After spending my formative years just outside of Chicago, I returned to my family's roots in the Pacific Northwest for college and graduate school, separated by a year as an outdoor educator in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California. In the spring of 2008 I received my Master's degree and realized that what I love most about science and biology is teaching those subjects. Happily, I quickly discovered (and was hired by!) Scattergood and soon moved my life back to the Midwest. I was excited to come to Scattergood for many reasons, especially the depth of community - the opportunity to work with and get to know my students and fellow staff members both inside and outside the classroom.