Gretchen was born and raised in a small town in Indiana. She spent her childhood building forts in the woods, swimming in local creeks, and running barefoot through the local corn fields. Gretchen got her B.S. in Environmental Science & Sustainability from Purdue and eventually left the midwest to pursue an educator position out on Catalina Island. Gretchen’s love for education grew as she took school groups snorkeling, hiking, diving, and exploring in hands-on science labs. Gretchen also dived deeper into her passion for photos, eventually leading underwater and nature photo/video courses. After moving to San Diego, she joined the Birch Aquarium Education Department, where she developed new middle school programs focused on communicating Scripps research and climate science. She also continued growing her digital media passion by experimenting with in-water surf photography and wedding shoots. Gretchen has now found her way to HTM where she hopes to inspire students to explore their own passions and interests beyond the textbook. She believes that learning comes in many forms and that creativity is a beautiful tool for educational growth.
Outside of the 9-5 you can find Gretchen snorkeling with sea turtles in the cove, paddle boarding to find white sharks, surfin’ waves with friends, or even night diving the mission jetty. And of course, always bringing her camera along with her 🙂