Rebecca Koetz is the Program Coordinator for The Nature of Teaching in the Department of Forestry and Natural Resources at Purdue University. She received her B.S. in Wildlife in 2015 and her M.S. in Forestry and Natural Resources in 2018 from Purdue University. Rebecca's undergrad experience included being the treasurer and then president of the Student Chapter of Environmental Education, and interning with Purdue Extension, where she created hellbender extension materials and traveled around the state to teach people about the endangered eastern hellbender. Her M.S. research was on the effects of education on elementary student plate waste. She created and used food waste lesson plans available on The Nature of Teaching website for this research. Her undergraduate and graduate experiences made for a smooth transition to her position as Program Coordinator of The Nature of Teaching. 

 

Rebecca's work includes promoting The Nature of Teaching program throughout Indiana and surrounding states, hosting professional development workshops for teachers, creating further lesson plans for the program, and fostering community engagement surrounding food waste and nature education. Her interests outside of work include volunteering with local nature education nonprofit, Hands of the Future.