STEMExplore Virtual Career Connection with a Postharvest Scientist & Agricultural Engineer
Join EarthEcho International for a STEM-tastic conversation about agricultural engineering and postharvest science with Ratna Suthar, Postharvest Scientist and PhD Student at University of Florida in Gainesville, FL. Ratna was born and raised in New Jersey. Growing up she had a love for learning the science behind everyday things including food and medicine. She was studying chemistry as an undergrad at University of South Florida where she got involved in research on food quality and shelf life of fresh produce. According to FAO, by the year 2050 our population is going to reach 9 billion, and we will have to increase food availability to meet the demand. One way is to increase food production but another way by is reducing the amount of food loss/waste. The problem of food loss/waste has only been exacerbated due to COVID. It is imperative that we continue developing technologies to protect our food from going to waste.
STEMExplore Virtual Career Connection with an Environmental Ecologist
Join EarthEcho International for a STEM-tastic conversation about environmental forensics and ecology with Dr. Tiara Moore, Environmental Ecologist and Postdoctoral Scholar at The Nature Conservancy in Seattle, WA. Dr. Moore is currently a postdoctoral scholar at the University of Washington and The Nature Conservancy using soil eDNA to develop a biodiversity census of Ellsworth Forest to compare species diversity across management treatments over the past 10 years.Inside and outside of the lab, Dr. Moore hopes her research in biodiversity will translate to increasing the overall diversity in science. She dedicates her time to mentoring minority women in the lab and in afterschool programs. Founder of A WOC SPACE, Dr. Moore aspires to make a safe and inclusive workplace for all women of color (WOC) through WOCShops and individual personal trainings. To round things off Dr. Moore combines her experiences as a WOC Scientist with her upbeat personality in her Academic Standup Shows, both communicating science and the struggles of being a minority in STEM.
STEMExplore Virtual Career Connection with Minorities in Shark Science (MISS)
Join EarthEcho International for a STEM-tastic conversation about diversity and inclusion in marine science with the founders of Minorities in Shark Science (MISS). MISS seeks to promote diversity and inclusion in shark science and encourage women of color to push through barriers and contribute knowledge in marine science. MISS believes that diversity in scientists creates diversity in thought, which leads to innovation.
STEMExplore Virtual Career Connection with a Conservation Criminologist
Join EarthEcho International for a STEM-tastic conversation about conservation criminology with Aalayna Green, Conservation Criminology Student at Michigan State University. Aalayna Green is pursuing a Bachelor's of Science in Zoology with a focus in Conservation Criminology & Public Policy, and a minor in Women's & Gender Studies at Michigan State University. Aalayna intends on pursuing a graduate degree in global conservation policy and environmental criminology. She has interest in wildlife conservation, indigenous rights, natural resource policy, wildlife crime, feminist political ecology, water sanitation, community conservation and environmental sustainability.
STEMExplore Virtual Career Connection with a Fisheries Biologist
Join EarthEcho International for a STEM-tastic conversation about fisheries biology with Dr. Julie Vecchio, Fisheries Biologist at the University of South Florida in St. Petersburg, FL. Dr. Vecchio is a marine biologist who uses chemistry and genetics to study the movements and diets of fish from the first days and throughout the lifetime.
STEMExplore Virtual Career Connection with a Watershed Biogeochemist
Join EarthEcho International for a STEM-tastic conversation about watershed biogeochemistry with Diana Oviedo Vargas, Watershed Biogeochemist at Stroud Water Research Center in Avondale, PA. Diana's research seeks to improve our knowledge about the elemental cycles in streams, rivers, and estuaries and how they are linked to each other, to the water cycle, and to the terrestrial ecosystem at the surface and the subsurface level. Her expertise includes aquatic ecosystems in temperate and tropical zones and along the full river continuum, from headwaters, to large rivers, to estuaries and the coastal ocean.
Summer Passport to Adventure
EarthEcho’s Passport to Adventure is a self-guided summer activity challenge for students age 8+ designed to connect young environmentalists to conservation and STEM throughout the summer.
EarthEcho Expeditions Virtual Field Trip - Together, We Can: Discovering Biscayne National Park
America's National parks are her crown jewels: Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Yosemite. But did you know that there are over 80 national parks that protect special ocean, coastal and Great Lakes places? The largest of those is South Florida's Biscayne National Park. Join us in meeting some of the park's rangers as they share the ways that the park's four ecosystems fit together, how the park fits in with other protected areas, and how all of us working together can protect our one and only ocean!