Ambler Campus

Mariana Bonfim, a PhD candidate in Biology at Temple University and Research Assistant with the recently established Temple Ambler Field Station, has been thinking a lot lately about relationships. But not in the way you might think. “Nature has a lot of different patterns, but why is an organism exactly the way it is? Why do sea anemones, for example, attach to hermit crabs? What is that relationship bringing to each of them?” asked Bonfim, 29, who arrived at Temple and Field Station Director Dr. Amy Freenstone’s Freestone Lab in 2015 having already amassed years of diverse research and teaching experience in Brazil.

Landscape Architecture senior Abigail Long isn’t someone who's not willing to get her hands dirty. She’s not one to just wait around for something to come to her either. Rather than diving right in, Long said she took a few classes before joining the Landscape Architecture program, offered at Temple by the Tyler School of Art and Architecture.

Paige Levan’s life is currently all about striking a balance. Working toward her Psychology degree at Temple Ambler while also working full-time makes it a requirement.

Alexandra Carr is a Temple Owl through and through. In fact, she comes from a whole nest of Owls!

Michelle Armour knows and little something about creating art. She also knows about healing and restoration. For the Tyler School of Art and Architecture and Temple Ambler graduate, Landscape Architecture was the perfect marriage of both, richly combined with science, sustainable and environmental action and working directly with communities to initiate change.

Challenges, meet Thao (Emma) Le, a member of the Class of 2020. You don’t stand a chance. Her stratospheric 3.99 grade point average, not one but three internships, and the dedication she has exemplified to her major and the University community as a whole is testament to that.

Elizabeth Krohn was never meant for an indoor profession. The Class of 2020 graduate, who is completing her Master of Landscape Architecture degree, was meant to for the outdoors, positively impacting environments and uplifting underserved communities.

For Horticulture major Ibrahim Al-Nasser, a member of the Class of 2020, discovering horticulture was a return to a true passion.  "It is riveting to be outside, to have your hands in the dirt, your feet in the mud — I lost touch with nature growing up. When I came to Pennsylvania, I strove to get outside and see more natural places, go to more parks, get more involved with tree and see them as living beings; I wanted to care for them," he said.

Temple University Psychology major Megan Harris thinks nothing of placing the needs of others before her own. She is basing her future career on the goal of helping individuals out of some of the darkest moments of their lives.

Darryl Sanford has been part of the Temple University community for most of his adult life, initially as a student in 1983. He completed his undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering and shortly after graduation took a “temporary” job with Temple’s Library system. Fast-forward to 2020 and that temporary position has been a full-fledged career dedicated to supporting Temple students, faculty and staff that has spanned more than 30 years.