Cassandra Rubio

•Supported 9th–10th grade environmental science classes by assisting with classroom instruction, activities, and hands-on laboratory experiments.

•Tutored students individually and in small groups to reinforce concepts related to ecology, climate change, sustainability, and environmental systems.

• Assisted students during environmental science labs by explaining procedures, ensuring safety protocols, and helping interpret experimental results.

•Served as a second set of eyes in the classroom, monitoring student engagement, behavior, and comprehension to support an effective learning environment.

•Worked closely with environmental science teachers to identify individual student learning needs, adapt instructional approaches, and provide targeted academic support.

•Assisted with grading assignments, labs, and assessments, providing constructive feedback to support student growth and understanding of environmental science topics.

•Mentored students by offering academic guidance, encouragement, and study strategies, fostering confidence and interest in environmental and sustainability-related fields.

• Conducted feeding assays and epiphyte analysis to support wetland and estuarine ecology research.

• Collected, recorded, and organized experimental data, maintaining detailed field and lab notes to support mesocosm studies.

• Assisted with mesocosm experiments, including setup, monitoring, and maintenance of controlled environmental conditions.

• Filtered and analyzed chlorophyll samples to assess primary productivity and water quality indicators.

•Supported graduate students with ongoing research experiments, following established lab and field protocols.

•Performed fieldwork in wetland and estuarine environments, including collecting eelgrass for experimental use and setting and monitoring traps for oyster and wetland species research.

•Followed safety, ethical, and environmental guidelines while working in sensitive wetland habitats.

• English lessons for woman/ children - teaching conversational english, vocabulary, lesson planning reading and writing assignments.
• Building school/ community buildings - contributing hands-on to physical construction task
• Educational workshops on social and community issues - focused on climate change, sustainability, and environmental justice.
• Mentoring women/mothers creating a supportive respectful space to share personal experience, and goals related to education, family, and economic stability.

• Participate in maintenance of the hatchery: ensuring nest enclosures are secure, monitoring nest environmental conditions (sand/air temperature, moisture, predator protection)
• Assist with releasing hatchlings safely into the ocean
• Maintain field logs, catalogs or databases recording all observations
• Regular beach clean ups to remove debris, plastics, or other hazards that may threaten nesting turtles or hatchlings
• work collaboratively as part of a team - share duties, live together, patrol as a group