About

 
 
 

ciao!

I’m a multi-disciplinary designer and researcher focused on government (public services), science, and climate projects. I’m also a maker, dancer, and community weaver. I love surfing and bird-watching, and I’m currently based in Rome, Italy.

Feel free to reach out if you want to chat, join the bird club I co-founded, or tell me all your pizza secrets:

 

BIO 🛵

Sara uses design to help people engage more deeply and more consciously with the world around them. Her work spans from integrating design mindsets into environmental and conservation projects, creating educational curricula to engage students on STEAM topics, to helping improve public and private services and products. She leverages tools and methods from human-centered design, participatory design, interaction design, and ethnographic research.

She’s been a National Geographic Explorer since 2015, and through this community, she has led and co-led several international projects focused on conservation and environmental education. In 2021, with funding from the National Geographic Society, she worked with over 60 conservationists, technologists, and storytellers worldwide to launch an interactive digital book called "Constructive Visions." Through multi-sensory stories, the experience invites readers to share their visions of more sustainable post-COVID futures. Her previous project, which was funded by the Society, involved creating an underwater virtual reality film set in Sablayan, Philippines, called Grandpa's Reef. Through the initial in-person campaign, over 1,000 students in the Philippines watched the film in VR and participated in a design challenge to solve local marine pollution issues. The project has now reached over 200,000 people.

Sara originally started her career in science: she studied Physics at Macaulay Honors College at CUNY Hunter and conducted Astrophysics research at the American Museum of Natural History and at telescopes around the world for 5 years. After her undergraduate studies, she decided to dive into design, to apply design thinking methods to science and conservation projects. In 2018, she received a master's degree in Integrated Design & Media from NYU Tandon School of Engineering. There, she was a fellow for two years in an NSF-funded program, where she adapted and redesigned the STEM curriculum for students with Autism Spectrum Disorder in New York City public middle schools.

In 2022, she co-founded the Sonoma County Feminist Bird Club – a growing community of friendly bird nerds, queer weirdos and introvert/extroverts who care about the outdoors and social justice.

 
 
 

mentorship 💡

Mentor at the DESIS Lab at NOVA SBE

SPEAKING 🎤

2022 – National Geographic Explorers Festival, National Geographic Society & The Nature Conservancy Marine & Community Conservation Remote Externship - Experts Panel

2020 – Intrepid Museum GOALS for Girls STEM Mentorship Day

2019 – Today at Apple @ Carnegie Library DC, National Geographic Explorers festival, Caveat NYC, Astronomy on Tap

2018 – New York City High School of Art & Design, National Science Teachers Association Conference Atlanta

2017 – Astronomy on Tap

2015 – GVA Sessions in Geneva (Switzerland), LES Girls Club, Hunter College Undergraduate Research Conference, Queens College

2014 – New York Cares Winter Benefit, TEDxCUNY, American Museum of Natural History REU Symposium, NYC Intrepid Museum