• Iowa State University (2017): Bachelor of Science, Biology
• University of Nebraska (2022): Ph.D., Evolutionary ecology

Fun facts

• Enjoys bird watching – particularly shore birds
• Likes to bake – a hobby she picked up while in graduate school
• Has a tortoiseshell cat 
• Raised in Nacogdoches, a city in East Texas

If there is anything Miranda Salsbery hopes to bring to the apprentices and fellows she works with, it’s advocacy and understanding. After all, the outreach specialist for the Army Educational Outreach Program at Rochester Institute of Technology has been in their shoes as a student and post-doctoral professional.

Dr. Salsbery started with the program – a branch of RIT’s K-12 University Center – on Aug. 1, 2022. Primarily working with AEOP fellows and non-high school apprentices, Salsbery has been an integral part of building the program and being a line-of-contact for participants. Despite not requiring a Ph.D. for the position, Salsbery said it was important for her to continue to bring graduate-school experience to the job.

“Having been in grad school, I have an understanding of what they need, and hope to better serve them,” Salsbery said. “I want to act as a reminder that they matter and there are resources for them, and that I can help connect them to those resources, whether it’s something I picked up in my own personal networking or through the program.”

Fellow AEOP outreach specialist Kierra McInnis works in a similar role and focuses on high school apprentices.

Salsbery grew up in East Texas and spent her time in higher education in the Midwest. In 2017, she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in biology from Iowa State University, followed by five years in graduate school at the University of Nebraska. She holds a doctorate in evolutionary ecology.

And though Salsbery’s journey to RIT was one she said was a lengthy process, it was the “right fit.”

“I liked the Midwest, but knew I might not be able to stay given the jobs I was exploring,” she said. “I like this area, and after interviewing, knew it was the right fit. I like that AEOP still connects me to a university that has those resources and that structure I was looking for.”

It additionally fulfills her passion in STEM outreach – science, technology, engineering and math.

“Science was always an option for me,” she said. “To know that for some people it isn’t even on their radar as a possibility, made me focus my work to help anyone interested in the field be able to pursue that with the skills and encouragement they need to make it happen.”