Community Involvement
“I want to live in a society where the currency of exchange is gratitude and the infinitely renewable resource of kindness, which multiplies every time it is shared rather than depreciating with use.”
― Robin Wall Kimmerer, The Serviceberry
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The Wrangell Mountains Field Studies Program is a seven-week interdisciplinary field course in the remote wilderness of Alaska’s Copper Basin. Through land-based pedagogy, students explore relations between human and non-human communities, engaging with glacial systems, geological formations, ecological life, and local narratives. I will be teaching faculty in Summer 2026, specializing in glaciology and cryosphere geophysics. While visiting last summer, I had a chance to meet the cohort and give a presentation about my master’s research. Not only did I fall in love with McCarthy, but I was also inspired to become more involved with the program.
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WISEST is an incredible organization based at the University of Alberta, empowering underrepresented individuals within the sciences and inspiring the next generation of researchers. Since participating in the summer research program in 2019, I have served as an Indigenous Role Model, Activity Leader, and Moderator for various panels and networking events. I interned with WISEST during the final year of my undergrad, supporting programs such as annual conferences and the summer program. I also hosted a small mentorship group with summer students through the alumni matching program and even inspired one to pursue geophysics! See more resources about the activities I developed below.
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Since April 2025, I have served as Treasurer and on the Board of Directors for the Arctic Youth Network, an organization supporting and empowering youth in the Arctic to make change.
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I act as the social media officer and an expedition team member for the Svalbard Expedition part of the Oxford Centennial Arctic Expeditions. In August 2026, our team plans to sail to Kongsfjorden, a fjord on the west coast of the island near Ny-Ålesund, to study freshwater feedbacks with local sea bird populations. I primarily manage the team’s accounts and help support the main organization's Instagram and LinkedIn.
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I am the social media coordinator for the University of Idaho Geo Grad Club. I create promotional materials for club events for the email list and Instagram, support club operations, and share opportunities within the department and on campus.
Mentorship & Scholarship
I hold immense privilege and gratitude for the opportunities I have received; however, I believe my success is most meaningful when shared to inspire and uplift others. I am a mentor and leader within my communities of Moscow, Edmonton, and beyond.
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A network for individuals engaging in Indigenous research methods and a space to empower communities, researchers, and scientists for knowledge sharing and future inspiration.
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Since 2024, I have served as a graduate mentor with the McNair Scholars program at the University of Idaho.
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This year, I joined the Geoscience Education Mentorship and Support (GEMS) program as a graduate mentor, helping undergraduate students navigate graduate school.
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In 2024/25, I volunteered as an educator with a local nature school in Moscow, ID until they experienced budget cuts and closed. I helped lead land-centred activities (including learning about the snow and water cycle!), engage in child-led play (such as weaving a human nest, sliding on the pond, and finding trapped air bubbles in the ice), and help navigate program logistics (conflict resolution, curriculum development, etc.).
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In the 2022/23 academic year, I was an Undergraduate Research Lead with Youreka Edmonton, mentoring two grade 11 girls through a simple statistical research project examining the potential effects of glaciers on global mental health. We placed 3rd regionally and published our work in a student journal.
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I acted as a member of the mission design and outreach teams with AlbertaSAT between 2022-24. They are a student-led CubeSat club currently developing a satellite, designed and constructed by students to image polar regions for snow and ice coverage. I helped formulate the scientific objectives and mission requirements with a strong team. I also developed and led interactive outreach activities for students of all ages to learn about space science and remote sensing exploration.
U of I Vandal Science Day
For the past two years, I have led the Glacier Dynamics table at the University of Idaho Vandal Science Day. An event that attracts hundreds of students and families from the Moscow area to share work done by U of I researchers. We created an interactive activity that replicates glacier flow using slime. This year, we added a broadband seismometer, where students could generate their own seismic signal and connect movement to ice mechanics and hydrology!
WISEST Lab Activities & Classroom Presentations
SET conference (Gr. 10-12): In Fall 2023, I designed an activity for their Indigenous student stream focusing on culturally informed burning practices where students learn about the history of fire management in Alberta to create (and burn) their own landscape. Over the last few years, I have led this activity for over 60 students.
CHOICES conference (Gr. 6): I designed and led activities focusing on geophysics and glaciology since 2022. I have guided over 80 students through making their own seismometers in the context of natural hazards and creating glaciers using slime and fun add-ins to test their flow among different landscapes.
St. John Paul II Presentations (Gr. 3): During my undergraduate degree, I volunteered at my old elementary school, giving annual presentations to grade 3 classes (including to my former grade 2 teacher’s new class <3). Students would learn about the rock cycle as part of the science curriculum, and hearing about geophysics inspired many of them to share their own rock collections with me, becoming curious about where field work and expeditions could take them (and what rocks they could find along the way)!
