[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
Meet Mandy Nix: New Watershed Education Specialist
Training the Teachers of Today to Educate the Stewards of Tomorrow
