Our mission: Engage. Encourage. Enrich.
We engage you in activities that quench your innate curiosity, encourage personal development, and enrich your communities.
Heidi Shaw, PhD
Hi! I’ve been teaching psychology and advising community college students for 30 years. My favorite part of my job is working one-on-one with students. Sometimes it’s tutoring. Sometimes it’s advising. Sometimes it’s in research. And sometimes it’s just when they need an ear or shoulder.
In my coaching and mentoring, I’m like the kindling. I’m the spark. I’m the breath of air that fuels the first flames. But I’m not the fire. I provide my folks with the knowledge to move forward, and help them develop the thinking skills and confidence in themselves to take those next steps. There’s no better feeling than to see one of my people move forward with confidence and a strategy.
With regard to research, I studied with the Drs. Allen and Beatrix Gardner in the 1990s and continued collaborating with Allen Gardner after completing my degree. I continue to work with the records from this project, including the chimpanzees’ daily diaries and vocabulary checklists. Whether you’re a student or an interested community member, you can find a place in our research projects.
You can find me on LinkedIn here.
W.R. “Rattles” Shaw
I’m a professional writer. In my career, I’ve worked with undergraduate, Masters and doctoral students to
I got my nickname “Rattles” from my work with Northern Pacific Rattlesnakes. For a decade, I spent every spring, summer, and fall night, from 10p to the wee hours, patrolling rural roads, moving rattlesnakes off the road to avoid them being hit by oncoming traffic. I have experience caring for a group of rattlesnakes living at Central Washington University, as well as a private relief caregiver for individual snakes of various species. I’ve been assisting in research projects since I was in high school, first on an Earthwatch expedition out of Woods Hole, MA. In college, I worked on a project with bees. After college, I spent almost two decades working with cross-fostered chimpanzees. More recently, I’ve assisted on a rattlesnake project with herpetologist, Dr. Dan Beck. Together with Heidi, I continue to work with the records from the cross-fostering chimpanzee project.