Greetings from Central Texas, where local students call me Dr. Kat! As an Instructional Coach at Out Teach, I collaborate with educators to develop outdoor science learning experiences for their students that are purposeful and inquiry-based. Since joining the team in 2024, I have been excited to bring my skills in place-based learning and environmental education to the program. I am passionate about getting children outside to experience and make sense of the world around them firsthand.
Although I came to education as a second career after earning a BFA in theatre and briefly pursuing life as an actress, once I stepped into the classroom as a student teacher, I never looked back. The classroom became my stage for the next 35 years—first as a teacher in an under-resourced neighborhood in Austin, Texas, and then for 30 years as an intermediate teacher in Central New Jersey. It was during my first year of teaching that I discovered the transformative power of outdoor science education to ignite student curiosity and excitement for learning.
I was hired Thanksgiving week to teach a class of second graders who had already gone through two teachers that fall. As a novice teacher without much classroom management experience, I quickly realized they were determined to drive me off, too. Consequently, I couldn’t have been more surprised to learn that when I took them outside with a magnifying glass and a steno pad to explore a small patch of earth by the playground, the same eight-year-olds who were disengaged in the classroom suddenly came alive with excitement, questions, and predictions.
Looking back over my career, I am most proud of the 25 years I spent at Hillside Intermediate School in Bridgewater, New Jersey, and the schoolyard habitat we created there. Over the years, we transformed six acres of school grounds into an outdoor classroom and wildlife refuge. It became a space consistently used for student learning, community outreach, and as a sanctuary for migrating songbirds and other native wildlife. Our efforts led us to join Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots network in 1995—first as an environmental club and later as a nationally recognized Roots & Shoots School. This program also became the focus of my graduate studies at Montclair State University, where I earned an MA in Environmental Studies, followed by an Ed.D. in Pedagogy.
Since 1993, I have served as a teacher-trainer for PRISM (Professional Resources in Science & Mathematics) at MSU, collaborating with PRISM staff to connect scientists in the field with classrooms throughout the United States. This included interactive video broadcasts from locations such as Panama and Texas.
I am most inspired by nature and find nothing more relaxing—or replenishing—than a long, solitary walk on a forest trail. Since my husband and I returned to Central Texas in recent years, my most treasured moments have been exploring the many trails along the banks of the Bosque and Brazos Rivers. That, and curling up with a good murder mystery and my cats on a rainy afternoon.