Women in Science: Allie Petersen

Allie assisted with an inspection for IACUC at the Ivanpah Desert Tortoise Research Facility in Mojave National Preserve in 2017.

NPS Photo

When Allie Petersen started her college career, she had ideas of becoming a veterinarian, but after barely passing organic chemistry and looking at an additional 4+ years of school, she decided to change course. Allie wanted a balance of life in science and life outside. She found her niche during her last semester at Colorado State University (2015), when she began to intern with the Biological Resources Division of the National Park Service.

Allie always loved the outdoors. She remembers playing outside as a child in the Midwest, digging for worms with her brother. In middle school, biology really made sense to her. At the time, it seemed like science had no gray areas; all you had to do was conduct an experiment and prove your hypothesis right or wrong. Throughout both middle and high school, Allie had tremendous science teachers who pushed and taught her to continually ask questions. At Colorado State University, Allie’s professors and advisors were incredibly helpful, and she has continued to keep in touch with them to ask questions and to seek advice throughout her professional career.

Allie participated in a poster session at a Natural Resources Stewardship and Science All- Hands meeting in 2018 to inform colleagues about IACUC services.

NPS Photo

Her interest in science and nature have stuck with her throughout her life. She is still fascinated by the way things interact with each other in the environment, and the idea that everything we as humans do affects the ecosystem. Students can learn about these things through science. Allie hopes science will always hold a place of importance in schools, and that children will become advocates for nature.

Allie’s many internships with the National Park Service (NPS) paid off, and in 2019 she started her federal career working for the Wildlife Health Branch of the Biological Resources Division. She recognized that some of her coworkers had been working there for more than twenty years, but that didn’t stop her from asking questions. As one of the younger people in the field, Allie came into the organization with fresh eyes. She looked throughout her department and found ways to help reorganize and get information to and from parks across the country. She is an administrative assistant for the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) where she oversees communication and records that are associated with animal research projects across the NPS. Among many other important things, the NPS provides review oversight for the humane care and use of wild, vertebrate animals in research, teaching, and training in parks. IACUC also coordinates the veterinary diagnostic service where staff in parks can contact our team of veterinarians to submit samples for wildlife disease surveillance and/or investigation. After four years, she is still helping to improve communication between parks, and she is still asking questions.

Allie was on the job when elk were captured near Rocky Mountain National Park as part of a chronic wasting disease study in February of 2020.

NPS Photo

Allie is grateful that she has never had a someone question her abilities because she is a woman, and she applauds women going into the field of science. Her advice to women? “Ask, ask, ask questions! No matter how big or small the question is…I have been in the field for four years, and I am still asking questions every day.” Allie reminds us that it is okay to admit you don’t know something. She says, “Ask your teachers, professors, and friends ‘Can you teach me that?’ Ask them how they got where they are. You never know what they’ll say. Perhaps their response will help you get to where you need to be.”

Allie was “empowered by badass women,” and she hopes that every woman can go on and be a badass in their own way. Through her work, she reminds people that everything we do affects our ecosystem. Humans and wildlife are connected. People should be kind to wildlife and kind to people. She says be sure to “leave no trace,” when you visit a park. “We are all in this together, and it is important for all of us to keep our ecosystems clean.” She is an amazing young woman, and she is making a real difference. Allie Petersen is the definition of a badass.