Cait is a senior biology student at Southern Nazarene University in Bethany, Oklahoma. She has had a passion for animals and wildlife as early as she can recall, catching snakes and frogs, and watching every national geographic special that came into view. After her family moved to Northwest Arkansas, her love for the planet only grew. Her parents’ home borders a state park, and she lives only thirty minutes from Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge– a well known big cat/tiger rescue. When starting college she first looked into the fields of Psychology and English, but after one very convincing biology professor she was determined to find her place in the science world. Since then she has recalled her passion, and has found animal science, ecology, and statistical modeling fascinating. During the summer of 2022, she was given the opportunity to work on a research project involving statistical analysis of camera trap data in the Brazilian Amazon, alongside students from Point Loma Nazarene University. She is currently working on a similar project involving mammalian activity patterns, that she is aiming to complete this fall.

So far her experience has been primarily Mammal-focused, which is why she reached out to the Herpetology Department! She is eager to learn more- especially about amphibians- as she progresses through her senior year. She is traveling to the Quetzal Education Research Center in Costa Rica for her final semester, where she hopes to learn even more about the world of herpetology. She is deeply passionate about sharing science with the public, and hopes to find ways to share science knowledge with all walks of life in the world. She is pursuing further education, and is looking for a program that matches her interests.