Kristy Segal Bio

The child of a military family, Kristy Segal did not have an average childhood. She was born in Las Vegas, Nevada, where she spent the first seven years of her life. But, her parents did not want her and her younger brother to grow up in a city and miss out on the childhood experiences they had enjoyed. Her father cross-trained to a different career field and her family moved to San Angelo, Texas. After being born and raised in a city, small-town Texas was completely different. With goats, horny toads and armadillos to play with, Kristy began to discover her interest in the natural world.

After five years, the Air Force sent Kristy and her family to USEUCOM in Stuttgart, Germany. Although it was a tough adjustment, the entire family was excited about the opportunity to live in another country. Living in Germany, Kristy was able to visit Rothenburg, Berlin, Munich, the Black Forest, and many other places. She developed an appreciation for other cultures and an understanding of different cultural perspectives.

When Kristy was a sophomore in high school, her family received orders to go to Warner Robins, Georgia. Leaving Germany was a difficult process of reverse culture shock. However, Georgia became a true home to Kristy and her family. In 2003, Kristy graduated from Warner Robins High School. She then moved to Montana to attend Montana State University where she is currently working towards a double major in Ecology and Evolution and University Honors.

Kristy received a research internship from the MSU Office of VP for Research, Creativity and Technology Transfer for her first two years of college. This program led her to the Big Sky Institute, where she found a perfect fit for her interests in ecology as a science and the possibilities for connecting ecology to larger society. Working with BSI has led Kristy to spend a summer in Glacier National Park writing resource bulletins for the interpretive staff of the park and to help create a website about whitebark pine and its current management issues, as well as several other projects. Kristy hopes to continue in her attempts to communicate ecology to a non-science audience after she graduates and throughout her career.