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Critical Courses

These courses left the deepest impacts on my education and continue to inform my thoughts, plans, and worldview today.

Each included a final project or paper that helped develop the skills you can see in my resume.

First Year Seminar - Into the Wild

In my first semester at Dickinson, I explored the history of wilderness in America, the founding of the Wilderness Act and its many implications, and above all what draws people to wild places. I made great strides in articulating my thoughts with analytical thinking, discussions, research, and writing abilities.

In 2018, I was recognized as one of the top two writers in my graduating class. My final project “The Decline of the Isle Royale Wolf: An Analysis of the Implications of Reintroduction” was was awarded the First Year Seminar Excellence in Writing Award, for displaying outstanding research and analytical & persuasive writing skills. I presented and defended my paper to a small audience, focused on the ecological relationships between wolves and moose and effective management strategies on Isle Royale National Park.

Reading and discussing about wilderness spurred my interest in land use issues, and led me to pursue stewardship work with pristine lands in southwest Montana in 2019.

Analysis and Management of the Aquatic Environment

I learned about the physical, chemical and biological characteristics of freshwater aquatic ecosystems, as well as complicated human interactions with them. I engaged in many hands-on applications of topics through discussions, laboratory exercises, and field trips across Pennsylvania.

I was a member of a team research project with a focus on community engagement in rural Pennsylvania. Coarse woody debris (CWD) treatments are a burgeoning practice in which trees are intentionally downed into stream channels to alter flow patterns, create backwaters and pools, and change how sediments are deposited in floodplains. Little was known about the impacts of CWD on stream chemistry, however, and my group studied concentrations of different nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorous, and oxygen. We passed along our findings to the PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources for use in future studies and management practices they may develop.

We also created infographics for the public, explaining the practical effects of CWD treatments. Trout streams are a valuable recreational, aesthetic, and ecological resource in the region, and we felt it important that recreators understand the ways that managers can induce structural and chemical changes in public waters.

Politics of Parks

I studied the variegated history of parks and public greenspaces across the United States and the world. I further strengthened my analytical thinking, research, and writing abilities.

In my final paper, I went above and beyond to write a detailed piece on what I called “The Sacrilege of Wilderness: What is the Role of Nature in National Parks?” In it, I examined how flawed conceptions of 'wild' spaces as somehow distinct from humanity has led to ecological conflicts from Wyoming to Switzerland. The very soul of wilderness as we understand it today is representative of a coalescing of natural and human history, of ecology and politics into a single, sharply defined area. We imagine wilderness to be a perfect landscape undefiled by urbanization, extinction, and pollution- yet we draw lines on paper and post signs in forests declaring what is and what is not wild. As distinct as the delineations may appear on a map, political and ecological realities prevent wilderness from functioning effectively as islands in a sea of settlements. Only through stewardship and active management, I argued, can we truly manage 'wild' places to the benefits of humans and ecosystems.

Independent GIS Research

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is a specialized mapping software allowing for advanced integration of spatial and temporal data to be presented in dynamic, interactive maps. GIS is valued in everything from ecology to city planning to national defense. This makes it a highly coveted skill, and soo too are Dickinson's GIS courses immensely popular.

Unfortunately, as a biology major I had scant odds of enrolling due to the demand across other departments. Having a strong interest in both cartography and biogeography, I embarked on learning the software myself.

Over a semester, I utilized interactive modules created by Esri, arguably the leading company in the GIS industry, to teach myself how to effectively use ArcGIS Pro. I learned different coordinate systems, how to display different types of data in two and three dimensions as well as across time periods, run statistical tests, and utilize rasters and LiDAR imagery from real-world sources.

I helped create a digital elevation model (DEM) of a ranch in northwestern Colorado, where my academic advisor had conducted research tracking the movements of prairie rattlesnakes. This led to a unique collaboration the following summer, when I was invited to partake in a new study on rattlesnakes there.

I have continued to utilize GIS in a number of later projects, and the spatial reasoning skills I developed will continue to benefit me in any range of careers.

Semester in Patagonia

In spring 2020, I joined the School for Field Studies in Patagonia, studying ecology, biology, meteorology, geology, volcanology, glaciology, land use, policy enactment, and conservation decision-making.

We took trips across southern Chile and Argentina engaging in field exercises and studies on local ecosystems and people. I was fortunate to walk through temperate rainforests where Native Americans had once thrived; watch guanacos and rheas streak across the dry, rolling pampas; climb volcanos and gauge the multifaceted impacts of their eruptions; scramble across glaciers and gaze upon the largest ice field outside of the poles.

While fieldwork became impossible with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, I was able to develop ecological niche models for several species of Patagonian trees in the face of possible climatic changes.

Although our time in Patagonia was cut short, I gained a great perspective in how local peoples and species face similar natural resource issues in both North and South America - and how we can adopt similar practices to combat them.