Meet AGNITOR David Bild
Fun Facts about David
- I worked as an archaeologist in the Southwest US and Mexico for 10 years before entering the education field.
What does a Community Science Manager do?
The Community Science Manager at the Nature Museum supports the Biology department’s work in biodiversity monitoring and ecological sampling through our three core community science programs, the Illinois Butterfly Monitoring Network, the Illinois Odonate Survey, and the Calling Frog Survey, which involve primarily adult participants. The Community Science Manager also leads the TEENS program and is responsible for the development, implementation, and evaluation of the TEENS program during the summer, spring, and fall program cycles. This includes recruiting, interviewing, and selecting teen applicants; recruiting, interviewing, selecting, training, and supporting two college-aged interns for the summer program. The TEENS program engages 60 Chicago high schools students per year and provides paid training opportunities in ecology and environmental science. Lastly the Community Science Manager also teaches an Environmental Education course at DePaul University each fall.
What advice would you give your 16-year-old self?
Every experience is a learning opportunity. Take advantage of it.
David’s AFNR Journey
David has been working at the Nature Museum since Fall 2011. His current work focuses on supporting the Biology department’s work in biodiversity monitoring and ecological sampling through our three core community science programs, the Illinois Butterfly Monitoring Network, the Illinois Odonate Survey, and the Calling Frog Survey, which involve primarily adult participants. Since 2014, he has led the Nature Museum TEENS program and is responsible for the development, implementation, and evaluation of the program, which engages 60 Chicago high schools students per year and provides paid training opportunities in ecology and environmental science. David is also part-time faculty in the Environmental Sciences & Studies Department at DePaul University, teaching an undergraduate experiential learning course in Environmental Education on behalf of the Nature Museum. Prior to joining the Nature Museum, David taught 7th and 8th grade science and social studies in Phoenix, Arizona for two years. David was a Teach for America corps member and earned his Master’s of Education (MEd) in Secondary Education from Arizona State University in 2011. He has served on advisory committees for the Hive Chicago Learning Network, the Chicago STEM Pathways Cooperative, and the Art Institute of Chicago’s NSF-funded “Art+Science” project, and is a co-author of the Roadmap for the Global Open Science Hardware (GOSH) movement. In 2016, David was recognized as part of Mozilla’s inaugural Network50. Before becoming a formal educator, David was an archaeologist in the Southwest US and Mexico for 10 years, supervising survey and excavation projects for academic institutions, government agencies, and environmental consulting firms. David earned his BS in Anthropology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Educational requirements
-Bachelor’s degree in natural sciences, environmental science, science education, or related field or equivalent leadership experience (Master’s degree preferred)
-Minimum 5 years of science teaching experience at the college or high school level
-Minimum 5 years of experience mentoring high school or college-aged students