Featured Woman in STEM: Corina Newsome
Early Life and Education
Corina Newsome grew up in Germantown, Philadelphia and earned her BA in Zoo and Wildlife Biology in 2015 from Malone University. She became interested in the field of Ornithology after learning about blue jays—and seeing one for the first time— in her Ornithology field class. Newsome then received her graduate degree from Georgia Southern University.
Corina Newsome. Photo by Katherine Arntzen/Georgia Southern University
Career
Newsome began her career as a zookeeper at the Nashville Zoo, where she worked on their outreach and environmental education program and trained zoo animals. She then went on to work at the Philadelphia Zoo and Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. Corina’s graduate research thesis focuses on the role of climate change and predation on MacGillivray’s seaside sparrows.
Newsome is a published author. She wrote a chapter about birds in the book Rooted & Rising: Voices of Courage in a Time of Climate Crisis, published in 2019 by Rowman & Littlefield. She has also been featured on different podcasts, radio shows and other media, including NPR’s Short Waves and Science Friday, BBC Wildlife, Grist and Diversity in Action magazine. In addition, Newsome plays a role in 2017 environmental documentary film Behold the Earth. There is not one news platform Newsome has not conquered!
Newsome uses her voice on social media to communicate science, advocate for environmental equality and promote diversity in biology and other scientific careers. Follow Corina on Twitter and Instagram and see for yourself! Both handles are @hood_naturalis. Hood Naturalist is a nod to her upbringing in an urban setting and is an attempt to counter the assumption that all naturalists grow up in rural or wilderness areas.
Corina has recently been featured in a New York Times article for her work co-organizing a Black Birders Week to celebrate Black birders. Corina helped plan this event series to promote black naturalists and anti-racism in the field.
Get to know Corina in the video below! Learn how her passion for the environment began when she was young observing the slugs that lived on the side of her building. When she started an internship in education at a local zoo, she discovered it was possible she could pursue a career as a wildlife scientist.
