Michael Machura

• Independently researched and developed talking points to engage guests and inspire compassion, curiosity, and conservation for the aquatic animal world.

• Professionally instructed classrooms of 25+ students, monitored learning, and supervised hallways at a culturally diverse high school.

• Developed and facilitated hands-on learning experiences to enhance youth (ages 6-12) engagement in science during overnight programs.

• Executed lesson plans while fostering a positive learning environment for middle school classrooms of 25-30 students.

• Coached and encouraged more than 60 new teen drivers in behind-the-wheel and classroom courses, with 95% passing a Secretary of State-certified driving program.

• Researched, developed, and delivered interpretive programs to engage visitors and provide exceptional guest experiences.

• Developed tours, signage, and online educational resources to spark public interest in the conservation of threatened and endangered trees.

• Executed restoration projects in partnership with a six-person team, focusing on revitalizing native habitats throughout the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.

• Oversaw daily operations to ensure animal care and effective management of a five-person team at a remote environmental educational field station.
• Facilitated natural history tours by sharing in-depth knowledge of local ecology and conservation topics.

• Proactively stepped in mid-year to cover an emergency staff absence, teaching five sections of Chemistry and Physics as a long-term substitute at a socioeconomically and culturally diverse high school.

• Developed student-driven laboratory exercises for 12 sections of Microbiology, General Biology, Anatomy, and Physiology.
• Secured $25,000 in departmental funding to upgrade laboratory teaching equipment.
• Co-facilitated a summer camp designed to introduce and encourage high school students in the chemical engineering and STEM disciplines.

• Employed inquiry-based curriculum to teach environmental stewardship and scientific decision making, impacting approximately 300 students in ten western Montana schools.
• Led students in gathering biological, ecological, and chemical data on the aquatic and riparian habitat of two contrasting stream ecosystems.
• Engaged middle school students in the process of environmental data collection and interpretation through a five-day classroom and field curriculum module.