About Me

I am currently the Education and Summer Camp Director for Mass Audubon's Museum of American Bird Art in Canton. In my spare time, I am passionate about nature photography and the conservation of our natural world. I have been teaching for 16 years and remain active in field biology and pollinator ecology. I wrote the cover article for the April-June 2016 Mass Audubon Connections Magazine on pollinators. 

Before working at Mass Audubon, I ran the STEM Starter Academy for Massasoit Community College. In addition, I conducted research and mentored undergraduates on native bee ecology. Our research was presented at the Ecological Society of American's 100th Annual Meeting in Baltimore, Maryland, in August 2015 and at the Northeastern Natural History Conference in Springfield, Massachusetts in April 2015. 

I am also an Adjunct Faculty in the Biology Department at Massasoit. I continue to teach different biology courses, including General Biology 1 & 2, Anatomy and Physiology 1 & 2, and Evolutionary Biology. ​

News

May 2018: Awarded first prize in the Massasoit Arts Festival in the open juried pool for photography for the second year in a row. 

May 2017: Awarded first prize in the Massasoit Arts Festival in the open juried pool for photography. 

Summer 2016: I ran an extremely successful and innovative Wild at Art summer camp for Mass Audubon, nearly doubling the enrollment and revenue for the camp in a single year. 

Spring 2016: I wrote the cover article on native bees and other important pollinators for the April-June Mass Audubon Connections Magazine.

Spring and Summer 2015: My student's research on the effect native plant restoration has on native bee populations was presented at the Ecological Society of America's Annual Meeting (August 2015). I also ran an extremely success summer camp for Mass Audubon, called the Wild at Art Summer Camp at the Museum of American Bird Art in Canton, Massachusetts. In the spring, I mentored 8 undergraduate research students who are conducting research on the effect of habitat restoration on native bee abundance, diversity, and richness. My students presented their research at the Northeastern Natural History Conference in Springfield, Massachusetts on April 20th, 2015.

​June to July 2014: Coordinated and ran a highly successful STEM Starter Academy at Massasoit Community College. 

April 2013: I gave a talk entitled: "Bee richness and abundance of Penikese Island and Cuttyhunk Island of the Elizabeth Islands, MA" in the Bee Ecology session organized by the amazing Joan Milam at the Northeastern Naturalist Annual Meeting in Springfield Massachusetts. All the presentations were terrific. 

February 2013: I had the privilege of presenting a poster at the AAAS (Science) Annual Meeting in Boston on my research "The Importance of Ecological Context: The Effect of Neighboring Exotic Plants on the Herbivory of Common Milkweed by the Monarch Butterfly" and won the student poster award. Click on the title for a pdf copy of the poster. 

August 2012: I had the privilege of presenting a talk at the Ecological Society of America (ESA) Annual Meeting in Portland, Oregon. Click here for the abstract.

Contact Me

If you are interested in my research or teaching experience and have any questions please feel free to contact me.

email: smkent22 {{at}} gmail.com

Note about pictures: Unless noted, all pictures on this website are mine. If you'd like to use them, please drop me an email for permission.