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“Why are we getting in the lake and touching the yucky dirt?" 

That was a rhetorical question posed by Claudia Moncada-Wireman as she described the outdoor programs she leads at The Mariners' Museum and Park and recounted how her time at William & Mary’s Batten School & VIMS prepared her for a career in environmental education. 

“Surrounded by the intense level of scientific work at VIMS, practicing how to explain complex science topics to an audience that doesn't necessarily have the same background as you was invaluable,” she said. “I do that all the time with our students.  All of it comes together in a really magical way.” 

Getting started at the Batten School & VIMS  

Moncada-Wireman earned her undergraduate degree in marine science from the University of South Carolina, where she confirmed an interest in marine science but found that she didn’t love her time in the lab. “I was more interested in how we take that science and apply it to current events, classrooms, community learning, that sort of thing,” she said. “I had also focused on bilingual outreach as my main thesis for undergrad and I wanted to pursue that a little bit more, too.” 

When considering graduate schools, Moncada-Wireman appreciated that the M.A. program at the Batten School of Coastal & Marine Sciences & VIMS was, as she described it, “brand spankin’ new.” She added, “They also offered to help pay tuition, which was a really big deal because a lot of professional master’s programs do not help finance your degree.” With her decision made, Moncada-Wireman began an educational journey that would lead to her current role as a senior science educator at The Mariners'. 

Enrolling at the Batten School & VIMS just as in-person events were resuming following the COVID-19 pandemic, Moncada-Wireman appreciated the fresh start. “We were just getting back on our feet,” she said, “so we really all bonded together. And we took all the same classes that the Ph.D. and M.S. students took, so we weren’t isolated in our own bubble.” 

Moncada-Wireman also benefited from the mentorship of her assistantship advisor, Lisa Lawrence M.S. ’96, marine education program leader for the Marine Advisory Program (MAP) at the Batten School & VIMS, as well as her academic advisor, Professor Deborah Steinberg—“both very important, integral parts to my development. I felt I had very good support during my time at VIMS,” she said. 

Pursuing rewarding academic experiences 

Moncada-Wireman first connected with The Mariners' through a Bay watershed education and training (B-WET) assistantship. Funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the B-WET program implements “meaningful watershed educational experiences,” that put students into nature to learn about watershed ecosystems. During the B-WET experience at The Mariners', Moncada-Wireman led students into Mariners’ Lake to plant eel grasses and assist with water quality testing. “I was able to get a little bit of that hands-on experience that I was really craving,” she said, “and then I came back the following year for a full-year teaching internship.” 

Between the two years of the M.A. program, Moncada-Wireman spent her summer interning with The Nature Conservancy’s Virginia Coast Reserve (VCR) on the Eastern Shore. She was the program’s first ever Spanish-language conservation intern, which is now a recurring summer position at VCR. “They have a large Spanish speaking population over there, so I helped them set the groundwork to communicate with this segment of the community,” said Moncada-Wireman. “We started the first annual bilingual picnic at Brownsville Preserve and they are still doing it. I was invited back this past summer, and it was really rewarding to see that the seeds I planted are still growing and flourishing.” 

Moncada-Wireman closed out her time at the Batten School & VIMS with a capstone project that translated Antarctic Adélie penguin population research from Steinberg’s lab into a lesson plan for seventh-grade life science classrooms. "The Case of the Missing Penguins” was created in cooperation with Virgina Science & Educator’s Alliance’s (VA-SEA) annual Lesson Plan Expo and led students through a hands-on investigation into the declining populations of Adélie penguins. A subsequent lesson plan combined that activity with a short story. “Bringing storytelling into a classroom helps students make a more meaningful connection to the science,” said Moncada-Wireman. “I'm still applying that today in the classroom and in the museum with students.” 

Making a difference at the Mariners’ 

“I'm now a senior science educator at The Mariners' Museum and Park,” said Moncada-Wireman, “which means that I have a few programs that I'm in charge of, making sure we have everything we need and making sure everyone's prepared to teach this program.”  

Education at The Mariners' is seasonal, dividing programs into indoor and outdoor experiences. On her typical day, Moncada-Wireman spends the morning and early afternoon setting up, facilitating, and breaking down student programs. The rest of the afternoon is spent doing administrative work, which sometimes involves working with the multimedia team. “They do a lot for our YouTube channel, and we help them take things we frequently talk about with our students and turn that into fun videos.” 

Coordinating with local school systems, The Mariners' education model is based on multiple engagements throughout students’ academic careers—typically third, sixth and ninth grade, though Moncada-Wireman says that fifth grade is also common. “My first cohort of third graders are now coming back through as fifth graders, and fifth graders I saw last year are coming back for kayaking in sixth grade, and they remember [me],” she said. “I love it, because they were making connections, and now we have that rapport. So, it’s working and we’re making an impact repeatedly enough that they remember us, and a lot of them will remember the topics we talked about, too.” 

Inspiring those following in her footsteps 

Moncada-Wireman encourages current Batten School & VIMS students to be both bold and patient. “You don't have to do what everyone else is doing. You can take bits and pieces from what people did in the past, but you can forge your own way,” she said. “Even if you look like you're the only one doing something, that's not necessarily a bad thing. You're getting your own unique experience and you're doing what makes you excited.” 

“And be patient,” Moncada-Wireman added, emphasizing that everyone can find something about which they are passionate. “The joy is coming,” she said, “if you stay steadfast and respect your own hopes and desires.” 

Above all, Moncada-Wireman hopes students share her enthusiasm for the future of the Batten School & VIMS. “I'm excited to see where everything goes, to see how the M.A. program continues to develop, to see how the new undergraduate program develops. It's really encouraging to see that this is a direction that everyone is moving forward in.”

This alumni profile was published in June, 2025.