Rea Manderino

Ecologist and Collections Specialist

Rea Manderino is OSGF’s Ecologist and Collections Specialist. Originally from El Dorado, Kansas, she has gradually moved east over the decades, attending the University of Chicago (BA Ecology) and living briefly in St. Louis, Missouri before settling in Fredericksburg, Virginia in 2009. Rea received her MS (Environmental Science) at the University of Virginia in 2013 and worked for a time with the Coastal Virginia Wildlife Observatory and NOVA Parks, then moved to Maryland briefly in 2014 to work in the Port of Baltimore for USDA-APHIS. Ultimately, the siren song of ecological research called her to continue her graduate education, and she completed her PhD (Entomology) at SUNY-College of Environmental Science and Forestry in 2021.

Crowned “the bug lady” at OSGF, Rea handles the invertebrate component on the Biodiversity Management Team. She assesses changes in the invertebrate community as changes are made to the OSGF landscape, collaborates with research partners monitoring the local insect community, and is responsible for documenting and organizing the records of biodiversity on the property through collected specimens, photographs, and surveys.  She also leads insect-themed programs, such as butterfly walks and moth nights, and offers landscape walks for residents.

In her precious free time, Rea loves to work in her garden in Fredericksburg, joyously feed people elaborate meals and treats, discuss cultural motifs within cinema, crochet and sew practical fiber art, play with her three cats, and take road trip adventures around the country with her found family. Rea’s favorite plant is Northern red oak (Quercus rubra) since it’s a fantastic host for many insects, and has it depicted on her left arm.