Hello! I'm Liz, and I am a recent college graduate from Hebron, Maine. In May of 2026, I graduated from the University of Maine in Orono with a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education. I graduated from Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School in June of 2022. 

Most of my high school experience was inundated with COVID-19 restrictions and mandates, and I've found that this unique experience has influenced my perspective on navigating adversity with grace in our educational systems. 

When I first arrived at UMaine, I was enrolled in the Ecology & Environmental Sciences degree program. I had always been interested in Earth science, having completed internships and research projects in high school with ecology-based nonprofits.

After spending a year in the major, I received an offer to work in an on-campus lab. This was when I realized that I did not enjoy being in a lab in the slightest. I missed working with people and being outside. As a first-generation student, I didn’t have much guidance from home to help me lay a foundation for a career. So, I thought back to the job I had as an outdoor educator at my hometown community garden the previous summer, and how much I had enjoyed working with the local 6th through 8th-grade students, teaching them about nutrition and plant science.

School has never been challenging for me; I have always excelled academically, socially, and in extracurriculars. I had already declared a minor in Native American Studies, stemming from growing up with close family living on Maliseet reserves in New Brunswick, Canada. However, I wasn’t entirely sure how I wanted to integrate this minor into my overall degree yet.

I decided during the second semester of my sophomore year to switch majors to Elementary Education, concentrating on Life & Physical Sciences, which was where I found a passion for integrating Indigenous knowledge into Maine's science education curriculum development.

Since then, I’ve been thriving. I’ve been fortunate enough to work with students integrating native vocabulary, history, and teachings from the Wabanaki tribes in Maine & Canada into class discussions and Earth-Science lessons. It’s been the most meaningful part of my journey, and I can’t wait to expand upon it further in my career.