We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Thea Kristensen a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Thea, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

My undergraduate students and I recognized that we wanted to welcome the community to be a part of what we were doing, as we sought to learn more about black bears in Massachusetts. We recognized that people often do not feel comfortable engaging with science and therefore wanted to create an inclusive way to involve the community in our work. We saw that involving community members would have the potential to make science more accessible and would engage people in thinking about local wildlife. By doing so, we could also diversify the type and increase the amount of data we were collecting.

To further create opportunities for involvement in science, we structured the program to be intentionally student-driven in many ways, giving undergraduate students autonomy and an opportunity to develop new idea. Therefore, undergraduates have the opportunity to pursue their own directions within the project.

From the project’s inception, we knew that we wanted to include educational outreach. Specifically, undergraduate students in this project partner with local grades 3-12 classroom science teachers, whom we provide with a trail camera so that they and their students can directly gather data for the project. The undergraduates then teach or share relevant lessons for students in these classrooms. In this setting, we seek to foster engagement and competency in science for students, providing them with a way to interact with a locally relevant project.

As a result of this path, we have set our mission as:
Our goal is to build an open, collaborative wildlife monitoring project that engages local community members and answers questions about the changing mammal distribution patterns across Massachusetts. We seek to do so by providing educational information about local wildlife, working with community participants to collect various forms of sightings data, and collaborating with local schools and organizations. We believe that inclusive and effective scientific practice must actively engage with individuals across a diverse range of experiences and perspectives; and our initiative constantly grows and evolves through contributions from all levels of participation in the project.

Thea, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I have always been fascinated by the natural world and throughout my life I have been eager to learn more about wildlife, and biology in general. As time went on, I recognized that human actions could have a negative impact on wildlife species and wanted to work to find ways that would allow us to coexist with wildlife. I discovered that teaching and collecting data to share with wildlife managers and conservationists allows me to pursue that goal. I find such joy in sharing my love of biology with my college students and helping them become excited as they learn more about other organisms. A vital part of teaching for me is creating a welcoming environment that includes and encourages development of all participants as they learn about biology. I also engage students in research on wildlife species, exploring how population sizes and distributions are influenced by human action and land use. Recognizing the importance of involving the community in thinking about their local wildlife species and providing community members with the opportunity to be a part of gathering data became another priority in my work. My students and I thus worked to create a community science program through which community members, including K-12 classrooms at local schools, could participate in our research. I am proud to engage individuals across a diverse range of experiences and perspectives in learning about biology in a variety of ways and seek to foster the growth of those I work with and of the project my students and I have developed.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

We began brainstorming and organizing our community science project in 2019 and thus ended up launching it in 2020. Of course, we did not anticipate starting amidst the Covid-19 pandemic. However, at that time, many people sought refuge in spending time outside and exploring nature. We were fortunate to connect with some of those people and engage them in our project. Additionally, my college students also taught lessons in some grade 3-12 classrooms and had to shift to remote instruction. Providing the grade 3-12 classrooms with trail cameras that allowed them to view wildlife, allowed these students to engage with exploring science in new ways. So, while we started our program at an immensely challenging time, we found ways in which to connect with the community and begin developing our project.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

We have found that working with local media allows us to connect with the community. Both local and statewide outlets have covered our work and these instances lead to greater participation in our community science program. We complement this strategy with maintaining social media, which connects with a different audience.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://massmammals.wordpress.amherst.edu/
• Instagram: massmammalswatch
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/massmammalswatch
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thea-kristensen-2b913051/