Brief Biographical Sketch:

Karinne (she/her/hers) fell in love with birds in second grade through the elementary Science Olympiad event "Feathered Friends." Twelve years later, she is an aspiring ornithologist!

She founded her high school's birding club, participated in annual regional bird counts, volunteered in a local bird rehabilitation center, launched a statewide network of young birders in Michigan, and served as a camp counselor at the Michigan Young Birders Camp. Her introductory birding podcast, "Taking Flight," aims to increase interest in birding and spread awareness about issues in the birding community.

Through surveying breeding bird populations, she learned to identify birds both visually and aurally (by ear). She has conducted general surveys, and species-density point counts, and submitted over 250 reports to eBird, the research database for all bird observations worldwide. She is also an advocate for environmental sustainability.

Her research experience includes investigating the effects of lead on American Robins in Flint, MI after the Flint Water Crisis as well as analyzing the structural colors in a rare Venezuelan hummingbird. After Yale, she hopes to explore bird behavior and interspecific interaction from a genetic lens by conducting both field and lab work throughout Central and South America.

She has experience teaching introductory birding at the elementary, middle, and high school, and university levels. In her free time, she leads hikes around New Haven through Yale Outdoors and prepares bird specimens for the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History. She is a member of Yale Club Jump Rope and loves to play pickleball. She hopes to see you in her class!

Past Classes