Hiya! My name is Sabrina Mortensen and I am currently the Education Intern for this autumn season, working alongside the knowledgeable Emma Hughen, IRWA’s Environmental Educator. I have always held a fascination and reverence for nature, finding great joy in exploring the outdoors since I was a little kid. It started with rocks and logs, as it often does. Pulling them up, turning them over, for that surprise of a lifetime when whatever creepy crawly I disturbed would wiggle away back into the leaf litter. This led me down an artistic path, designing make-believe critters working together or competing in their own ecosystems. I was as enthralled by fantasy as I was science and this led me to my B.F.A for Illustration from Rhode Island School of Design, studying children’s illustration and science communication. I wanted to use stories and my own art to convey deeper scientific concepts in a fun and accessible way. It was important to me that people of all ages be allowed to interact with nature no matter their access to it.
Eventually, I also gave in to my dream of becoming a scientist as well! If I understood better the core mechanisms of nature: physics, chemistry, biology, all of it, then I could better pass on this knowledge. This led to me seeking my B.S. in Biology from Salem State University. This was quite the leap from my freelance career, as someone who struggled with math, I thought that surely would be my downfall. However, do not ever let anyone tell you that you cannot be a scientist! I believe fully that everyone is capable and building that confidence could be key in someone speaking out or making a change. Just like species in an ecosystem, we all can find our niche. Soon I was in mine, nose in a textbook or research catalog. It has been a long curving road to get to where I am, but I feel ever closer to my education outreach goals!
In my first few weeks I have already learned so much about the importance of the watershed and the dependence of this system on man’s constant interaction with the land. I am excited to further my own experiences here at IRWA and hope to see you here on the trails or out for a paddle. Despite how I’ve grown, I am still the girl who loves to peek under rocks for isopods. On the first day, on a trail tour with Emma, we spotted a wasp mantisfly (which is neither mantis nor fly, but certainly looks the part) and oil beetles, a kind of blister beetle that releases caustic hemolymph from its joints to burn would-be predators. So please visit and let us discover the amazing flora and fauna we have here, there is so much diversity to enjoy out in the forest!
