Isabel Robertson was one of the youngest presenters at EENM’s NM Outdoor Learning Summit on November 1, 2025. Along with a classmate, she expertly explained her wildlife research findings before taking the group out to scout for porcupines. EENM Coordinator Jordan Bosiljevac interviewed Isabel to learn more about her work, and how outdoor education influenced her path to wildlife biology.
Isabel’s love for wildlife first manifested as the agility courses she built for her dog in her backyard. Belonging to a family of avid outdoorspeople also helped get her out into the wilderness each weekend, instilling a love for the unique natural environments of New Mexico and the creatures that live there. Unlike many young people passionate about animals, Isabel didn’t dream of becoming a veterinarian. “I don’t think I want to work in a clinic all day,” she said. Instead, Isabel found a way to unite her love for animals and for the outdoors in her wildlife biology courses at Bosque School.
A 2024 graduate of Bosque School, Isabel started studying porcupines in the 11th grade. The school has a long history–over 20 years–of studying the animals that live in their backyard. “We’re kind of at the tip of their range here in New Mexico, and there’s really not a lot of research about porcupines in New Mexico or in the Southwest in general,” Isabel says. So, to fill this gap in research, educator Dan Shaw began working with students to collect research about porcupines in the Albuquerque Bosque. Shaw is a founding teacher of Bosque School, the co-founder and former co-director of the Bosque Ecological Monitoring Project (BEMP), an adjunct faculty member of UNM Biology Department, a published author, and a huge influence for Isabel. Through his mentorship, Isabel became involved not only in the school’s porcupine research but also in their Field and Community Science programs which serve not only Bosque School but many other K-12 schools in the Albuquerque area to involve more students in “Science that matters beyond the classroom.” This is a key feature of Bosque School’s approach to science teaching, and it’s part of what got Isabel so excited about wildlife biology.
In her senior year, Isabel continued her research for her senior thesis. By using a combined radio and GPS collar, Isabel was able to track porcupines every 7 hours, collecting data that otherwise would not have been possible to capture. Through this research, she was able to identify movement patterns for several porcupines, including one–named Wilma–who preferred to traverse city streets and parks instead of the meandering trails of the Bosque. Isabel has presented her findings at the Wildlife Society’s NM and AZ Joint Annual Meeting (JAM) for two years running, and she plans to go again in 2026. She also presented her findings with another student from Bosque School at EENM’s NM Outdoor Learning Summit. Participants loved the students’ session not only for their meticulous preparation, but also because it allowed them to appreciate the huge influence that hands-on environmental education has on youth.
Inspired by her experience in high school, Isabel has chosen to study Biology at UNM. She is continuing to work with Bosque School to keep up her research and also to facilitate visits from other schools in the Field and Community Science program. Going from student to teacher, Isabel has aimed to emulate the facets of her education that helped grow her passion. Regarding her teaching philosophy, Isabel says, “I think it’s really exhausting when you’re at school to feel like no one trusts you to take initiative and do anything on your own. And so, as a teacher, I try to allow students to be as hands on as possible.” In practice, this means letting students be in the driver’s seat of the research they’re doing. Isabel says that they’re often working with younger students to do small mammal trapping: “When we’re measuring the rats and mice, I always want [the students] to have the opportunity to use the caliper and open it up and read the number to everyone, and get to do stuff that feels really hands-on and important to them.”
After UNM, Isabel plans to pursue a career in wildlife biology or conservation. She knows there may be challenges along the way, from federal funding cuts to climate change, but she says that her coursework is helping her put those challenges into perspective. In a class about public lands, a speaker told Isabel that the current challenges to conservation efforts “make the work more valuable,” and that it’s an opportunity to “rise to the challenge,” which is what she is working to do each day.
To learn more about Bosque School’s Field and Community Science program and to see if your classroom qualifies to participate, click here.
To learn more about Isabel’s porcupine research and to see a video of her and her team in action, click here.