Mandy Nix

[ALUMNA] Watershed Education Specialist

Education Department

Interests and Expertise

Mandy Nix (she/her/hers) is an ecologist and educator who engages “PreK–gray” audiences in science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM) to spark lasting environmental literacy, resilience, and justice. She cares deeply about intersectional, inquiry-driven experiences that empower today’s learners to become tomorrow’s leaders in freshwater science and stewardship. Her enthusiasm for hands-on, minds-on watershed education has taken her from the Southern Appalachian mountain bogs of North Carolina to the salmon streams of Kodiak Island to the Potomac headwaters of West Virginia. Her hobbies include forging connections between creeks and communities, exploring streamside forests with her leash-trained kitty Magpie, feeding a small but mighty indoor vermicomposting empire, and hoarding secondhand treasures like a five-foot caddisfly.

Education

B.S., environmental studies: ecology and environmental biology, University of North Carolina, Asheville, North Carolina.

Certifications

• Certified North Carolina Environmental Educator
• Certified Interpretive Guide
• Pennsylvania Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences (MWEE) Ambassador, Facilitator, and Trainer
• Leave No Trace Trainer
• Project WILD Facilitator
• Aquatic WILD Facilitator
• Project WET Facilitator
• USFWS/NCTC Principles of Electrofishing and Electrofishing Safety

Professional Experience

• Watershed education specialist, Stroud Water Research Center, 2018–2022.
• West Virginia volunteer restoration and monitoring organizer, Trout Unlimited and Appalachian Forest Heritage Area AmeriCorps, Davis, West Virginia, 2017–2018.
• Nature Explorers Camp educator, North Carolina Botanical Garden, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 2017.
• Environmental education instructor, Mountain Trail Outdoor School, Hendersonville, North Carolina, 2017.
• Education intern, The Duke Lemur Center, Durham, North Carolina, 2015.
• Environmental education instructor, Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge, Kodiak Island, Alaska, 2014.
• Museum host, Marbles Kids Museum, Raleigh, North Carolina, 2013.

Related News

Congrats and Farewell, Mandy Nix

Stroud Water Research Center congratulates and says farewell to Mandy Nix, our all-star watershed education specialist, as she begins the next chapter of her career.

STREAM Girls Leader Honored by Trout Unlimited Chapter

Mandy Nix received an award for outstanding work leading the STREAM Girls program at the Stroud Center since 2019. 

On the Screen and in the Stream: Expanding Support of Adult Audiences

In addition to virtual programming, our education department offers open enrollment professional development workshops and partners closely with local school districts.

Expanding Global Learning Opportunities

We've synthesized digital, remote, and in-person teaching methods, developed remote learning kits, and tailored programming for local high-needs audiences and learners of all abilities.

Full STEAM Ahead: Delivering Education Programming to Girls’ Doorsteps

The freshwater-focused activities can be completed without professional instruction, advanced technologies, English language fluency, or access to high-quality green spaces.

Pennsylvania Watershed Education Task Force Honored with 2020 Outstanding Environmental Education Program Award and Second NOAA B-WET Grant

The task force is advancing statewide environmental literacy and meaningful watershed education for K-12 students and educators.

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