Welcome to Our Tribe: Kim Tingle

Patricia Crain, Class of 2018

My name is Kim Tingle and I’m a fourth-generation Collin County native. I grew up playing in the creek beds of Honey Creek, Wilson Creek, Rutherford Branch, Doe Branch, and in Grayson County at Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge. My favorite memories are of hiking, turning over rocks to discover hidden critters, and slipping over algae-covered stones to seine little pools for fish, mussels and bugs. Real fishing trips with my dad typically ended with dad cleaning our catch and the two of us studying the details of fish anatomy. I loved it!

I attended Celina schools, followed by Texas Tech University for my B.A., then the University of North Texas for Masters work in (no surprises here) – Biology. My career was spent at Celina High School, teaching Pre-AP and AP Biology and Forensic Science. I was fortunate that our campus location allowed me to give my students hands-on experiences in Ecology. Some of our favorite labs were analyzing fire ant mound distributions, surveying plant and bird species, and of course seining Doe Branch to study fresh-water ecology. It was a proud moment when the CHS Ecology Club petitioned our city council to bring curb-side recycling to Celina. Our ultimate goal was to keep Doe Branch free of pollution, we loved that creek!

Since retiring from education in 2015, I’ve served as president of Celina Friends of the Gardens 501(c)(3), which supports and maintains children’s learning gardens for Celina ISD. I’m currently on the board of directors for the Friends of Hagerman NWR non-profit organization which supports many programs, such as children and adult education (Refuge Rocks and Second Saturday programs), Photography Club, Nest Box Monitoring, Tram Tours, and the Butterfly Garden Docent Program. My favorite work at Hagerman has been participation in the Integrated Monarch Monitoring Project, greeting visitors at the Nature Nook gift shop, and serving as a butterfly docent. I look forward with great enthusiasm to returning to Collin County and expanding my volunteer work with the Blackland Prairie Chapter.