Cassidy A. Dellorto-Blackwell Email & Phone Number

Urbana, Illinois, United States

Rantoul, Illinois, United States

Urbana-Champaign, Illinois Area

+ Designed and facilitated courses, workshops, listening sessions, and webinars for farmers, landowners, educators, and researchers+ Outlined and oversaw educational video production shoots+ Organized and managed two annual Organic Grain Conferences (tasks include speaker and sponsor recruitment, trade show coordination, contracting and invoicing, and evaluation) + Lead a research team investigating systemic and occupational barriers to conservation practice adoption by commodity farmers+ Developed technical and financial assistance programs+ Wrote proposals securing $1,000,000+ grant and foundation dollars

New Haven, Connecticut, United States

+ Facilitated 10+ groups in conservation program and outreach planning at Tools for Engaging Landowners Effectively workshops+ Developed and delivered 5+ interactive workshops and presentations to land management and conservation audiences+ Drove online resource creation, increasing available resources by 50% in one year+ Coordinated and managed 5+ webinars+ Created and supported a communication network for resource professionals working to engage women woodland owners+ Designed and implemented a relational database to manage constituent tracking and engagement+ Wrote content, edited, and provided feedback for the publication, "Engaging Landowners in Conservation: A Complete Guide to Designing Programs and Communications"

New Haven, Connecticut, United States

Ann Arbor, Michigan

I facilitated three weekly group discussions for the undergraduate courses ENV 360/PSYCH 384 Behavior and Environment (Fall 2016) and ENV 361/PSYCH 362 Psychology of Environmental Stewardship (Winter 2017). I developed activities to engage students in applying course material and synthesized group dialogue to provide meaningful learning outcomes. I developed assignments and exams, and designed rubrics for objective assessment of student work.

Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States

In the environmental psychology lab, I researched the positive role of interaction with natural environments in human well-being. My research focused specifically on the therapeutic potential of hospital-based farms and the role of anchor institutions in holistically addressing community health issues. In support of this research, I conducted interviews with program managers at hospital-based farms to develop case studies for the resource publication, Farms & Health: A Guide to Farm Programs in Healthcare which I co-authored. I worked closely with the Farm at St. Joe's (part of St. Joseph Mercy Health System, Ann Arbor) developing research strategies to support program development and expansion. This included development of a survey instrument designed to identify programmatic opportunities to more effectively meet community needs and barriers to community members in accessing resources and services. I also facilitated community meetings to elucidate how stakeholder groups viewed the role of The Farm at St. Joe’s and to uncover opportunities for collaborative program development and resource sharing.

Ann Arbor, Mi

I worked in conjunction with Matthaei Botanical Garden, The Cook Family Foundation, and Memorial Healthcare to restore and maintain a 2.5 acre oak woodland property adjacent to Memorial Healthcare Hospital in Owosso, Michigan on the Shiawassee River. I oversaw installation and maintenance of understory forbs, sedges, grasses, and riverbank shrubs and removed invasive and noxious species. I also developed an interpretive plan and outreach strategies to engage community members in valuing the restored woodland area for its aesthetic, ecological, recreational, and health potential. This included conducting a visitor use survey, creating interpretive signage, self-guided walking brochures, children's nature activity books, and leading interpretive walks. I also completed a strategic plan for ongoing restoration and management of the area.

Atlanta, Illinois

I worked on daily farm tasks including weeding, seeding, watering, harvesting, and washing and packing produce for market and wholesale customers. I operated and maintained farm tools and equipment including weed whips, cultivating tools, planting tools, International Harvester 274 Offset tractor, and International Harvester Hydro 84 tractor. I spoke with farmers market customers about available produce and organic farming methods.

Greater St. Louis Area

In my role at Grace Hill, I worked managing the organization's community education program, Neighborhood College. I contracted with educators to deliver courses to the community including CPR, self-defense, computer literacy, computer repair, introduction to entrepreneurship, nutrition, and financial literacy. I also worked to implement legal and financial counseling services for neighborhood residents. In collaboration with staff and local universities, I oversaw the development of a comprehensive, community-specific civic engagement curriculum which included five course topics as well as an implementation and evaluation strategy for the program of study.Additionally, I oversaw maintenance of the Peace Park community garden and orchard as an invaluable asset and resource for education, recreation, and food. I worked with Head Start teachers to develop a 5-week garden curriculum for 3-5 year-olds. The produce from the garden and orchard was made available to community residents free of charge. To further offset the impact of the only nearby grocery store closing, I collaborated with local anchor institutions and staff from St. Louis University to implement a free shuttle service taking residents to a nearby weekly farmers' market and integrated nutrition and cooking education into market programming.

