Bethany Ricks Email & Phone Number

Apple Valley, Minnesota

Land O' Lakes, WI

• Mentored teens ages 15-18 at environmental boarding high school as residential life staff member
• Offered after school and weekend programs for teens
• Developed curriculum for and taught Field Instruction, an outdoor skills class, including aligning classes with Conserve School School-wide Learning Goals and National Standards for Physical Education
• Developed curriculum for and taught Stewardship for Life, a colleges and careers class
• Led service-learning student groups, including habitat monitoring and plant propagation
• Used strong organizational and interpretive skills to restructure and manage social media for Treehaven, an environmental learning center run by the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point (Sept. 2014-Dec. 2014)

Saint Paul, MN

• Managed daily activities of interpretive volunteers
• Planned and executed training sessions for adult interpretive volunteers
• Revised and organized content and interpretive manuals
• Used principles of operant conditioning to ensure safe handling of program animals
• Developed and maintained object-based, hands on interpretation carts
• Delivered daily public programs, including pinniped and polar bear talks and hosting zookeeper/horticulturist talks

Apple Valley, MN

• Led overnight programs for schools, scouts, and families, including tours and activity-based classes

Bandon, OR

• Developed informal education programs for use by Shoreline Education for Awareness, a Refuge Friends volunteer group
• Developed and presented interpretive programs for Free Flight Bird Rehabilitation, including raptor handling
• Co-taught monthly in-class lessons and field trips for 4th and 5th graders as part of the Shorebird Sister Schools Program
• Served as a rocky shore interpreter at various locations along the Oregon coast

Bloomington, MN

• Supervised daily operations for education, box office, and photo departments
• Taught onsite, hands-on classes for early childhood-adult, groups of 10-75, including overnight programs
• Taught offsite classroom and assembly programs for early childhood-adult, groups of 15-300+, including live animal handling and transport
• Represented the aquarium at fairs and marketing events
• Developed new curriculum, including shark and squid dissection classes
• Interpreted invertebrate and shark/ray touchpools

Johns Island, SC

• Supervised aquarium staff of 4 naturalists
• Taught outdoor ecology classes for 1st-12th grade students
• Set up and maintained aquarium for animals collected from local estuary
• Set up record-keeping system to monitor and maintain water quality

Bloomington, MN

Master Of Science (Ms), Natural Resources, Emphasis Environmental Education

Bachelor Of Arts (B.A.), Biology, Environmental Studies