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Tara Muenz

500 500 Stroud Water Research Center

Interim Director of Education and Leaf Pack Network Administrator

Education Department

Contact

tmuenz@stroudcenter.org
tel. 610-268-2153, ext. 1301
970 Spencer Road, Avondale, PA 19311
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Tara Muenz

Learn more about Tara

Interests and Expertise

Trained as an aquatic scientist, Tara Muenz’s interests and experiences spread wide, with a passion for all life on earth including science communication, conservation education, community science, streamside forests, landscape design, nature therapy, and creating meaningful experiences (fostering awareness, appreciation, and action) that bring people closer in a reverent relationship with the planet. She has devoted decades to traveling worldwide, assisting individuals and communities in connecting, sustaining, and understanding the planet’s resources on the physical and soul levels. Muenz practices a “less is best” way of life, often seeking the beautiful stillness of the natural world as her greatest source of joy.

Education

  • M.S., conservation ecology and sustainable development, Odum School of Ecology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia.
  • B.A., zoology, Miami University of Ohio, Oxford, Ohio.

Professional Experience

  • Interim director of education, 2026–present.
  • Associate director of education and Leaf Pack Network Administrator, 2025.
  • Assistant director of education and Leaf Pack Network Administrator, Stroud Water Research Center, 2015–2024.
  • Education program manager and Leaf Pack Network administrator, Stroud Water Research Center, 2014–2015.
  • State coordinator, Georgia Adopt-a-Stream, Atlanta, Georgia, 2009–2014.
  • Lead research technician, Aquatic Biology Laboratory, Joseph W. Jones Ecological Research Center, Newton, Georgia, 2004–2009.
  • Graduate research assistant, University of Georgia/Jones Ecological Research Center, Athens, Georgia, 2000–2004.

Publications

Stream flow changes associated with water use and climatic variation in the lower Flint River Basin, southwest Georgia

S.W. Golladay, D.W. Hicks, and T.K. Muenz. 2007. In T. Rasmussen (editor). Proceedings of the 2007 Georgia Water Resources Conference. Athens, Georgia.

Current conditions of historical mussel habitat in the Flint River Basin, Georgia

Muenz, T.K., S.P. Opsahl, S.W. Golladay, D.W. Hicks, B.Clayton, and R.C. Thomas. 2007.  In T. Rasmussen (editor). Proceedings of the 2007 Georgia Water Resources Conference. Athens, Georgia.

Survey and relocation study of unionids in Chickasawhatchee Creek and Elmodel Wildlife Management areas, southwest Georgia

Golladay, S.W., and T.K. Muenz. 2006. Final Report. Georgia Department of Natural Resources.

Assessment of stream habitat in the Flint River Basin

Muenz, T.K., S.P. Opsahl, S.W. Golladay, D.W. Hicks, B. Clayton, K.A. Cressman. 2006. Final report to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Stream buffer effectiveness in an agriculturally influenced area, southwestern Georgia: responses of water quality, macroinvertebrates, and amphibians

Muenz, T.K., S.W. Golladay, G. Vellidis, and L.L. Smith. 2006. Journal of Environmental Quality. 35(5):1924–1938.

See all publications by Stroud Center authors

PA ELIT Network Launches Hubs for Educator Professional Development

Environmental educators have a new way to access professional development and resources to prepare them for the Pennsylvania STEELS Standards.

Reimagining Classrooms

Whether you call them outdoor classrooms, living schoolyards, or ecological schoolyards — we’ve got ideas for how to make the outdoors a place of discovery.

New Traveling Discovery Tanks Bring Stream Life to You!

Not everyone can access a stream to discover aquatic life, but now a Macroinvertebrate Discovery Tank can bring the stream to them.

Nurturing the Good Mind

Connecting to water as a source of ancestral significance has strengthened a throughline of cultural continuity for the Seneca Nation and the Lenape Indian Tribe of Delaware.

Hillendale Elementary School Awarded Green Ribbon for Environmental Education and Sustainability

The award recognizes innovative efforts to reduce environmental impacts, promote better health, and ensure effective environmental education.

Discover the Health of Your Local Stream With the Leaf Pack Network!

Started over 25 years ago to support teachers connecting students to their local watershed, the Leaf Pack Network has turned into a community science outlet.
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