Elaine Evans is a University of Minnesota Extension Educator and Bee Researcher working on pollinator education and bee conservation research. She completed her M.S. and Ph.D. in Entomology at the University of Minnesota studying native bee conservation, pollination, and management. She has authored several books including: “Befriending Bumble Bees: A Guide to Raising Local Bumble Bees” and “Managing Alternative Pollinators.” Elaine was an instructor for Driven to Discover Citizen Science: Pollinators and has led the UMN Pollinator Ambassadors for Gardens project, enhancing outreach capacity for pollinator education by training pollinator educators and creating Pollinator Education Toolkits to provide pollinator education and habitat improvement tools to greater Minnesota and beyond.
Rob Blair is an ornithologist, conservation biologist, urban ecologist, wildlife biologist, citizen scientist, and environmental educator. He and his students study how human-dominated landscapes affect native birds including hornbills in the agricultural landscapes of Thailand, turkeys in suburban Saint Paul, and ovenbirds in northern Wisconsin. Currently, he is focusing on bird-building collisions in downtown Saint Paul and Minneapolis. Rob has devoted his career to helping educators use the outdoors in their science teaching. He developed the Minnesota Master Naturalist program, which trains adults to volunteer at nature centers, parks, and refuges. He has helped develop the Driven to Discover citizen science outreach programs for both informal and formal educators.
Lisa Curtis taught middle school life and earth science for 20 years, and loved taking her students outside to investigate nature! She also advised teacher candidates at Bradley University in Peoria, IL. Organizing ecology programs for teachers and their students to instill a love and appreciation for the environment is Lisa's current focus. In addition to Pollinators in the Science Classroom,, she has been the program coordinator for Driven to Discover: Citizen Science, Pollinator Ambassadors, Outdoor Investigations in the STEM Classroom, Migratory & Urban Institute, North American Monarch Institute, and Advanced Schoolyard Ecology Explorations.
Jennifer Schultz has worked with middle school and high school students in both the formal and informal settings as a classroom teacher and as an outreach coordinator for Minnesota Zoo afterschool programming. She also engaged citizen scientist volunteers in emerald ash borer detection with the Wasp Watchers program through the University of Minnesota’s Entomology department. She has worked on other U of MN science teacher professional development workshops focused on raptors and birds. She is thrilled to return her focus to insects through the Pollinators in the Science Classroom workshop. Through PSC, she is excited to use the amazing world of pollinating insects, to expose learners of all backgrounds and ages to the beauty and intricacies of nature while teaching valuable critical thinking skills.
Ian Lane works as a post-doctoral researcher in the Cariveau Native Bee Lab. He holds a M.S. and Ph.D. in Entomology from the University of Minnesota. Ian’s work is focused on examining the drivers of native bee communities in restored prairies, and how processes such as fragmentation and biotic homogenization may limit our restoration and conservation outcomes. Ian is also focused on rare bee species and understanding the factors that may limit our ability to effectively conserve them, such as habitat and floral host specializations. His ambitions are to work with federal, state, and local partners to use restoration ecology to effectively target and conserve at-risk bee species.
Katie-Lyn Bunney is the Education Coordinator for Monarch Joint Venture. Katie-Lyn coordinates MJV’s education and outreach programs, which include professional development programs for teachers and educators, local programming, and public courses both virtual and in-person. She also works to connect partners and the public to the resources they need for monarch conservation and education. Previous to MJV, Katie-Lyn worked as an informal educator at museums, zoos, nature centers and park systems where she led and coordinated summer camps, field trips, and outdoor education programs for all ages. Most recently she held the position of Education Program Coordinator for the former Monarch Lab, from which many of MJV’s education programs stem.
Randy Hedlund is a High School Science teacher at South High School in Minneapolis. He is an instructor for the University of Minneasota’s Physics by Inquiry as part of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction. He also teaches Biology and General Physics. Randy is interested in integrating environmental concepts into the physics curriculum to broaden scope and make concepts more relevant to students. Prior to teaching in Minneapolis for 19 years, he started out teaching at the Bell Museum and Working in the Department of Entomology.
Jolanda Dranchak is a curriculum integration specialist at an arts middle school and pollinator enthusiast. She believes that connecting life science with art allows students (and teachers) to engage with flora and fauna more intimately and see their beauty in a very different way.
She is a proud graduate of the Driven to Discover Citizen Science: Pollinators program. As an outcome of this program, not only did she coordinate the building of a school garden to engage life science students in outdoor learning, but she also has been converting her own backyard into a pollinator-friendly prairie.
Katrina Liberman is an undergraduate student at the University of Minnesota, majoring in Environmental Science, Policy, and Management on the Environmental Science track and minoring in Spanish Studies. She is the Ecology Outreach Programs Intern, providing program support for the Ecology Science Fair, Migratory & Urban Bird Institute, and Pollinators in the Science Classroom programs. In her free time, she loves traveling, cooking, taking care of her houseplants, and watching movies. Following graduation, she plans to continue her studies with a masters degree in Environmental Management with the goal of pursuing a career in solar energy development.