Project Dragonfly

In a special "flipped" episode, Project Dragonfly’s own Dr. Kevin Matteson moves from the host’s chair to the guest’s seat. Interviewed by graduate student Aimee Kemp , Kevin shares his journey from the urban landscape of the Bronx to becoming a leading voice in urban ecology and pollinator conservation. 3 Key Takeaways The Rise of the Urban Planet: For the first time in history, more pe...

The "guru" of the native plant movement, Dr. Doug Tallamy , joins host Aimee Kemp to discuss a revolutionary idea: your backyard is the next great frontier for conservation. As a founder of Homegrown National Park , Tallamy argues that we can no longer rely solely on parks and preserves to save biodiversity; we must enlist the 78% of the U.S. that is privately owned. 3 Key Takeaways Cons...

From the vibrant reefs of the Bahamas to the desert landscapes of Baja, T'Noya Thompson has transformed her lifelong love for the ocean into a career of deep impact. In this episode, host Kevin Matteson explores T'Noya’s journey from a zookeeper at Moody Gardens to becoming a PhD candidate, the owner of Wild Spark Consulting, and the first Wildlife Coexistence Fellow at the Cincinnati Zoo....

Have you ever found yourself locking eyes with a baby orangutan swinging through the jungle canopy? Or experienced a mutual "jump scare" with a wild octopus? For Christy Frank, these aren't just wild adventures—they are moments of profound, undeniable connection. From a “painfully shy” kid carrying around a tiny point-and-shoot camera to saving up waitress tips for her first DSLR, Ch...

Picture an autonomous rover navigating the vast, rolling terrain of the Great Sand Dunes in Colorado. It pauses, drills a sand core, and analyzes the sample—just like it would on the surface of Mars. It sounds purely like rocket science, but for Barbra Sobhani, it’s intimately connected to protecting life right here on Earth. When Barbra—who holds degrees in physics and geology—decided to pursue a...

Imagine standing perfectly still as a multi-ton elephant leans in, pressing its forehead directly against yours. For Dr. Michelle Szydlowski, this wasn't a moment of terror, but one of profound communication. In the world of elephant tourism in Nepal, Michelle doesn't just study animals; she studies relationships. As an anthrozoologist, she explores the messy, beautiful, and often misunder...

Imagine a child opening a picture book to find a tiger, a sloth, and a zebra all sharing the same jungle floor. To most, it’s a colorful scene; to Katy Tanis, it’s a missed opportunity for "eco-literacy." Katy started by designing textiles for brands like Betsy Johnson, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that the animals on her fabrics deserved better representation. A graduate of Miami...

Imagine lying in a bed with too many blankets piled on top of you. You’re sweltering, you’re uncomfortable, but unlike us on a hot summer night, the Earth can’t simply kick a foot out to cool down. This is the vivid, accessible world of Kait Birghenthal , President and Project Coordinator for NNOCCI (the National Network for Ocean and Climate Change Interpretation). Working from the front lines of...

Martha Parker grew up on 20 acres in rural New York, where a chance encounter with a displaced nest of baby bunnies sparked a lifelong obsession with wildlife. Today, she isn’t just saving rabbits; she is the Director of Grants & Partnership Development at the International Rhino Foundation, where she manages the complex "people work" required to save the world’s five remaining rhino species....

We’ve all been there: reading a headline about the few remaining rhinos or the melting ice caps and feeling a heavy, familiar sense of defeat. For decades, the "doom and gloom" approach was the primary tool in the conservation toolkit, but Dr. Kathayoon Khalil argues it might be doing more harm than good. When we lead with fear, we don't always spark action; often, we just spark a de...

By the time he was an adult, he had visited 150 different zoos and aquariums. He wasn’t a rugged outdoorsy kid camping in the woods; he was a child fascinated by the glass walls that allowed him to see into other worlds. For Grayson Ponti, nature wasn’t just a place to visit—it was a puzzle to understand, both biologically and socially. Today, Grayson is using that lifelong passion to challenge ho...

To Michael Haughwout, field science isn't just research—it's "real-life Dungeons & Dragons." Whether he is swimming with whale sharks in Baja or tracking diamondback terrapins in New Jersey, he approaches science with the spirit of an adventurer. A 2023 Global Field Program graduate, Michael is the first in his family to earn a Master’s degree. He brings that same sense of po...

