Teaching overview
I am a passionate science educator dedicated to engaging both academic and public audiences. I’ve been sharing my love of nature for as long as I can remember, leading guided hikes since my early teens. I’m an alumnus of the Natural History Education program in Algonquin Provincial Park, where I worked for four seasons as a Park Naturalist. As an academic science communicator, I draw deeply on my background in nature interpretation. I take pride in my ability to make complex scientific theory, methods, and applications accessible and engaging — without losing sight of the fine details that bring the bigger picture into focus.
Academic teaching and mentorship
Teaching assistant contracts
ENVS 503/603: Graduate Research Colloquium, University of Victoria (2023-2024)
ENVS 341: Past, Present and Future Ecologies [Restoration Ecology], University of Victoria (2023)
BIOL 306: Animal Ecology, University of British Columbia - Okanagan (2021)*
BIOL 308: Population Biology, University of British Columbia - Okanagan (2020)*
*Recipient of the 2021 Department of Biology Teaching Assistant Award for Excellence in Teaching
Exam marking contracts
ENVS 341: Past, Present and Future Ecologies [Restoration Ecology], University of Victoria (2023)
Mentorship
Early Career Researcher publication mentor | Natural History Notes | University of Victoria (September 2023 - present)
Publication mentor for an undergraduate student writing the Riccia nigrella entry in Ellis et al. (2025) New national and regional bryophyte records, 80. See “Refereed publications” in Research & Publications.
Publication mentor for an early career researcher writing “Range extension of a recently described bumblebee: first provincial record of Bombus kluanensis (Hymenoptera: Apidae) for British Columbia.” Manuscript in preparation for submission to Journal of the Entomological Society of British Columbia.
Publication mentor for an early career researcher writing “First British Columbia record of the larger pygmy mole grasshopper Neotridactylus apicialis (Say) (Orthoptera: Caelifera, Tridactylidae).” Manuscript in preparation for submission to Specimen.
Undergraduate research project mentor | University of British Columbia (2021-2022)
Assisted in the conception of research goals, development of field and statistical methods, and major manuscript edits for an undergraduate Honours research project Mancera Barreto et al “Phenology and life history of two reunited weevil biocontrol agents (Coleoptera: Curculionidae).” Manuscript accepted by Canadian Entomologist (June 2025).
Assisted in the conception of research goals, development of laboratory methodology, and data analysis for an undergraduate directed studies research project investigating the non-consumptive effects of parasitoid presence on oviposition of target and non-target Drosophilia for biological control.
Selected non-academic science communication
Naturalist Guide – Worldwide Quest Nature Tours, Greenland and the Canadian Arctic (2019)
Seasonal Park Naturalist – Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario (2015-2018)
Naturalist Intern – Monteverde Butterfly Garden, Costa Rica (2014)