Audubon NM Educator Biographies

Educational Staff

DANA VACKAR STRANG, EDUCATION MANAGER, was an Assistant Field Division Director (and previously the Education Coordinator) for the New Mexico State Land Office and has experience as a manager and educator, with leadership skills and the knowledge necessary to lead, develop and implement statewide education programs emphasizing natural resource conservation and sustainability through hands-on, experiential activities. She is the former President and a current board member of the Environmental Education Association of New Mexico, the former Chair of the Youth Conservation Corps Commission, and is the statewide coordinator, facilitator and teacher trainer for the national curriculum, Leopold Education Project (LEP). Dana's bachelor degree in Political Science with a minor in Environmental Issues is from Colorado College and her master's in Parks and Recreation, with an emphasis in Environmental Education, is from the University of New Mexico. She has experience with and enjoys horses, hiking, rock climbing, snowboarding, and mountain biking.

JEREMY PHILLIP, EDUCATION SPECIALIST, was a 5^th grade science and general teacher at Topeka Collegiate School in Kansas with many years of experience in both the public and private school sector. He has experience working at a nature center outside of Topeka, has worked for the Keystone Science School in Colorado as an Assistant Camp Director, and was the lead Environmental Educator at YMCA's Camp Shady Brook in Colorado. Jeremy has a BA in Environmental Studies from the University of Kansas, a master's degree in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Colorado at Denver, and has been completing courses towards a MBA at Washburn University (which he says he may continue to work on through UNM here). Jeremy also has experience in outdoor leadership and currently has a Wilderness First Responder certification. He also speaks Spanish!

NATALIE GOBER, EDUCATION INTERN, is living on-site at the Center in our “intern house” that we’ve renamed the “cottage”. She moved here from Galveston, Texas just a few weeks ago and she always seems to be smiling! With a background in horticulture and recent teaching experience in art and environmental science, Natalie brings to Audubon her understanding of art and nature education with some event and program coordination. She has led groups in outdoor settings, including bird habitat field trips along coastal Texas and native plant ecology tours at the National Wildflower Research Center near Austin. Natalie has worked at an organic gardening Internet company and made a solo trek through the Pyrenees in France and Spain!

MEREDITH JEFFREYS, EDUCATION INTERN, lives in town with her husband and just started working with us a few days ago. She has been working as a freelance writer and customer service person (some sales and some office work) at Nedra Matteucci Galleries. While in college, Meredith helped to organize and host Texas Tech University’s 2005 Arbor Day Celebration and she participated in the Llano Estacado Audubon Society’s 2nd Annual Prairie Festival. If you get a chance, you should ask her about her final thesis and the amazing place she researched!

7/17/08

	DANA VACKAR STRANG, EDUCATION MANAGER, was an Assistant Field Division Director (and previously the Education Coordinator) for the New Mexico State Land Office and has experience as a manager and educator, with leadership skills and the knowledge necessary to lead, develop and implement statewide education programs emphasizing natural resource conservation and sustainability through hands-on, experiential activities. She is the former President and a current board member of the Environmental Education Association of New Mexico, the former Chair of the Youth Conservation Corps Commission, and is the statewide coordinator, facilitator and teacher trainer for the national curriculum, Leopold Education Project (LEP). Dana's bachelor degree in Political Science with a minor in Environmental Issues is from Colorado College and her master's in Parks and Recreation, with an emphasis in Environmental Education, is from the University of New Mexico. She has experience with and enjoys horses, hiking, rock climbing, snowboarding, and mountain biking.
	JEREMY PHILLIP, EDUCATION SPECIALIST, was a 5^th grade science and general teacher at Topeka Collegiate School in Kansas with many years of experience in both the public and private school sector. He has experience working at a nature center outside of Topeka, has worked for the Keystone Science School in Colorado as an Assistant Camp Director, and was the lead Environmental Educator at YMCA's Camp Shady Brook in Colorado. Jeremy has a BA in Environmental Studies from the University of Kansas, a master's degree in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Colorado at Denver, and has been completing courses towards a MBA at Washburn University (which he says he may continue to work on through UNM here). Jeremy also has experience in outdoor leadership and currently has a Wilderness First Responder certification. He also speaks Spanish!
	NATALIE GOBER, EDUCATION INTERN, is living on-site at the Center in our “intern house” that we’ve renamed the “cottage”. She moved here from Galveston, Texas just a few weeks ago and she always seems to be smiling! With a background in horticulture and recent teaching experience in art and environmental science, Natalie brings to Audubon her understanding of art and nature education with some event and program coordination. She has led groups in outdoor settings, including bird habitat field trips along coastal Texas and native plant ecology tours at the National Wildflower Research Center near Austin. Natalie has worked at an organic gardening Internet company and made a solo trek through the Pyrenees in France and Spain!
	MEREDITH JEFFREYS, EDUCATION INTERN, lives in town with her husband and just started working with us a few days ago. She has been working as a freelance writer and customer service person (some sales and some office work) at Nedra Matteucci Galleries. While in college, Meredith helped to organize and host Texas Tech University’s 2005 Arbor Day Celebration and she participated in the Llano Estacado Audubon Society’s 2nd Annual Prairie Festival. If you get a chance, you should ask her about her final thesis and the amazing place she researched!