Project Coordinator

Katie Theobald is a science teacher at Commonwealth Academy in Alexandria, VA. She currently teaches Environmental Science, Biology, and Chemistry and is also the head of the science department and coordinator of the after school program.

Katie earned her B.S. in Biology from Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio. In addition to Biology, Katie focused her attention on Chemistry, Environmental Studies, and Animal Behavior. Due to her fascination with behavioral research, her senior project was on female gorillas and she explored how dominance impacts their space use in captive exhibits.

Currently, she is working on her Masters in Science Education from Montana State University and will present her capstone this summer. She is studying the potential uses of social networking in the secondary science classroom as a facilitator for out of class discussion and collaboration.

Katie spent the summer of 2009 working on classes out in Montana. During her Dinosaur Paleontology class, Katie and her classmates spent a week excavating a site that had several large dinosaur bones.

While getting her undergraduate degree, Katie worked at both the Indianapolis Zoo and Cincinnati Zoo. In Indianapolis, she helped coordinate and manage their summer teen program.

In Cincinnati, she ran overnight programs for school groups through their Nocturnal Adventures program. She loved educating students at the zoo and it ultimately pushed her toward pursuing a career in teaching.

In her non-teaching time, Katie enjoys walking and hiking. She has completed the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer 3 years in a row walking 39.3 miles in one weekend. She also loves to dance.

In addition, Katie loves to travel and took an amazing summer trip to Peru in 2008 to visit the ruins at Machu Picchu. She is looking to top those experiences this summer in Thailand.