Alaina Zyhowski
Senior Aquatic Science Educator
Alaina is an enthusiastic educator with 15 years of experience in diverse settings with a focus on grades 3-8. Her favorite past positions include Outdoor Living Skills Coordinator and Naturalist at YMCA Camp Willson, teaching general science at public elementary schools, and teaching earth science, biology, and chemistry at a private middle school in Buffalo, NY. She also enjoyed ‘summering’ as a Drama Director with Lancaster Youth Bureau’s Children’s Performing Arts Academy.
Alaina earned her B.S. degree in Environmental Science with a concentration in water quality management from the Ohio State University and her M.S. degree in Childhood Education from Canisius College. Alaina’s international experience spans England, Costa Rica, Poland, and France. In Costa Rica, she was thrilled to explore neo-tropical wet, dry, and cloud forests and complete research on Pollinators of Begonias and Microclimates.
Alaina visited Maine in the summer of 2021 and was hooked ever since she spent time kayaking on the Kennebec River and learned about its two tide cycles as it nears the Atlantic Ocean. Here at Herring Gut, she has enjoyed ‘diving in’ to the biodiversity of Maine’s aquatic ecosystems and sharing it with children and adults alike.
