Graduate Profiles

Current and Past Campus-Based

Current

Lara Gaasland-Tatro

Lara hails from Olympia, Washington, and received her B.S. in biology from Grinnell College, where she also studied archeology, art, environmental studies and Africa. She is currently creating a film about Northwest ecosystems, ecological challenges and positive environmental action as her field project. The film does not yet have a title. Lara is also teaching a class on Conservation Photography spring quarter (’06) with Kevin Dixey, another graduate student. She is an avid artist, tech-geek, swordfighter and outdoors enthusiast, who enjoys teaching art, technology, swordplay, biology and anything outdoors.

Past

Jennifer R. Bergman

"I chose Huxley to get my master's degree because of the flexibility of the program and now that I have spent three years working on my degree, I can say that the program has been inspiring and the staff, professors, and students are a great network of support!”

Jennifer moved to Bellingham to live by the coast and study the marine environment.  She originally came from Minnesota, but has lived in Nebraska, Wyoming, and Colorado before moving to the PNW.  Jennifer has been married for five years to a wonderfully supportive man and their first baby Bryn  River was born in April 2006, just days after she completed her field project!  She plans to stay home for a while after the baby is born, but will look for volunteer opportunities to educate community members on local environmental issues/concepts.

Jennifer's field project followed a reconnaissance trip to the Ionian Islands in Greece summer '05 to study the conservation efforts of the Loggerhead Sea Turtles.  Her field project was titled "Cultural sensitivity in conservation efforts: An educational guide for volunteer preparation" and involved also initiating a volunteer network for NGO's in Greece working on sea turtle conservation.

Christine Torrison Mackay

"My work and studies at WWU in the field of environmental education taught me the importance of bringing ideas to life. I felt empowered at Western to reach a goal and was successful. I also gained a strong foundation in experiential learning and the importance of a sense of place. At Crooked Trail I develop programs that help people understand what it means to have community. I hope our clients are inspired to find it at home like they did abroad on our programs."

Chris holds an MA in Natural Science Education from WWU and a BA in Geography and as well as a minor in Biology from UW.  While at WWU Chris' field project was the LEAD Project: Learning Environment Action Discover.  Her love of nature and education is revealed in her career choices. Chris has worked with youth and adults, both in the formal and non-formal educational sector and has taught at all levels of school from elementary through university.  Chris dedicates her life to working and volunteering in environmental education, outdoor recreation, community development and eco-tourism. She co-founded and directed the Bearfoot Backpacker, offering outdoor educational excursions around Washington State. But her love of international travel and her concern about the negative affects of tourism on culture and environment, led her to co-found Crooked Trails in 1998.

Currently Chris serves as the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Crooked Trails; a non–profit community based tour company.  She is responsible for the marketing and business relations of the organization including advertising, accounting, customer relations, program development, creation of seminars, classes and presentations on responsible tourism.

Tammy Leland

For more than 20 years, Tammy Leland has earned a reputation as a passionate traveler.  Wandering over 5 continents she spent her time learning from different cultures and travelers around the world about the positive and negative impacts of tourism. From these travels and her studies she has gleamed important lessons about sustainable tourism and began offering practical guidance as a tourism consultant and environmental educator.

Currently Tammy serves as the Co-Founder and International Program Director for Crooked Trails, a non–profit community based tourism company. She oversees the development of  international programs in Peru, India, Bolivia, Ecuador and Vietnam. Tammy is responsible for guide development and training, development and marketing of university programs, teaching classes on responsible tourism at WWU and offering presentations at Seattle venues.

Prior to starting Crooked Trails, Tammy had a variety of careers all involving education and the environment: She was the owner and guide of an outdoor adventure company in Seattle, a program developer and educator for k-12 schools, a coordinator and teacher for college environmental education, a back country crew leader for restoration and trail work, a geologist in the Olympic National Park and a wilderness guide. She wrote her masters thesis at WWU on the environmental, cultural and economic impacts of travel and developed an industry workshop on responsible travel.

Becca Hatheway

"My studies at WWU provided a foundation of knowledge that I draw upon every day.  At times I am able to explain concepts or organizations to coworkers who haven’t had exposure to them – I feel grateful that I spent two years of my life working with great professors, reading a lot, and experiencing many different science and environmental education programs."

Born and raised in Fairfax, Virginia, Becca attended Colgate University and studied Environmental Studies and Religion. After college, Becca moved to Breckenridge, CO where for three years she taught skiing and ran environmental education/recreation programs at five local elementary schools.  Becca then moved to Bellingham, WA to pursue her M.Ed. in Environmental Education/Science Education at WWU.  While in grad school, Becca was the director of the L.E.A.D. program for one year and joined the advisory board of the Washington Wilderness Coalition’s Wilderness Volunteer Corps in Seattle, WA.  Becca's field project was titled: The Effects of Experiencing Wilderness on Washington Adolescents.  After graduating in 1999, Becca moved back to Colorado to work at the Keystone Science School (KSS) in Keystone, CO.  She taught field-based natural history at KSS for a year, then worked at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science (DMNS) for four years as the Museum Classroom Programs Coordinator and the Teacher Professional Development Coordinator.  During this time, she also led backpacking and wilderness trips with teenagers for seven summers in the Rocky Mountains, Pacific Northwest, and Alaska.

Becca started her current job as an Educational Designer for the GLOBE Program (www.globe.gov) at the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) in Boulder, CO in March 2004.  Becca designs curriculum, develops and facilitates on-line courses in environmental sciences for educators, facilitates teacher and trainer workshops, and manages the development of a project called Elementary GLOBE, which includes K-2 books and activities about the Earth as a system.  Becca also facilitates workshops at various conferences for science teachers, including regional and national NSTA meetings.

Aki Yada

"The graduate work I did has given me more ideas about how I can connect science and environmental education.  In the future I would like to work with other teachers to connect more subjects to create a high school level integrated curriculum."

After spending first 23 years of my life in Tokyo, Japan, I moved to Bozeman, MT to attened Montana State University to study biology.  The beautiful mountains in the Rockies helped me decided my career decision to be an environmental educator.  After graduation, I gained experience in teaching in Southern Colorado and Northern Minnesota.  I joined the environmental education program from the fall of 2003 till the spring of 2005.  Now, I am preparing to be a high school biology teacher to integrate public school science instruction and environmental education.

Environmnetal Education for Ecological Literacy:  Curriculum for Bellingham Middle Schools - integration of Language Arts, Math, Social Studies, Science and Environment.

Currently I am student Teaching at Sehome High School.  I teach 9th grade Environmental Science and 10^th-12^th grade oceanography.  I want to teach at public high school to be able to provide science instruction which is strongly connected to the place based environmental education.