Isabella “Izzy” Miller has a specific goal in mind after completing her educational journey at Temple — protecting the planet for this and future generations.
“There are definitely some disparities in addressing climate change,” said Miller, who will graduate this week from the College of Science and Technology’s (CST) Earth and Environmental Science program and is well on her way to completing her Sustainability Professional Science master’s degree (offered by CST and the College of Liberal Arts) in 2027 thanks to the University’s “4+1” pathway. “I want to be part of the forward motion toward eliminating those disparities and finding solutions.”
Miller said after completing her undergraduate program this year and her master’s next year, “I definitely see myself jumping into local aspects of environmental communication before possibly exploring environmental consulting or policy work and a variety of other things on a larger scale.”
“I’d like to initially make an impact in my local community; I’ve considered going into K through 12 teaching. I’m from Maryland and live close to the Chesapeake Bay where there are a lot of initiatives taking place related to marine conservation,” she said. “I also live close to a military base where there is a lot of research going on toward protecting the wildlife they have on the base. I’ve been given the skills to pursue a wide variety of possibilities.”
Miller said she was drawn to Temple by “all of the opportunities for research, which is something I wanted to pursue.” In the summer of 2024, Miller discovered hands-on research opportunities were available through the Temple Ambler Field Station.
“I learned right away that I definitely liked research. After taking introductory courses in biology and chemistry, however, I discovered that the traditional lab setting was not for me. Having the opportunity to do field-based work with the Field Station — getting outside, getting my hands dirty — was much closer to the path I wanted to pursue as a career,” she said. “I’ve continued on with the Field Station each semester because of the community we’ve built. It’s a very supportive environment, which gives me the space to feel like I can grow as a scientist — I have the time to learn essential skills as an ecologist.”
As part of the Temple Ambler Field Station, students gain advanced training by engaging in hands-on research internships that bring alive the excitement of science through an inquiry-based experience. Student interns work alongside researchers in the field to support ongoing projects and are able to develop investigations of their own.
“Having my own research project, I’ve just felt like there are always more questions to ask. I’ve had the space to exercise my curiosity,” she said. “Temple Ambler and the Field Station took what was a devastating event — the tornado that struck campus in 2021 — and created a positive out of it. This was a climate change driven event and since that time, we’ve been able to dive deep into research on the impact of that event — as student researchers, we are directly part of a change that is so urgent in today’s world.”
Working on this ongoing research “from a firsthand perspective has made me feel like I have a better understanding of the broader aspects of climate change through both my own research project and the overarching work all of us are engaged in at the Field Station.”
"My research looks at arthropod diversity at the Temple Forest Observatory (TFO) and Robbin's Park to observe how the disturbance event is facilitating changes in community composition. I use pitfall traps to collect ground-dwelling insects and spiders looking at species richness and abundance — I’ve collected more than 1,900 arthropods during my time with the Field Station,” she said. “I’m looking at how the difference in canopy cover and understory growth changes the temperature and soil moisture, creating these microclimates. I’m exploring how the difference in environmental composition between Robbin’s Park, which is near campus, and the TFO is driving the differences in arthropod composition that I’m seeing.”
Miller presented her research project — “Canopy Structure and Microclimate Mediate Arthropod Diversity After Tornado Disturbance” — during a poster session at the 2025 Ecological Society of America National Conference in Baltimore, MD.
“So far, we have found that the highest richness and abundance is in the undisturbed site, as we expected. We've also seen that there are obvious shifts in species dominance across seasons, which is also expected,” said Miller, who serves as an officer in the Temple Ecological Club (ESA SEEDS chapter). “In my time at the Field Station, I’ve presented at eight symposiums and conferences, some of which were national and Mid-Atlantic conferences through the Ecological Society of America.”
Miller said she takes pride in “having the support of the Field Station to be able to feel confident enough and prepared enough to be able to present my findings.”
“I’m also proud of pushing myself out of my comfort zone to learn these public speaking skills and science communication skills. With an opportunity like the Field Station, you’re going to get out of it what you put into it,” she said. “There’s a saying that closed mouths don’t get fed. You have to ask for help when you need it, you have to ask questions — I think I’ve asked 20 million questions and more while I’ve been here. College is a whole next experience, so you have to ask what resources are available, who's willing to help and where you can get more information to really make the most out of your experience at Temple.”
Miller’s contributions to the Field Station and beyond have not gone unnoticed. While at Temple, she has received several competitive fellowships, including a Frances Velay Fellowship, a prestigious, funded summer research program designed to support undergraduate women in STEM fields; Temple University’s Diamond Research Scholars Program and CST-RSP.
“I’m very grateful to have had those opportunities — they are a wonderful stepping stone for career development across the spectrum. Frances Velay was definitely science-based while the Diamond Research Scholars encompasses research from every facet of Temple,” she said. “It gives you the opportunity to learn through these different sectors how to communicate research to different audiences.”
Miller said the presentation aspects of research with the Field Station combined with the hands-on learning taking place for each project has proven invaluable to her as a student.
“You can learn something in class but being able to actually see how it applies in the real world changes everything. I’m able to take what I’m learning in an environmental studies class, for example, and apply it directly to what is happening in the Field Station,” said Miller, who plans to continue on with the Temple Ambler Field Station as she completes her master’s degree. “I’ve found the hands-on aspect of the Field Station has helped me to connect different concepts I’ve learned in a variety of the classes I’ve taken — it fuels curiosity and provides inspiration. It’s like having a map where you can see how everything is interconnected, which essentially is the foundation of ecology as a study. All of these experiences combined have set me up well for some of the larger things that I would like to tackle in my career after I complete my degrees.”
Students interested in becoming a Field Station Research Intern, should reach out to the Temple Ambler Field Station at fieldstation@temple.edu with their name, why they are interested in working with the Field Station, current transcripts, and current resumé. Learn more about the Temple Ambler Field Station here.