Introduction
Hello! My name is Ayla Fudala and I am a 24-year-old American graduate student at the University of Glasgow. I am currently working towards a Master of Letters in the Environment, Culture, and Communication program at the School of Interdisciplinary Studies.
This ePortfolio has been created to fulfill a requirement of my work placement, the final stage of my Masters program. The purpose of the work placement is to test the knowledge and skills gained during the graduate coursework in a professional setting. I chose to complete a work placement rather than a dissertation because the placment provides the opportunity to gain industry insight and experience, integrate theory and practice, and implement analytical skills, communications skills, and reflective learning. To read about my placement, please go to the Menu button and click "Placement".
For my work placement, I worked full time as a Summer Science School Instructor at the Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve or WBNERR, from June to August 2018. I chose this placement because it allowed me to work in the field I am most passionate about, environmental education, and because it allowed me to write my own curriculum, into which I integrated creative activities such as writing and art. I was able to pursue my interest in creative methods of environmental education, and to complete research on my students to determine their reactions to the integration of the humanities into the sciences within the sphere of education.
This ePortfolio describes the impact my placement experience has had on my professional competency and development of valuable skills, and details how I utilized the knowledge and skills I gained from my coursework in a professional capacity. It also gives a brief overview of my research project, "Creative Methods of Affective Environmental Education."
This ePortfolio has been created to fulfill a requirement of my work placement, the final stage of my Masters program. The purpose of the work placement is to test the knowledge and skills gained during the graduate coursework in a professional setting. I chose to complete a work placement rather than a dissertation because the placment provides the opportunity to gain industry insight and experience, integrate theory and practice, and implement analytical skills, communications skills, and reflective learning. To read about my placement, please go to the Menu button and click "Placement".
For my work placement, I worked full time as a Summer Science School Instructor at the Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve or WBNERR, from June to August 2018. I chose this placement because it allowed me to work in the field I am most passionate about, environmental education, and because it allowed me to write my own curriculum, into which I integrated creative activities such as writing and art. I was able to pursue my interest in creative methods of environmental education, and to complete research on my students to determine their reactions to the integration of the humanities into the sciences within the sphere of education.
This ePortfolio describes the impact my placement experience has had on my professional competency and development of valuable skills, and details how I utilized the knowledge and skills I gained from my coursework in a professional capacity. It also gives a brief overview of my research project, "Creative Methods of Affective Environmental Education."
Professional summary
academic background
I attended high school at Falmouth Academy, in Falmouth, MA, graduating in 2012. As a high school student, I took a strong interest in creative writing, art, and science. I took 6 years of film photography and creative writing classes, won a number of prizes for my art and writing, and started a literary and arts magazine for local teens. My sophomore and junior years, I worked with a scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution on a science fair project titled "Climate Change in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans", which won first place at the school Science Fair and 2nd place at the MIT State Science Fair. I was also a named a National Merit Scholar, due to receiving perfect scores on my Reading and Writing SATs.
I received my Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, PA, graduating magna cum laude in 2016. I double-majored in Environmental Studies and English. While at Penn I was a member of the University Scholars program, for which I was assigned a scientist mentor and given the guidance and funds to join a research project on micro-climatology in the Peruvian Amazon. I was also a member of the Penn Program for the Environmental Humanities, where I first discovered that I could combine my interests in writing, art, and the environment. Through this program I took a course on the Environmental Humanities, assisted with an eco-art piece, a sustainable floating home titled 'Wetland', by the artist Mary Mattingly, and completed my own creative project making eco-feminist artwork and poetry. For my senior Environmental Studies thesis, I traveled to Hong Kong, where I worked on an organic farm and surveyed organic farmers for a project titled "Social and Economic Drivers of the Organic Farming Movement in Hong Kong". A summary of my research project can be read here.
In September 2017, I started graduate school at the University of Glasgow's School of Interdisciplinary Studies, in Dumfries, Scotland. I am currently working towards a Master of Letters in Environment, Culture, and Communication. While at the University of Glasgow, I was able to pursue my interests in the Environmental Humanities much farther, taking courses on Environmental Literature, Ethics, Technology, and Communication.
In the future I hope to continue my work in the environmental humanities, with a particular focus in creative methods of environmental education.
In September 2017, I started graduate school at the University of Glasgow's School of Interdisciplinary Studies, in Dumfries, Scotland. I am currently working towards a Master of Letters in Environment, Culture, and Communication. While at the University of Glasgow, I was able to pursue my interests in the Environmental Humanities much farther, taking courses on Environmental Literature, Ethics, Technology, and Communication.
In the future I hope to continue my work in the environmental humanities, with a particular focus in creative methods of environmental education.
Work-related skills and experiences
In my career so far, I have worked in government environmental departments, university arts organizations, environmental nonprofits, writing centers, university research projects, environmental research reserves, and summer camps.
My first position was as a Program Assistant and Archivist at the University of Pennsylvania's Kelly Writers House, where I worked from 2012 to 2016. The Writers House offers free public programs involving visiting authors and artists, open mic nights, and a variety of literature-themed events. My job was to help set up and run these programs, as well as to photograph them and to archive those photos. From my time at the Writers House, I learned much about literature and authorship, and gained experience in organizing, running, and documenting events.
My first governmental position was in the summer of 2013, when I worked as a Laboratory Technician at the US Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. I traveled across Massachusetts trapping invasive insect species, examining the contents of the traps, and working in a research laboratory. My other governmental position was at the Environmental Protection Agency in Washington DC, where I interned in the Regulatory Review department, during the summer of 2016. There I reviewed past regulations which had been passed through the Small Business Advisory Panel to determine what percent of the small business owners' suggestions had been implemented.
