Katie MacDiarmid

Katie graduated from the University of Oregon with a degree in Environmental Science in 2007. Her study abroad experience in Costa Rica during the summer and fall of 2006 sparked a real interest in Central America, and she has since returned on several occasions, traveling throughout Nicaragua, Honduras and Guatemala. Committed to learning about the communities she visits, Katie is excited to combine her love for Central American culture with her passion for teaching. She worked with the Northwest Outdoor Science School, first as a Program Leader and more recently as a Field Instructor, teaching science to high-school students in an outdoor setting and assisting the other counselors in their lessons. Katie's teaching experience is not limited to the classroom - she has also led wilderness adventure programs throughout Oregon where she taught backpacking, rafting and rock-climbing to high-school and college students. She is currently working as a naturalist at Whiskeytown Environmental School, leading daily hikes and teaching science along the way. During her year in Cofradia, she looks forward to "immersing herself in the community as much as possible and understanding how best to approach her place as privileged citizen in a world with such a highly unequal distribution of wealth."