Rachel has 10+ years of experience supporting various higher education and employee learning management systems. She is a subject matter expert for online course design, assessment programming, faculty development, instructional technology, quality matters, accreditation compliance, and technical documentation. Rachel has a strong passion for the academic environment, teaching excellence, student advocacy, environmental science research, and internship development. She also has experience in scientific research, presentation, and implementation of a broad range of natural resources programs, such as the Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP), Farm Bill Program, Grassland Reserve Program (GRP), Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program (WHIP), Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), and Florida Sea Grant.
She built a foundation with environmental management during high school through scholarship and consulting internships with the New Albany Environmental Stewardship program, MAD Scientist Associates, and MORPC Urban Development Guardianship program in Ohio. She furthered this passion for environmental consulting by continuing her education at Muskingum University and Nova Southeastern University, where she expanded her professional practices of conservation and resource management by participating in scholarly research and reporting for professional scientific poster forums.
During her bachelor studies at Muskingum University, she completed research internships on different topics covering the reproductive success of grassland birds protected under the Endangered Species Act, the water quality of the Saltcreek Watershed with an emphasis on Farm Bill Programs, ion selectivity of natrolite for industrial use to remove small minerals from polluted waters, and environmental justice implications of hydraulic fracturing operations. During her marine environmental science master’s degree studies, Rachel focused on post-hooking behavior of fishes on commercial pelagic longline gear and swordfish buoy gear using TDR data at Nova Southeastern University. She provided interpretations of multivariate statistics that analyze long-term study data sets and other natural resource issues to be presented in scientific conference forums.
Principle Responsibilities
- Provides leadership for the School’s distance education and online instruction activities.
- Assists faculty design, develop, and implement course content and assessments using supported learning technology and online learning best practices.
- Provides local support for University-supported teaching tools including the University’s Learning Management System (LMS), CarmenCanvas.
- Serves as lead instructor assistant for the courses Introduction to Environmental Science (ENR2100), Introduction to Environmental Science Laboratory (ENR2101), and Introduction to Forestry, Fisheries, and Wildlife (ENR3300).
- Collaborates with colleagues across the University in projects focusing on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) and communicates findings through publications and conference presentations.
Research & Publications
2014 – 2016: Post-hooking Behavior of Fishes on Commercial Pelagic Longline Gear and Swordfish Buoy Gear Using TDR Data. Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, FL.
2012: Demographic Comparisons of Hydro-fracture Well Locations, Water Retrieval, and Waste in Ohio, Muskingum University, New Concord, OH.
2011: Aaron Celestian and Rachel Hentz. (2011) Time-Resolved Ion Selectivity Studies on Natrolite. REU Program Poster Symposium, Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, KY.
- National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Undergraduates, Western Kentucky University Science Poster Forum
- ACS Central Region Conference
- International Conference on Karst Hydrology and Ecosystems
- AMS Conference on Climate Adaption
- Muskingum University Science Poster Fall Forum
- Aaron Celestian, Michael Powers, and Shelby Rader. (2013) “In situ Raman spectroscopic study of transient polyhedral distortions during cesium ion exchange into sitinakite”. American Mineralogist, Volume 98, pages 1153–1161. https://doi.org/10.2138/am.2013.4349
2010: Temporal Study of Water Quality in the Salt Creek Watershed, Muskingum University, New Concord, OH
- Muskingum University Science Poster Fall Forum
2009: Reproductive Success of Grassland Birds on a Reclaimed Surface Mine, The Wilds, Cumberland, OH
- Muskingum University Science Poster Fall Forum
- Ingold, Danny J., and James L. Dooley. “Nesting Success of Grassland and Shrub-Nesting Birds on The Wilds, an Ohio Reclaimed Surface Mine.” Ohio Journal of Science, vol. 111, no. 2–5, Jan. 2013, pp. 37–41. EBSCOhost, https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=85332862&s....
2006 – 2008: MAD Scientist & Associates LLC and New Albany Environmental Science Program
