About Us
Meet your Hosts
Stephanie Ruiz
Originally from central Illinois, I moved to Texas to study wildlife biology at Texas State University in San Marcos, TX. As I progressed through the program, I became increasingly interested in studying human impacts on wildlife populations. Upon completion of my undergraduate degree, I joined the graduate school at Texas State, where I conducted thesis research on bat species and habitat use in the Trans-Pecos of Texas.
Following graduate school, I became a wildlife biologist for an oil and gas environmental consulting firm. While I enjoyed this work, I felt a career in environmental and science education would be more impactful. I obtained my teacher certification and began teaching 8th grade science. After two years in middle school, I moved to high school and currently teach high school biology and aquatic science in Central Texas. I feel fortunate that I am able to combine my passion for science and love of teaching.
Matt McGrievy
I currently work at the University of South Carolina as Director of Web Development and Communications in the Arnold School of Public Health. I’ve been in my current job for 9 years and before that, I worked at a number of other universities (including University of Alabama, Johns Hopkins, and University of North Carolina) over my 22 year career.
I graduated from Miami University (in Ohio, not Florida) with a degree in English and earned my Master of Library and Information Science from the University of Texas. Although I started my career as a Computer Services Librarian, I moved pretty quickly into desktop IT support and eventually I transitioned to server systems administration. As part of my job at UofSC, I’m in charge of managing the web presence for the Arnold School as well as all electronic communication activities. I also manage a number of sites for individual research groups, studies, centers, as well as projects for external agencies.