About Me

Meredith Heil is a science teacher with certifications in biology, general science, and
environmental education.  As a child, Meredith lived outside, climbing trees, riding bike,frequenting parks and rescuing baby animals from the jaws of her cats.  She and her brother had many pets including cats, iguanas, birds, turtles, snakes, hamsters, mice and whatever else the cats brought in.  Meredith’s parents also exposed her to a lot of different cultures and ecosystems.  She has been to volcanoes, caves, plains, rainforests, desert islands, waterfalls, forests and oceans.  All of these different places, with their different flora and fauna, fascinated Meredith.  These experiences with the outdoors and wildlife led her to pursue a career in the sciences.

Meredith Holding Balboa as an Intern at the Belize Zoo

Meredith attended Messiah college and took advantage of the many field and
cross-cultural opportunities that the college offered.  She studied with the Creation Care Study Program in Belize, Central America, which strengthened her passion for the environment.  The community in Belize taught her how to live sustainably and why it is important to do so.  Meredith also had the opportunity to do a short internship at the Belize Zoo, where she learned a lot about endangered species and how important it is to educated people about the wildlife around them.  Along with studying in Belize, Meredith also took a course studying the ecosystems of New Zealand.  There, she visited geisers, glaciers, old growth forests, mountains, caves and ocean ecosystems.  New Zealand served as a great example of a species rich country whose people care about the environment they live in.

Meredith has also done studies on tree girth, scale insects, leaf-cutter ants, roadside
plant species and has even gone on a storm chasing tour tracking tornadoes in
the Midwestern US.

Not only is Meredith familiar with many different sciences and ecosystems, she is
also an educator who knows how to communicate to the non-scientific population
in ways that they can understand.  This site will not include a lot of scientific mumbo-jumbo, and if it does it will be explained in a straight-forward, logical way.  Meredith is a strong believer that education can change the world.  The environment of the earth will not improve if people are not educated about how we affect it.

Have fun learning!

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