Abstract

Nicolette Cagle is a dedicated naturalist, ecologist, and environmental educator with a passion for writing. As a Lecturer in the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University, my courses emphasize natural history and environmental education & communication. I am also the Director of K-12 Pipeline Programs, Director of the Environmental Science Summer Program at Duke and Director of the NSOE Communications Studio.  My ecological training began before college at The Grove, a nature preserve in northern Illinois. There, I worked at as a naturalist and educator. I received my B.S. in Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences from the University of Illinois – Urbana. I also volunteered at The Sea Turtle Hospital in Marathon, FL  I completed my doctoral studies in Duke University’s Program in Ecology, one of the top three programs in the nation (see National Research Council). My dissertation research explored the multi-scale distributions and conservation status of snakes in the North American tallgrass prairie and integrated the quantitatively intense methods of landscape ecology with the more traditional field-based approach of conservation biology.