Christine Payack
Director/Teacher- Outdoor Lab
Christine Payack (aka Ms. Turtle) is honored to be part of the Outdoor Lab community! She joined the Lab staff in 2016 by way of Jamestown Elementary School (JES) in Arlington where she was a second grade teacher, the Science Lead and supervisor of the fifth grade Green Team. Her colleagues named her the JES Teacher of the Year in 2013-14.
Her public school teaching experience spans over 30 years in VA, NH and Cambridge, MA and also includes working with children and adults in various afterschool, community and environmental centers. Christine’s students called her the “Creature Teacher” because of her love for all animals domestic and wild. She earned a B.Sc. in Animal Ecology and Conservation from the University of Massachusetts- Amherst and a M.Sc. in Environmental Studies from Antioch University (New England) Graduate School. Christine was recognized as the Massachusetts Audubon- Conservation Teacher of the Year in 1995. She is a participant in the Smithsonian’s Migratory Bird Center Bridging the Americas program. In the summer, she teaches at the National Zoo’s Summer Safari Day Camp. Christine brings her passion for the natural world into her work with children –striving to teach children to care about each other and all living things– so they believe they can and will make a difference for the environment today and in the future.
Christine hails from New Jersey. She enjoys reading her field guides, sorting through her “biofacts” and learning as much as she can about nature. She lives with her elegant retired greyhound, friendly cat, former classroom guinea pig and elder cockatiel.