About Sarah

I am a Research Associate at Colorado State University's Natural Resource Ecology Lab where I supports the educational research project CarbonTIME as well as the international citizen science platform CitSci.org. My passion for engaging people in science grew from my graduate work studying invasive plants in Florida. It's difficult to tackle a nemesis like invasive plants without the buy-in and help of the community being affected by them. I've been involved in citizen science ever since. My graduate work led to a position as the Citizen Science Director at Beaver Creek Reserve in Wisconsin where I had the honor of working with dozens of citizen science programs from the local to state level. When I relocated to Colorado, I became the Citizen Science Program Manager at the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) and focused my efforts on national citizen science with Project BudBurst and the Citizen Science Academy (both programs are now run by the Chicago Botanic Garden). I also spent a fun few months assisting the SciStarter citizen science platform as Newsletter Editor. Now I work with an amazing team on the CitSci.org platform, where we're always thinking about new ways to foster effective and engaging citizen science.

Website

Education

M.S., Ecology - Florida State University
Tallahassee, FL, 2007

B.S. , Wildlife Management, Biology, Spanish - University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point
Stevens Point, WI, 2004

Awards, Honors, Grants

  • Udall Scholar, 2002
  • Udall Scholar, 2001

Memberships

  • Citizen Science Association