My first position was as a Program Assistant and Archivist at the University of Pennsylvania's Kelly Writers House, where I worked from 2012 to 2016. The Writers House offers free public programs involving visiting authors and artists, open mic nights, and a variety of literature-themed events. My job was to help set up and run these programs, as well as to photograph them and to archive those photos. From my time at the Writers House, I learned much about literature and authorship, and gained experience in organizing, running, and documenting events.
My first governmental position was in the summer of 2013, when I worked as a Laboratory Technician at the US Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. I traveled across Massachusetts trapping invasive insect species, examining the contents of the traps, and working in a research laboratory. My other governmental position was at the Environmental Protection Agency in Washington DC, where I interned in the Regulatory Review department, during the summer of 2016. There I reviewed past regulations which had been passed through the Small Business Advisory Panel to determine what percent of the small business owners' suggestions had been implemented.
My first teaching position was as a Creative Writing Instructor at Frost Valley YMCA in New York during the summer of 2014. There I created, marketed, and taught week-long workshops to students ranging from ages 5 to 15. I taught Creative Writing again in the summer of 2015 at Elephant Community Press in Hong Kong, an English writing center which offered workshops for children and published their work in book form at the end of the class. There I once again created, marketed, and taught my own classes, as well as running social media, writing web content, and creating a promotional video.
From September 2016 to August 2017, I worked as an Environmental Educator and Staff Writer for Planet Bee Foundation, an environmental education nonprofit based in San Francisco, California. At Planet Bee Foundation I created and taught lessons about honey bees and other pollinators to students of all ages in schools across Northern California. Besides my teaching responsibilities, I also helped run social media advertising, wrote grant applications, newsletters, blog posts, and other web content, worked as an apiarist, and photographed events.
Since November 2017, I have worked as an online English tutor for students in China, through the University of Pennsylvania's Modern English Education Program. I conduct weekly hour-long sessions with a number of students, reading books with them to improve their reading comprehension, vocabulary, and communication skills.
This summer, for my work placement, I worked as the Summer Science School Instructor at the Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (WBNERR). I developed curriculum for 5 different science classes for different age groups and taught a total of 6 classes over 6 weeks. My work at WBNERR is discussed at greater length in the 'Placement' page of this site, which can be accessed via the Menu button.
In late August of 2018, I left my position at WBNERR to become a High School Biology Teacher at Raoul Wallenberg Traditional High School in San Francisco, California. I currently teach 3 classes of 9th Grade Biology as well as 1 class of 11th and 12th Grade College and Careers. The skills I've learned from my experiences as an educator as well as from my undergraduate and graduate degrees, particularly from writing my Placement Report, have proved essential to my new position.
Check out my LinkedIn profile here.
From September 2016 to August 2017, I worked as an Environmental Educator and Staff Writer for Planet Bee Foundation, an environmental education nonprofit based in San Francisco, California. At Planet Bee Foundation I created and taught lessons about honey bees and other pollinators to students of all ages in schools across Northern California. Besides my teaching responsibilities, I also helped run social media advertising, wrote grant applications, newsletters, blog posts, and other web content, worked as an apiarist, and photographed events.
Since November 2017, I have worked as an online English tutor for students in China, through the University of Pennsylvania's Modern English Education Program. I conduct weekly hour-long sessions with a number of students, reading books with them to improve their reading comprehension, vocabulary, and communication skills.
This summer, for my work placement, I worked as the Summer Science School Instructor at the Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (WBNERR). I developed curriculum for 5 different science classes for different age groups and taught a total of 6 classes over 6 weeks. My work at WBNERR is discussed at greater length in the 'Placement' page of this site, which can be accessed via the Menu button.
In late August of 2018, I left my position at WBNERR to become a High School Biology Teacher at Raoul Wallenberg Traditional High School in San Francisco, California. I currently teach 3 classes of 9th Grade Biology as well as 1 class of 11th and 12th Grade College and Careers. The skills I've learned from my experiences as an educator as well as from my undergraduate and graduate degrees, particularly from writing my Placement Report, have proved essential to my new position.
Check out my LinkedIn profile here.
extra-curricular skills and experience
The extra-curricular activities that have always taken up the majority of my free time are creative writing and art. Besides starting my own literary and art magazine, The Beach Owl, in high school, I was one of the founding members and worked 4 years as an editor for Symbiosis, a magazine which pairs writers with artists to create collaborative pieces, while attending the University of Pennsylvania. While studying at the University of Glasgow in Scotland, I also served as a founding member and editor for The Queerier, an LGBTQ magazine for the Dumfries and Galloway region. My art and writing have been published a number of magazines, such as The Penn Review and 2River View. While working at Planet Bee, one of my articles on ZomBees was published on the blogs of Discover Magazine, SciStarter, and Phys.org. And for the past year, I have been co-writing a memoir for a transgender woman in New Jersey.
I had my first art show while in Dumfries, at the The Yellow Door Gallery, and hope to have my work shown again soon. I also sell my artwork on Redbubble.com. My creative work is essential to me, the passion which fuels me and gives life and form to my ideas.
I had my first art show while in Dumfries, at the The Yellow Door Gallery, and hope to have my work shown again soon. I also sell my artwork on Redbubble.com. My creative work is essential to me, the passion which fuels me and gives life and form to my ideas.