Wild Earth Lab

Hello, I'm Valerie. I'm a scientist and artist in Colorado, USA. In the past few years, I have worked as a scientist in both the field and in the laboratory. I’ve measured the flow of headwater streams, counted new seedlings in beetle-kill forests, evaluated the health of insect communities in a national park, and studied soils following forest fires and chemical spills. As a scientist, I strive to understand our relationship as humans with nature: what we are doing right, what we are doing wrong, and how we can do better. I'm currently a geosciences master's student and I teach introductory geosciences labs, mostly to college freshmen. Although my shop's resources best suited for a younger age group than my students, I am grateful for my teaching experience and the role it has played in my journey to creating learning resources! I also have past experience working with children of a variety of ages, while teaching swim lessons and working at an outdoor adventure summer camp! My goal in creating Wild Earth Lab is to create resources for you, your family, and your students to learn about the Earth and our relationship with it. By combining my background in science with my passions for nature and art, I aim to create unique and beautiful educational resources covering a range of topics related to science, sustainability, and the natural world. I use my colored pencil, pen, and mixed media artwork to create printable diagrams and educational materials to help students notice both the science and natural beauty of the world around them. I hope my resources help make science feel engaging and approachable while also increasing connection to nature.

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I am currently working on my master's degree in geosciences at Colorado State University. My research project is examing the groundwater-surface water interaction in a mountain valley along the Colorado Front Range. I expect to graduate in the spring of 2022. I also completed an undergraduate degree in 2018 at Colorado State University. As an undergraduate, I studied Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology (major) and Mathematical Biology (minor).

Website: WildEarthLab.com