Heather Stricker is an adjunct faculty member for Distance Education at Unity Environmental University. Heather holds a Master of Science in Conservation Biology from Central Michigan University and a Bachelor of Science in Wildlife Ecology from Iowa State University. Heather is also in her 3rd year of a doctoral program at the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point, majoring in Educational Sustainability, with a focus on climate change.

Heather’s early years in conservation focused on large carnivores, where she studied the landscape habitat patterns and behaviors of wolves, black bears, bobcats, and more. Later, she broadened her field of study to look at complex patterns of habitat availability and interacting human/natural phenomena. This led her to a research role studying biomass removal (for renewable energy) and human disturbance patterns on forestlands of the eastern United States, and ultimately climate change solutions-building.

Heather has held roles with state, federal, and tribal agencies, as well as universities and non-profit organizations. These varied experiences have helped Heather to have a broad understanding of the different perspectives surrounding natural resources and human interactions with nature, which is important for sustainability solutions-building. Throughout Heather’s roles and experiences, she has leveraged and gained expertise in geographic information systems (GIS) as a critical tool for sustainability. As such, Heather’s teaching style is highly systems- and solutions-oriented, focusing not just on the biophysical aspects of a sustainability issue, but also on the most up-to-date technical tools, complex interacting factors, and human elements.