I didn't grow up around the outdoors or around science. Rock climbing in college is what drew me into geology. Since then, I have tried to give young people, especially those from schools and communities with fewer resources, a hands-on way into science that connects to the landscapes around them.

Sierra Nevada Journeys Family STEM Nights (2021–2025)

Working with Sierra Nevada Journeys, a Reno-area nonprofit, I have presented at seven Family STEM Nights at Washoe County public schools. I bring games and hands-on lessons on river discharge, using examples from local rivers, and talk with students and families about science careers.

NevadaTeach classroom lessons (2022–2023)

With undergraduate Dennis Garcia, I designed a hands-on hydrology lesson and co-taught it 12 times in Washoe County middle schools, mostly Title I schools. Keeping 30 seventh graders focused through a set of physical experiments is hard. Seeing students connect the lesson to the rivers in their own town made it worth it.

River Wranglers Snapshot Day (2023–2024)

River Wranglers is a northern Nevada organization that brings water-quality education into schools through field experiences. At its annual Snapshot Day, middle-school students measure water quality at 11 river sites. I helped them take measurements and understand what they mean.

USGS representative, City of Flagstaff K-12 STEM Nights (2018–2019)

I represented the USGS at Flagstaff's STEM Nights, using interactive activities to show students the science happening in their community and the careers behind it.

Kinsey Kids Climbing Club (2012–2015)

I volunteered and helped develope a program with the Flagstaff Climbing Gym and Kinsey Elementary, a Title I school. Students were bused each week to the gym for free, guided climbing sessions, where I taught climbing skills alongside basic geology. I also shared information on nearby outdoor areas they could visit without much cost.

Service to the scientific community

• Peer reviewer for Nature Communications, Geophysical Research Letters, JGR: Earth Surface and Earth Surface Processes and Landforms

• Organizing committee, Northern California & Northern Nevada Geomorphology Symposium, 2025

• Editor-in-Chief, UNR Graduate Program of Hydrologic Sciences Newsletter, 2023–2024

• Session convener, AGU Fall Meeting online poster sessions EP03 and EP04, 2023

• Organizer, AGU EPSP Connects online seminar and professional development series, 2021–2022