Patricia Gail Patrick (Trish) is conducting a research project entitled “An Exploration of Indonesian (Bengkulu) Traditional Healer (Battra) Knowledge and Biology Education Student Knowledge and Their Sense of Conservation” hosted by the Universitas Bengkulu under the 2019 Fulbright US Scholar Program. Her research period is from October 2019 to April 2020.

She is working with her university team to investigate the ways traditional healers pass their medicinal knowledge to the next generation. Additionally, she is working with a professor and biology students of a turtle reintroduction program to determine how the students engage in conservation efforts.

She seeks to use the narratives from the native healers and biology students to define their Sense of Conservation. By defining the ways in which conservation knowledge passes from one generation to the next through traditional healers and professors of biology students, she seeks to develop a local Sense of Conservation in Sumatra. This information may be used to develop long term conservation programs based on local beliefs and needs.

Trish is an Associate Professor of Methodology in the Department of Teaching, Counseling, and Leadership at Columbus State University in Columbus, Georgia. She holds a PhD in Curriculum and Instruction in Science Education from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Her research focus is on learning outside the classroom with an interest in how families learn science and their perspectives on conservation. Her published books are Preparing Informal Science Educators: Perspectives from Science Communication and Education and Zoo Talk.