Outreach & DEI
Broadening participation & making science accessible
I aim to make science more accessible to diverse audiences through service, teaching, outreach, and museum activities. From 2020-2022, I was Co-President of the University of New Mexico Biology Graduate Student Association, and I currently serve in groups such as Underrepresented Genders in Museum Ornithology (UGiMO) and Cornell University's DEIBJ Fieldwork Safety Working Group. I lead volunteer elementary and middle school museum tours and participate in the Skype-a-Scientist program in both Spanish and English. I am a strong proponent of integrating natural history specimens in research and am a member of the Cornell University Museum of Vertebrates and Research Associate in the Division of Birds at the Museum of Southwestern Biology.
In regions where I do fieldwork, I collaborate with non-governmental organizations (NGOs), such as Centro de Ornitología y Biodiversidad in Peru and the Jocotoco Foundation in Ecuador, and educational institutions like the Fulbright Commission of Ecuador, to mentor students, teach, train volunteers and field assistants, lead nature walks, and collect data for collaborative projects.
I'm also a freelance writer and photographer. My work has appeared in Outside Magazine, The Washington Post, several blogs, North American Birds rare bird articles, and a natural history book.
Popular science writing & photography
What It Takes To See 10,000 Bird Species (Online) & Damn It Feels Good To Be A Lister (May/June Print Issue). 2023. Outside Magazine.
Press: Longreads, Cornellians
Listen to the Audm audio piece here.
How eBird Changed Birding Forever. 2020. Outside Magazine.
Press: New York Times, Longreads, The Morning News
Why don’t birds get chronic mountain sickness? 2019. Student Organization for Latin American Studies (SOLAS) at UNM.
An Ornithologist Reads ‘The Feather Thief’”, with photos. 2018. Outside Magazine.
Photos for “Birder, scuba diver – or both? This biodiverse destination offers the best of both worlds”. 2016. The Washington Post.
Photos for “Wing tips: Bird-watching adventures in the high Andes mountains”. 2015. The Washington Post.
Fieldwork and conservation blog posts, such as Anticipation of first flight, Cerro Tapichalaca, and Mamas, don’t let your babies grow up to be biologists. 2014–2015. For The Birds.
'Pop up' wetlands pop up to aid in bird migration. 2014. Science in the News, Harvard University.
Photo of Panyapedaliodes drymaea. In: Ecología de Mariposas del Ecuador. Silva, X. Imprenta Mariscal: Quito, Ecuador. 2012.
Hanuman's Heart. Blackbird Literary Magazine. Spring 2012, Volume 4, Issue 2.
