Who

Julie Wittmann (“Protecthabitat”) is a credentialed science teacher who received an MS in Biology at Sonoma State University, BS in Wildlife Conservation Biology at UC Davis and AS at Santa Rosa Junior College. Julie, who is also a certified California Naturalist has a passion for including the general public in areas involving education and research and supports teachers and naturalist educators with related citizen science curriculum on this website. Julie is a Naturalist Education Specialist at Sonoma State University in California, USA.

Julie’s research at Sonoma State University with the Girman Biology Group focused on the impact of microgeographic features and changing seasonal climate variables on the phenology of herpetofauna within the San Francisco North Bay Area. Her research occurred within nature reserves in the Mayacamas Mountains at Pepperwood Preserve and Sonoma Mountain at Sonoma State University’s Fairfield Osborn Preserve. These areas are located within Sonoma County, both of which are incorporated within the Bay Area Critical Linkage Area, an area deemed critical to protect for conservation purposes. Julie incorporated the participation from volunteers including community members and undergraduate college students using a biodiversity mobile application (iNaturalist) for several aspects of her project.

As a high school biology teacher in the North Bay Area in California, Julie’s students focused on the first high school iNaturalist project, Montgomery High School Ecology Project. Julie continues to provide undergraduate college students and community members opportunities to participate in service-learning activities. She really enjoys collaborating with other biology teachers and naturalist educators who are interested in implementing this type of technology into their curriculum. On this website you will find her iNaturalist project outline and related curriculum available for those interested in implementing a secondary school-level or college-level project.