Education

continuing education

Tara is passionate about ensuring her educational background is as strong and rigorous as possible.  In fall of 2016, she returned to graduate school to pursue her Master of Natural Science Education through Colorado State University's Online Program, geared for teachers actively in the classroom. She successfully completed the program and received her Master’s degree in Summer of 2018 with the creation of a foundational Introduction to Science Unit that can be used to open any high school science class.  She regularly attends industry conferences (California Science Teacher’s Association, National Marine Educators Association, to name a few), occasionally presenting at them as well. As schools moved to online education during the Coronavirus Pandemic, Tara has attended many online workshops and trainings, including those from The Modern Classrooms Project and National Institute for STEM Education, to ensure her online pedagogy is as solid as her in-person pedagogy. She is also trained in Council for Schools Facilitation by the Ojai Foundation and has done Council 3 Training the Center for Council. Recently, she has become more interested in issues of belonging and intentional inclusion, and took part in Priya Parker’s The Art of Gathering online course.

Tara has her Bachelor's Degree in Natural Sciences: Ecology from Simon's Rock College of Bard in Great Barrington, MA, and has pursued graduated studies in integrative biology through Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, OK, and marine biology through Northeastern University's East/West Marine Biology Program (now called the Three Seas Program).