About Me

I am a Secondary School MYP curriculum coordinator and science learning facilitator (the term teacher is so outdated now) specializing in the Life Sciences (Biology and Environmental Science) and I am a wildlife biologist.
I have been an educator in formal secondary institutions since 2001, with over 10 years at international schools in four countries on 4 continents. I am very passionate about helping students become problem-solvers and critical thinkers. I tend to focus more on the development and refining of skills than on content. These kids know how to find 'answers'. I need to help them understand when answers are incomplete, incorrect or wrong for the situation. I love engaging my students in opportunities like #Decarbonize #Decolonize and #EnergyFutures as it makes learning relevant to them.
I studied wild populations of dolphins and manatees for 9 1/2 years in Belize, French Polynesia and Midway Atoll before becoming a teacher. I have continued to consult and perform surveys on the dolphin project in Belize. In addition, I have volunteered at different wildlife rescue centers in the different countries where I was teaching and working.
Currently, I am engaged in a long-term collaborative project with the Ghana Forestry Commission on the photoidentification of African elephants at Mole National Park. We are looking at the social hierarchy and behavior of males in the tourist areas and to look at any negative impacts of tourism on the elephants.
#Decarbonize #Decolonize:
A) What is your vision for a sustainable world?
People need to realize that healthy ecosystems are both medically and economically healthy for humans. I would love to see a reduction of wasteful use of materials and resources.
B) What are you planning to do to make this vision a reality?
First, I am a high school science teacher and I am providing my students with tools and skills to make a positive impact on this planet to ensure a sustainable future. In addition, I am working within the local community at Mole to help them appreciate wildlife and realize how they can benefit from the protection.
#EnergyFutures
I consider myself very privileged. Growing up, the only time I had to worry about a lack of access to energy was during storms when there was a power outage; those lasted maybe a few hours. As an adult, I have lived in many parts of the world, and during periods of my life I have had to find a way to go about my daily routine without access to energy. Sometimes we relied on generator power and had to conserve fuel, or the generator died. More recently, where I live in Ghana and rely primarily on hydroelectric power, we experienced an Energy crisis is the country due to reduced rainfall, and problems with the main hydroelectric dam. We would have power cuts that lasted 25 hours with electricity returning for only 11 before it went off again. I was fortunate because my job provided a generator for power cuts. Many of the middle class or impoverished locals could not afford that. Many foreign businesses left Ghana because of the business they lost or the high expense of having to run a generator. Worse, when the crisis began, the costs of both the generators AND the diesel to operate the generators skyrocketed. I was one of the lucky ones, but if the crisis continued, my employer would not have been able to continue supplying diesel for the generators and I don't know what I would have done.
I would like to see our school, and the world in general, move towards a multi-faceted renewable energy scheme - solar panels, wind turbines, use of kinetic energy ( think of what we could capture from the students on playgrounds and football fields around the world).

• My Interests
  Animal Rights, Climate Change, Education, Environment, Global Citizenship, Global Education, Green Spaces, Informal/Experiential Learning, Sustainable Development