Lanzhou, Gansu, China

As an Education Volunteer at LanZhou University, I was responsible for curriculum development, creation of testing materials, and student evaluation. I taught undergraduate English majors in Spoken English, Written English, and Film Appreciation. During my two years at LanZhou University I taught an average of sixteen credit hours per week and held office hours weekly. Additionally, I participated as a lecturer and mentor during the 2012 Department of Foreign Languages & Literatures Festival of Culture, trained students for speech and writing competitions, assisted colleagues in clarifying literature for translation into Chinese, and worked one-on-one with students preparing for TOEFL and IELTS exams.In addition to academic work, I was also involved in the creation and implementation of several projects including English Eco Leadership Camp (Eco Camp) and LanZhou University Eco Team.I worked as Project Coordinator for Eco Camp, an environmental education camp that brought forty-eight students from across China to an organic farm in Sichuan province to learn about environmental challenges and solutions. The camp was held in two four-day sessions and featured lectures from local Chinese activists as well as international academics. As Project Coordinator, I was responsible for managing the project timeline, recruiting to volunteers, and oversight of fundraising efforts. As a direct result of the success of Eco Camp, I worked with students to create the LanZhou University Eco Team. The team initiated a battery recycling program on campus which successfully collected more than ten kilograms of used batteries and transferred them to a local materials recovery facility. In addition, the team held a campus-wide “Day Without Plastics,” wherein the students educated the student body about waste issues and their implications and encouraged students to reduce their plastic waste while distributing more than 200 reusable grocery bags to the campus community.

Portland, Oregon, United States

In my work at Portland State University with PSU Recycles!, I was able to work one-on-one with the campus community in order to address issues within the campus waste and reuse programs. I helped to develop and implement recycling education and outreach programs and assessed the effectiveness of efforts by sorting individual recycling stations to investigate contamination and effectiveness of campus recycling awareness strategies. I helped with the organization of campus recycling and reuse programs such as “Chuck It for Charity” and “Recyclemania.” Additionally I worked closely with the creation and implementation of a campus composting program that worked to push the university towards becoming zero-waste.

Gangnam-Gu, Seoul, Korea

The Portfolio is an arts organization that works with students from elementary to university ages to improve their technical ability and enhance the creative process. As a mentor I worked primarily with high school and university students in preparation to attend univeristy fine arts programs in English speaking countries. I assisted the students in developing strong 2-D design skills, improving vocabulary, critical thinking, and writing, as well as leading group discussions and critiques.

Seongbuk-Gu, Seoul, Korea

As an ESL Teacher at Plus Academy, I taught students ranging from elementary to high school age in all aspects of English language education including grammar, pronunciation, speech, conversation, debate, and writing. I prepared daily lesson plans and worked with staff to create additional resource and testing materials.

Greater St. Louis Area

During my time with St. Louis Earth Day I was involved in all aspects of daily operations as well as the development and implementation of Annual St. Louis Earth Day Festivals, Annual Water Quality Symposiums, and the Recycling on the Go program. I researched grant opportunities and worked with the Executive Director to draft and manage current grants. I managed all facets of operations for the Annual St. Louis Earth Day Festivals including designing the complete festival layout and event schedule, contracting with performers, arranging educational exhibits and lectures, corresponding with vendors, as well as managing the creation and sale of merchandise. Additionally I worked to recruit, train, and manage more than fifty event volunteers. I also conducted demographic analysis of each festival and implemented on-the-ground advertising.I organized and maintained all programmatic information for the Annual Water Quality symposiums as well as managing and running the event's correspondence and registration. I facilitated the establishment and implementation of Recycling on the Go, a St. Louis pilot program targeting minimizing waste at large outdoor festivals through the collection of recyclable and compostable materials. I worked directly with event planning professionals to develop specific strategies for each event and trained and managed recycling staff and volunteers. I maintained a comparative diversion analysis for each event and helped to deter more than eleven tons of recyclable and compostable materials from entering St. Louis landfills in the 2007 program pilot season and more than twenty tons in the 2008 season. In 2008, I worked with the Executive Director to organize a fundraiser for Recycling on the Go that raised more than $20,000 and featured a lecture by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Recycling on the Go was awarded “Outstanding Community Recycling Program” by the Missouri Recycling Association in 2008.

Greater St. Louis Area

I explained available renewable energy options to Missouri residents and raised voluntary enrollments for support of Missouri wind power.

Master Of Science (M.S.), Natural Resources And Environment

Environmental Psychology | Conservation Ecology

Chancellor'S Certificate In Leadership, Community Development

Bachelor Of Arts (Ba), Alternative Media | Media Communications

Activities and Societies: Host/DJ, The Sugary Sweet Machine Shed, KGLX