Redfield Expands Impact with Service Learning Position

Bee Redfield, a PhD student working with the Tropical Hardwood Tree Improvement and Regeneration Center, is expanding her impact into the engagement realm with a new service learning graduate assistantship.

Redfield is working on her PhD in wildlife science under Drs. Doug Jacobs and Barny Dunning, returningBee Redfield to West Lafayette after completing her undergraduate degree at Purdue in 2005. She is studying the role that native birds play in forest restoration, following previous work with leopards, apes, and black bears among other species in more than 20 years in wildlife conservation and care. Redfield has worked in both lab and field research as well as veterinary technology, zookeeping, entomology and outreach.

Redfield, who earned previous graduate degrees in human resources management with an emphasis in training and development (Keller Graduate School 2011) and biology with an emphasis in extension (Miami Ohio 2019), will be working in the Purdue Office of Engagement with Dr. Lindsey Payne.

“I am excited about getting to directly help our communities by working with faculty and community partners in our service-learning programs,” Redfield said. “I love engaging with the public and helping others learn about how they can provide community education and assistance too, either as students or by incorporating service-learning into curriculum as faculty members. This role will allow me to work with students, faculty and community partners in a holistic way to create these partnerships.”

In her new role, Redfield will work on service-learning programs, community engagement, strategic communications and the web presence for the office, including writing newsletters. She also will be planning and executing the yearly Engagement Summit.

“Bee will be an excellent asset to our team given her previous training and work experience,” Payne said. “We look forward to leveraging her talents and skills as she creates and manages our strategic communications efforts and helps strengthen and deepen our partnership programming.”

Redfield hopes to continue teaching in FNR as she prepares for her qualifying exams in the spring and her dissertation defense after that, all while taking on this new role in engagement.

Featured Stories

Wildfire along a ridgeline of trees
Meeting the wildfire threat with digital models of the real world

Many of the 60,000 wildfires occurring annually across the U.S. flare up in the intersection...

Read More
Dr. Michael O. Hunt with Dr. Carl Eckelman in 1967; Dr. Hunt (r) pictured with Dr. Carl Eckelman and Dr. Eva Haviarova at the FNR Professor Emeritus luncheon in 2024.
Tales From FNR with Professor Emeritus Michael O. Hunt

Dr. Michael O. Hunt came to West Lafayette in February 1960 as an assistant professor and...

Read More
Andrew DeWoody stands in front of test equipment in his lab in West Lafayette, Ind.
Department of Forestry and Natural Resources appoints its first Conservation Scholar

Andrew DeWoody, professor in the Department of Forestry and Natural Resources (FNR), has been...

Read More
Emma Johnson receives her Fenske Award at the Midwest Fish and Wildlife Conference; Johnson stands next to the Sky Arrow plane her team uses for research.
Emma Johnson Named Fenske Award for Wildlife Recipient

Master’s student Emma Johnson (BS 2025) received the Janice Lee Fenske Memorial Award for...

Read More
Man works on a laptop at a computing center.
Forest ecologist earns new support for global collaborations

Jingjing Liang, a University Faculty Scholar and associate professor of forestry and natural...

Read More
Forest pest specialist Lenny Farlee standing in front of a bush.
Uniting Indiana Residents Against Invasive Species

Purdue Extension leads efforts to combat invasive species like spotted lanternfly, protecting...

Read More