About Natalia
Growing up in Florida, Natalia spent countless hours snorkeling along the shore and hiking through maritime forests, and learned early on that she wanted to dedicate her life to coastal conservation. Her curiosity to learn more about the rare habitats of Florida grew as she began participating in clean-ups at local parks and studying gopher tortoise ecology while in high school. Herpetology seemed to choose her, as she would find herself studying the impacts of light pollution on nesting sea turtles along the coast of Florida years later after earning degrees in marine biology and environmental journalism. In 2017, Natalia began working with local communities to help mitigate the effects of artificial lighting on sea turtle nesting beaches by playing a lead role in a community science night sky research project at Gulf Islands National Seashore. She then served as a lighting project specialist at the international sea turtle non-profit Sea Turtle Conservancy for nearly two years while managing wildlife-friendly lighting retrofit projects with beachfront property owners. The experience she gained empowering communities to drive the protection of their local ecosystems led to her passion for educating youth and families about coastal resiliency.
Upon moving to Boston in early 2021, Natalia gained formal experience designing STEM curriculum that engaged middle school and high school students in real-world climate research and land restoration projects taking place in the Boston Harbor as an Education Technician at the National Parks of Boston. As a Colombian American, she was grateful to be able to meet the needs of many Spanish-speaking students at the park’s partner schools while learning about their interests and experiences living in the Boston area. She recognizes that by working with schools and youth groups in BIPOC communities, families within our watershed will have full agency to address issues that affect them the most like stormwater pollution and sea level rise. As MyRWA’s new Watershed Educator, she is excited to connect youth to the Mystic River through creative, field-based educational programs. Please reach out to her if you are interested in hosting an educational program with MyRWA at your school or community group (email: natalia.bayona@mysticriver.org)
