Growing up, Rachael's favorite classes were biology and theater. In high school, a teacher at Neah-Kah-Nie connected her with the Tillamook Estuaries Partnership for an internship. That experience, alongside a childhood spent fishing, propelled her to study marine biology and salmon at OSU through a B.S. in BioResource Research and a B.A. in International Studies. Joining research teams to study dolphins, intertidal biodiversity, and water quality led Rachael to believe that it’s not necessarily more data that we need to understand and protect our oceans, but education and storytelling. Returning to school for an M.S. in Holistic Science at Schumacher College, Rachael focused on experiential learning and ways of knowing. She then went on to pilot community science initiatives like Columbia Riverkeeper’s water quality monitoring program, SOLVE’s Oregon Beach Cleanups and the Wolf OR-7 Expedition, where in 2014 she retraced the dispersal route of a GPS- collared wolf from NE Oregon into California for a documentary film. She also taught outdoor survival skills at summer camps with Trackers Earth and Children of the Earth Foundation. Her favorite part of working with Saturday Academy is supporting both grownups and kids to connect with their own curiosity and the adventures that follow a question. Rachael's curiosity is currently focused on how circadian cycles and ways of knowing impact learning. On weekends, you'll find Rachael beekeeping, tracking with her pup and sketching comics for EarthBound Journal. Rachael speaks conversational Spanish.
Contact Rachael
503.200.5856
email