Hello! My name is Sara Wilbur and I recently started volunteering at Willow Bend. I am writing content for the new garden signs that are being installed this summer.
I am from Fairbanks, Alaska. Much of my childhood was spent on rivers, on skis, and with a violin in my hands. I left Alaska to pursue undergraduate studies in biology and music at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, WA. A six-year hiatus from academia was spent touring the country with a folk band called Patchy Sanders and playing in southern Oregon’s Rogue Valley Symphony. Science eventually called me back, and in 2019 I finished my graduate studies in biology at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, focusing on arctic ground squirrel hibernation physiology and demographics.
An arctic ground squirrel zooms across the snowy tundra. Photo courtesy of Øivind Tøien.
I now live here in Flagstaff. Although I still love research, one of my greatest passions is science writing and communication. I recently completed NAU’s science communication certificate program and am currently writing for Willow Bend and STEM City. I am also the Social Media Officer for the Canadian non-profit organization Art the Science.
Beyond my science interests, I also invest time into the Flagstaff music community. I play with the Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra, teach violin to kindergartners at Marshall Elementary, and teach violin through NAU’s Community Music & Dance Academy.
Thank you, Sara, for bringing your many talents to our garden projects at Willow Bend!