Kathryn Stevenson
Kathryn is lucky enough to be leading this talented group. She joined the faculty in Parks, Recreation & Tourism Management in 2016, but has been at NC State since 2011 as a grad student (PhD in Fisheries, Wildlife & Conservation Biology, 2014; Postdoc, Fisheries, Wildlife & Conservation Biology, 2014-16). She has a BS in Biology from Davidson College and spent eight years working in informal and formal education settings at Catalina Island Marine Institute, Drew School, and Woods Charter School.
Current Graduate Students
Lydia Sellers is a MS student looking to stay on for a PhD in Parks, Recreation & Tourism. She is helping project manage both the eeVAL and Ready, Set, Resilience work. Her dissertation will likely blend these projects, bringing in aspects of participatory program evaluation, resilience and mental health, and nature-based education.
Scott Sneider is a PhD student in Fisheries, Wildlife & Conservation Biology. Scott works full time with the Health and Exercise Studies program and is interested in intersections of outdoor recreation and environmental education, with a keen eye on pedagogy. He is looking to integrate more health and nature themes into his courses for his PhD work.
Sarah Yelton is pursuing a PhD in Fisheries, Wildlife & Conservation Biology. Her interests are in informal science learning, nature-based learning, experiential learning and place-based education. She also works close to full-time at the UNC Institute for the Environment and has decades of experience in EE.
Sarah Dinger is working on her PhD in Fisheries, Wildlife & Conservation Biology while working full time as the Plant Sciences Initiative Program Manager for Education and Extension Outreach. She is looking to pull in her interest and expertise in youth development and agriculture education for her dissertation work.
Liani Yirka is a first year PhD student, originally from San Juan Puerto Rico but living in NC for 30 years. I am most interested in exploring the benefits of time in nature and the outdoors for children with disabilities and creating practical applications for removing barriers to reaping those benefits. Liani also works at Duke Gardens as the Program Coordinator for children, family, and school programs.
Current Undergraduate Researchers
Leah Hanes is a 3rd year undergraduate student graduating in December of 2025 with a BS in Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology with a minor in Environmental education. I have a passion for educating people about environmental issues and would like to pursue a career surrounding that. I’ve been working in the Stevenson lab since my freshman year on the Ready Set Resilience project. I’m originally from King, N.C.
Feehan Tuttle plans to graduate with a degree in Fisheries, Wildlife & Conservation Biology in December 2025. he has been working on the Ready, Set, Resilience Project since 2023.
Luke Foster plans to graduate with a degree in Fisheries, Wildlife & Conservation Biology in December 2025. he has been working on the Ready, Set, Resilience Project since 2023.
Julia Janosko is a fourth year majoring in Biology IPN concentration and STS. Interested in shaping minds and ENV values through education.
Interested in joining?
Undergraduates: Please reach out to Dr. Stevenson (kathryn_stevenson@ncsu.edu). Depending on the semester, we sometimes have regular lab meetings, or sometimes it is more informal. We’d love to get you involved.
Prospective graduate students and post-docs: If you are interested in joining the lab, please send a cover letter, CV, and writing sample (kathryn_stevenson@ncsu.edu). You can join our lab majoring in either Parks, Recreation & Tourism Management or Fisheries, Wildlife & Conservation Biology. If I have an immediate opportunity and you are a good fit, I will contact you directly. I also will post any available positions on this site, the NAAEE jobs board, and various listservs (EENC, IASNR). You may also email any of our current students to learn more about what it’s like working with us.
Former Graduate Students & Postdocs
Kesley Tayne still works as a research associate occasionally, and is mostly spending her time as an environmental science teacher at Broomfield High School in Colorado.
Julianne Reas is a social scientist at the US Fish and Wildlife Service Human Dimensions branch in Ft. Collins, CO.
Lauren Gibson graduated May 2022, and currently is working as an Extension Professor at Colorado State University.
Hannah Mazeski graduated in summer 2022 with her MS. Her thesis work looks at how social media can be used as a way to evaluate the DEIJ initiatives of the National Park System. Hannah was co-advised by Kathryn and Dr. Bethany Cutts.
Zhenzhen Zhang earned her PhD in December 2021 with an interdisciplinary project linking together stormwater management, green schoolyards, and flood modeling in the city of Raleigh.
Caitlin Reilly (cereill3@ncsu.edu) graduated with her MS in summer 2021 after working on the Agritourism & Local Foods project and studying how getting kids on farms may promote support for local food systems through families. Caitlin is now a Community Engagement Fellow with Duke University.
Brent Jackson (sbjackso@ncsu.edu) graduated with his PhD in summer of 2021. His dissertation looked at different predictors of environmental engagement and connection to nature, including in the context of the pandemic. Brent is now an instructor at Florida Gulf State University.
Jenna Hartley (jenna_hartley@ncsu.edu) graduated with her PhD in spring 2022. She worked on the Citizen Science & Community Learning project understanding how citizen science-based EE with kids may translate to community-level learning. She currently works for the EPA.
Danielle Lawson graduated with her PhD in 2019 and was a USDA NIFA Postdoctoral Research Fellow until summer 2020. She now works at the Maine Math and Science Alliance.
Rachel Szczytko worked on the Muddy Sneakers project and graduated December 2017. Rachel is working on her PhD at Michigan State University.
Elke Grether worked on the USDA NIFA Agritourism & Education project and is now pursuing other opportunities back in Oklahoma.
Graduated undergraduate researchers
Sarah Kremitz, Hannah Parks, Adrian Chamberlain, Mary Helmer, Georgie Babechenko, Emma Feichter, Jocelyn Fifer, Emily Griffith, Katelyn Higgins, Alex Johnson, Katelyn McDow, Patsy McKee Huy Nguyen, Anna Poston, Alex Trimarchi, Nick Londono, Blake Wiegand