ALWRI welcomes science delivery specialist, Olga Helmy

The Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute recently welcomed Olga Helmy to our team!

Olga is a science delivery outreach specialist who uses graphic design, data visualization, interpretive writing, and interpersonal skills to communicate science to diverse audiences. Building upon her background as a field biologist working with rural communities in the US and beyond, Olga strives to make science clear, concise and accessible. Recent projects include creating on-line content for conservation and education organizations, developing exhibits for STEM-focused museums, and synthesizing fire ecology literature for the Rocky Mountain Research Station’s Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory. At the Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute, Olga will help to facilitate communication between ALWRI research staff and managers-in-the-field, ensuring the results of our research efforts are available to managers across the National Wilderness Preservation System.

Olga earned a bachelor’s degree in zoology from Southern Illinois University, and a master’s degree in entomology from the University of Kansas. She also completed post-graduate work in the Wildlife Biology Program at the University of Montana. In addition to field work in the United States, over the past two decades Olga has worked in a genomics lab in Canada, taught conservation biology in southern Africa and has been active in international ecology and conservation efforts across Micronesia and Southeast Asia.