Born and raised in Alexandria, Virginia, as the youngest in a family of eight, Caroline Naegele ’22, embarked on a journey that has taken her from the East Coast to the heart of the Rocky Mountains. After earning her degree from Virginia Tech in May 2025 with a B.S. in Wildlife Conservation, she relocated to Denver, Colorado, where she is now proud to be part of the team at the Denver Zoo where she currently works as the Rocky Mountain field technician.

As a high school senior applying to colleges, Caroline was unsure what field to pursue. However, she credits the ecology unit in Dr. Hussmann’s A.P. biology class as the spark that ignited her fascination with wildlife biology. This inspiration guided her decision to focus her studies and future on the natural world. During her time at Virginia Tech, she enjoyed numerous hands-on experiences—ranging from dissecting deer heads as a chronic wasting disease sampler and studying mother-cub interactions in black bears, to conducting capture-mark-recapture studies on small rodents in Southwest Virginia. Upon moving to Denver, she served a third summer as a backpacking instructor at Camp Wojtyla before beginning work as an educator at the Denver Zoo. She has since transitioned into the zoo’s field conservation department, where she now serves as a field technician conducting conservation research.

Her current role involves participating in a variety of “boots-on-the-ground conservation projects” across Colorado, including studying the impacts of climate change on the American Pika, surveying for the state’s endangered boreal toad, and testing wildlife deterrents to reduce human-wildlife interactions atop Mt. Blue Sky. “I love working in a hands-on, dynamic environment. Every day is different and brings different challenges. We do a lot of off-trail travel and bushwhacking to reach our study sites and have to adapt to anything the mountains throw at us whether it’s rain, snow, or potentially dangerous wildlife. Being able to spend several days a week in the mountains doing what I love both recreationally and professionally has been a blast. The natural world and all of the wildlife it holds is a huge gift from God, and I am honored to be able to help protect it.”

A lesson from high school physics teacher, Mrs. Kanuch, continues to guide her: to understand an artist, you need to study their artwork. “So very similarly, to understand God, we must study his creation. Science gives us the means to study His mystery and majesty. That has always stuck with me, particularly as I’ve pursued a career in science.” Caroline is grateful for all her Oakcrest teachers’ “openness and availability to students.” “I knew my teachers cared about more than just our academic performance. They were always happy to chat whether it was to answer questions about course matter or anything else.” She also credits Dr, Hussmann, Mrs. Escobar, Miss Black and Ms. Nussio with making “their subjects fascinating.”

“The education I received at Oakcrest taught me how to think. It does a good job of laying the groundwork for anyone to become a Renaissance woman by giving you a solid foundation in every subject. Oakcrest also taught me how to write well and read critically, which is very helpful even for a career in science.”

Caroline further reflects on the fact that Oakcrest also fostered friendships that endure, united by faith and a shared commitment to personal growth. “Having friends who push you to be a better version of yourself and who are all walking the same pilgrimage towards heaven is a gift I will forever be grateful for.” She goes on to say, “I loved having the chapel as the center of the school and being able to pop in for a visit at any time. That laid the groundwork for a fruitful prayer life and for prioritizing time to pop into an adoration chapel or church each day," beautiful habits she continues to prioritize.

Today, she continues to pursue her passions outside of work—hiking, backpacking, wildlife watching, playing pick-up sports, reading, attending trivia nights, and spending time with friends in the park. Each day spent in Colorado’s great outdoors reaffirms her gratitude for the journey that brought her west and the opportunity to help safeguard God’s gift of the natural world and the wildlife in it.

To future Oakcrest graduates, she offers this advice: “First, be your own person. God created you to be you, not someone else. Your personality, interests, and gifts are unique to you and are meant to be a gift to those around you. Secondly, don’t be afraid to take risks. God is trustworthy, and with Him at the center of your life you have nothing to fear.”