ABOUT ME

 
Overview

I delight in good data, beautiful ideas, and gorgeous design. Over the past fifteen years, I have specialized in ocean conservation, science communication, and journalism and social media. In my workshops, coaching, speaking, and writing, I’m focused on - and fascinated by - exploring how ideas flow among people. 

Experience​
The Story Collider
Executive Director 
​2015 - present

 

The Story Collider is a nonprofit organization dedicated to true, personal stories about science. It was founded in 2012, and I was recruited in 2015 to become its first Executive Director. In the past five years, I hired our first four full-time employees, built our team from five to forty producers, expanded our regular shows from two to fourteen cities, and developed our trainings program from the ground up. I joined Story Collider founding member and Artistic Director Erin Barker in co-hosting our weekly podcast in 2019.

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I was on the advisory board of MIT's CommLab from 2015-2017. In 2018, I helped commission and edit the peer-reviewed “Stories from the Frontlines of Conservation” series at PLOS Biology. I am on the organizing committee of the 2019 National Academies of Sciences colloquium on "Advancing the Science and Practice of Science Communication: Misinformation About Science in the Public Sphere", The Aspen Institute's Science & Society Program Advisory Council, and the AAAS Committee on Science and Technology Engagement with the Public. I also am a lecturer at Yale University through the National Neuroscience Curriculum Initiative. 

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COMPASS
Assistant Director of Science Outreach
​2008 - 2015

 

COMPASS is dedicated to helping scientists to better engage in the public discourse about the environment. My work helped researchers build the communication skills, social networks, and knowledge of journalism and policymaking that they need to engage effectively. I specialized in connecting scientists to tradition and social media, and focused on designing and leading communication workshops for faculty across the country.

 

 

SeaWeb
International Coral Program Manager 

​2006 - 2008

 

SeaWeb is an international conservation nonprofit organization that uses social marketing techniques to promote ocean conservation. Highlights included:

  • Working with fashion industry partners including The Tiffany Foundation to launch a consumer campaign for coral conservation, Too Precious to Wear.

  • Proposing a CITES Appendix II listing for pink and red coral and giving supporting science testimony at the CITES 13th Conference of Parties at The Hague.

  • Leading press operations for the 2008 International Coral Reef Symposium, including a journalist fellowship, the pressroom, press briefings, and social events.

 

 

SeaWeb
Asia Pacific Program Associate
​2005 - 2006

 

SeaWeb’s Asia Pacific Program works with communities and scientists in the Pacific Islands to help experts share their knowledge with the local media. My work included:

  • Creating The Sea Series: a Crash Course in Marine Science for Journalists in Suva, Fiji and Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.

  • Building a formal partnership with FLMMA (Fiji Locally Managed Marine Area Network).

Education
Boston University. 

​2002 - 2005

MA in ​Ecology and Evolution 

Advisor: Dr. Gil Rosenthal

 

 

University of Maryland. 

​1998 - 2002

BA in Marine Biology

Advisor: Dr. Ken Paynter