Imagine standing in chest-deep water, pulling a seine net full of marine life, while the traffic of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway roars just behind you. For Dave Johnston, nature isn't something you have to leave the city to find. As the Director of Professional Development for the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) at the Bronx Zoo, Dave is rewriting the narrative on where conservation happ...

Sitting in a cubicle at a high-tech semiconductor firm in Silicon Valley, Jill Korach realized something terrifying: there were 17,000 jobs at her company, and she didn't want a single one of them. That realization launched a global journey—from the strict discipline of Army ROTC to riding horses across the Mongolian steppes. Today, Dr. Jill Korach is a cornerstone of Project Dragonfly, where she...

Molly Maloy is the Graduate and Adult Programs Manager at Denver Zoo Conservation Alliance. She has overseen the AIP since it began at Denver Zoo Conservation Alliance in 2012. Molly has worked at Denver Zoo Conservation Alliance for 20 years in the fields of Conservation Education and Community Engagement. She also works with the Field Conservation department on Denver Zoo Conservation Alliance’s...

Dr. Archana Godbole is the Founder Director of the Pune-based NGO- Applied Environmental Research Foundation (AERF). https://www.aerfindia.org/ She is also the in-country partner for Project Dragonfly's India Earth Expeditions course. https://miamioh.edu/cas/graduate-studies/project-dragonfly/earth-expeditions/courses-landing-pages/india.html A plant taxonomist and ethnobiologist by training, Arch...

Imagine feeling safer floating in pitch-black water than standing on dry land. For Meghann McDonald, the ocean isn't just a field site; it is a portal. While she technically holds the title of Executive Director at the Vermilion Sea Institute in Baja, she prefers to view herself as a bridge. Whether she is navigating the dusty roads of a fishing village or the complex emotions of a student pan...

Born and raised in The Bahamas, T'Noya cultivated a profound affinity for the ocean, which inspired her career trajectory from an early age. She has had the opportunity to volunteer and work with many diverse organizations and communities throughout her 25-year career. Currently, T'Noya is a Ph. D. candidate studying organizational leadership at Southeastern University. Additionally, she owns Wild...

Barbra Sobhani is the Director of the NASA Colorado Space Grant Program through University of Colorado Boulder and a Masters graduate from Project Dragonfly’s Adanced Inquiry Program through the Denver Zoo. She is an accomplished individual with dozens of publications and presentations on topics such as lunar network sensing and aerospace workforce development.

Dr. Doug Tallamy is an entomologist, conservationist, and professor in the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware. He has written and co-authored over 140 papers and several books, notably Bringing Nature Home, and he is a founder of Homegrown National Park®, a grassroots call-to-action organization working to regenerate biodiversity and ecosystem function by p...

This week, Aimee Kemp (AIP WCS) joins as a Guest Host interviewing Dr. Kevin Matteson. We discuss what people can do to promote wildlife in cities and their backyards, especially pollinators.  Check out Aimee's website, created for her Biology in the Age of Technology course, ( https://sites.google.com/miamioh.edu/pollinatorark/home ) and YouTube channel ( https://www.youtube.com/@pollinatorARK) (...

Susan Dorsey is a Consultant and Liaison with the National Park Foundation and the National Park Service. In this role, she supports communications and collaborations across organizations to bolster program impact. As an artist and educator, Susan is inspired by the constant iteration, evolution, expansion, overlapping, and layering of systems in the natural world. She is passionate about developi...

Angie Trumbo is a Project Dragonfly/Miami GFP graduate student. She is a Conservation and Education Specialist at the International Bird Rescue (IBR). For her work, she responds to oil spills and other wildlife emergencies and contributes to national literacy campaigns, including work in collaboration with Dawn Dish Soap. Angie has traveled extensively in Central and South America and has worked i...

Adam Kerins is a 2022 graduate of Dragonfly’s Global Field Program who works as the Executive Director of the Turtleback Zoo in New Jersey, one of the fastest-growing zoos in the country. We discuss how he ended up in his role, his favorite Earth Expeditions, leadership, fundraising, and more. In addition to his Master of Arts from Project Dragonfly at Miami University, Adam holds an MBA from Fair...

Debbie Clemens is a 2013 graduate of Dragonfly’s Advanced Inquiry Program. She completed her masters’ work through Chicago Zoological Society at Brookfield Zoo, which she identifies as her happy place. Debbie’s Master Plan focuses on orangutan conservation and she strives to educate others about the red apes and raise awareness about the plight of wild orangutans. Following graduation, Debbie took...