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. 



Museum of Southwestern Biology "Specimens Behind the Science" open collections event for the 2023 Evolution Conference. Photo: Kyana Montoya 

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. 

Teaching raptor biologists at Centro de Ornitología y Biodiversidad (CORBIDI) about Giant Hummingbird elevational migration. Photo: Kyana Montoya
Interview with La Hora newspaper about Golden-plumed Parakeet reproductive biology and bird conservation in the southern Andes.
Presenting on Golden-Plumed Parakeet reproductive biology at Nature and Culture International in Loja, Ecuador. Photo: Will Ford
Banner Photo: Chris Witt