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Photo by Sharyn Morrow

SUMMARY

Museums help us make meaning of the greater world by making frames around objects, ideas, and activities. This framing allows us to learn. This learning most excites me when we collaborate to create new knowledge. Because I have one foot in conservation biology and another in art, I am especially interested in bringing together artists, scientists, and the public to generate new, integrative understanding.

GOALS

  • Be part of a team committed to showing interconnections between people and nature
  • Work collaboratively in response to climate change and biodiversity loss
  • Develop interpretation and programs that include, engage, and welcome all audiences
  • Connect people to each other through nature
  • Inspire wonder and curiosity about the natural world​
For an example of what this could look like, see Naturehood.

EDUCATION

  • MS in Conservation Biology, minor in Museum Studies, University of Minnesota, 2018
  • BA in Biology and Fine Art, St. Olaf College, 1999​

EXPERTISE

  • Citizen science​ (participatory science)
  • Science education & outreach​
  • Environmentally-engaged and social art practices

MUSEUM EXPERIENCE & PROJECTS

  • Visitor Experience Associate at the Science Museum of Minnesota, March 2019-present
  • Gallery assistant at the Minnesota State Fair Fine Arts Exhibition, 2018
  • Intern at Bell Museum of Natural History, May-October 2016
    • Communications: Wrote e-announcements and web copy for Mapping Change, a citizen science project
    • Collection Digitization: Photographed over 200 exemplar specimens of bird species occurring in Minnesota
    • Collection Intake: Removed skins of over passerine carcasses, staged for preparation as skeleton specimens
  • Education staff at Walker Art Center, September 2008-November 2014
    • ​Site Moderator for ArtsConnectEd.org
    • Coordinated Community Rental Waiver program

COURSEWORK

University of Minnesota:
  • Museum History & Philosophy (MST 5011): Term paper examined how citizen science participants construct meaning through doing and social interactions, as well as roles museums can play in this
  • Museum Practices (MST 5012): Term paper on environmentally-engaged transformative learning
  • Quest for an Environmental Ethic (EEB 8990): Reviewed literature on childhood development of moral identity as it pertains to the environment, and the importance of safe access to nature
Copyright Abigail Woods Anderson, 2019
Bird favicon by Ho Ching of the Noun Project