Women in Business

Igniting Curiosity: Empowering Girls Through ESTEM Exploration.



Speaker: Mary Dybvig, Naturalist and Volunteer Liaison

ESTEM Exploration is a program Mary developed to provide hands-on engagement for young women and encourage them to pursue Environmental Science Technology Engineering and Math in school. In addition to presenting, Mary will lead our group through an activity or two that she does with her classes so we will have a little fun along with learning. 😉

Mary has loved animals, nature, and environmental science since her earliest memories. She graduated from Macalester College with a BA in Biology and has worked as an environmental educator for more than ten years at the Minnesota Children’s Museum and Dodge Nature Center. 

She interned as a naturalist at the Audubon Center of the North Woods (now Osprey Wilds) and volunteered at the Animal Humane Society and Wildlife Rehabilitation Center. 

Her passion for sharing science with others led her to create Girls Explore Science, a hands-on after-school program for students in grades 5-8, launched in 2020. Through activities like creating and using natural dyes, axe throwing, fire building, and exploring topics ranging from ornithology to astronomy and geology to physics, Mary helps students connect science to the real world. She encourages young people to follow their curiosity wherever it leads. 

In addition to her after school program, Mary teaches classes for preschoolers to adults at Dodge Nature Center and brings nature-based learning into the community through outreach programs. She helps care for a variety of animal ambassadors, including reptiles, amphibians, raptors, and more. She provides training and support for Dodge’s teacher naturalist volunteers, who assist with our school field trips and camps. 

Welcome Table & Treat Sponsor: