Representative
Served as President to the Geography Graduate Club for three semesters. I lead three catered meetings per semester for students to voice concerns, share opportunities, and plan social events. During this time, I also served as the faculty meeting representative where I shared all graduate concerns with department faculty. I also served as the graduate representative of a tenure-track hiring committee.
Geography Graduate Club: Fundraising Committee
The Geography Graduate Club promotes geography outreach and healthy work-leisure balance. In my first semester in the department, I attended each meeting and encouraged the creation of committees to better delegate tasks for club members. As a member of the fundraising committee, I helped raise $3,000 through a silent auction at the annual Mackay College Banquet.
Chairperson: 2017 Fisheries and Wildlife Graduate Research Symposium
Successfully organized a full-day symposium with 20 graduate oral presentations and an undergraduate poster session. During Fall 2016 and Spring 2017 my co-chair and I led a committee of 20 graduate students to raise over $8,000, solicit 20 faculty judges, and plan an event attended by more than 100 people.
Bill Earl Youth Fishing Program
The Bill Earl Youth Fishing Program aims to engage youth in the fishing hobby and create a new generation of sustainable natural resource users. I volunteered to spend the day teaching over 200 children about fishing and Michigan's aquatic ecosystems. First, we taught children about fishing safety and aquatic invasive species. After, we helped the children learn to cast their rods and bait their hooks. We spent the remaining time fishing with the children at Hawk Island Park. All children were able to take home a full tackle box and a fishing rod.
Importance of Snakes in Nicaragua
This interactive presentation brought the shadowed mystery and fear of snakes into the light. Students in the Miskito village of Kahkabila were afforded the opportunity to safely get up close and personal with a young Nicaraguan Boa. Due to biblical influence, snakes are demonized in local culture as being responsible for the fall of man. My education program highlights the important ecological role that snakes play in pest management for crops and disease. To this date, multiple snakes have been spared as a result.
Darwin Day, MSU Museum
Volunteer with the MSU Herpetology Club to expose school-aged children and their parents to the vast diversity of reptiles and their important ecological roles. This free event often attracts underprivileged children who would otherwise not receive the opportunity for this hands-on experience.