Skip to content
Kirsten Alburg Design

Portfolio

Learning experiences built with experts, for real audiences.

Real-world science programs, research turned into understanding, conservation learning, and courses redesigned so people actually finish them. Here is the work I'm most proud of.

Start a project Read the project stories
A field researcher writing notes on a Great Lakes shoreline at sunrise, sample kit beside her
Real work, real places, real audiences.

Featured projects

Five projects that show how I work.

Each one shows what I love to do: take what experts know and turn it into learning people can use.

  • Educators and a field scientist planning together around a table of maps, notebooks, and specimen trays

    Real-world learning design

    Odyssey Discovery: Real-World Learning Design

    Programs that connect educators with scientists, researchers, and field experts. Field Notes: Explorer and Educator Expeditions turn active research into learning teachers can bring back to their students.

    Shows: Working with experts, turning active science into learning, and building repeatable programs.

    Explore Odyssey Discovery
  • A field ecologist explaining her research from a simple printed diagram to community members in a sunlit hall

    Science communication

    Science Communication: Turning Research Into Understanding

    A learning program that helps researchers and technical experts be understood by everyone else — practiced on their own real material.

    Shows: Helping researchers explain their work clearly, without watering it down.

    Experience it
  • A park steward talking with two visitors at a boardwalk overlook above a tidal marsh at golden hour

    Conservation & environmental education

    Conservation Learning Experience

    A place-based learning experience for a conservation site: field orientation, short moments tied to what visitors can see, and volunteer steward training.

    Shows: Field-based learning, visitor engagement, and volunteer training.

    Experience it
  • A learning designer reviewing a course on a laptop at a cabin table overlooking a lake

    Redesigning existing learning

    Online Learning Experience Redesign

    A course library people stopped finishing — reviewed for structure, engagement, assessment, and accessibility, then redesigned with a clear plan for what to fix first.

    Shows: Reviewing what exists and redesigning it to be clearer and more engaging.

    Read the case study
  • A naturalist welcoming two new team members on a marsh boardwalk and handing them a field guide

    Workplace learning

    Employee Onboarding Experience

    A guided first-week experience: an explorable workplace, real situations to practice, and a friendly check that new hires feel ready.

    Shows: A welcoming, practical first week for new team members.

    Experience it

In development: learning for adaptive health, accessibility, and active living, shaped by my work on LIV Center for Adaptive Health.

Real work

Moodle LMS course design

Higher education instructional design and faculty support: partnering with subject matter experts to build, structure, and maintain online college courses in Moodle.

  • Course structure

    Organized semester-length college courses into consistent weekly modules so learners always knew where they were, what was due, and what came next — the single largest driver of completion in online courses.

  • Module organization

    Each module opened with objectives, moved through readings and media, then practice, then assessment. The same pattern repeated across the catalogue so navigation itself never became a cognitive load.

  • Learning activities

    Discussion prompts designed for application rather than summary, guided practice with instructor feedback checkpoints, and low-stakes self-checks placed before graded work.

  • Assessments

    Aligned assessment to stated objectives, replaced recall quizzes with applied tasks where appropriate, and worked with faculty on rubrics that made grading criteria visible to learners in advance.

  • Learner experience design

    Consistent naming, predictable due-date patterns, accessible documents, and clear instructor presence — small structural decisions that reduce the questions learners have to ask before they can start.

Real work

Odyssey Discovery learning experience design

Designed and delivered science-based learning experiences and professional development for educators — connecting learners with scientists, researchers, and field experts through digital, place-based, and partnership-driven programs.

Read the full case study

  • Educator professional development

    Designed and facilitated professional learning for teachers and informal educators, built around what participants would take back into their own classrooms the following week.

  • Science-based learning experiences

    Translated field science and research content into hands-on learning experiences for learners of varied ages and backgrounds, keeping scientific accuracy intact while removing unnecessary technical language.

  • Curriculum design

    Developed sequenced curriculum with clear objectives, aligned activities, and assessment that showed whether the intended understanding actually formed.

  • Virtual learning experiences

    Adapted place-based programs into virtual and hybrid formats — restructuring pacing, interaction, and materials rather than simply moving sessions to video.

  • Partnership-based learning

    Built programs in collaboration with schools, agencies, and community organizations, negotiating scope and outcomes so each partner's goals were served by the same learning design.

More learning experiences

Want to click through something?

A few original sample courses you can try yourself — built to show how I design practice, feedback, and interaction.

See all learning experiences

Project stories

The thinking behind the work.

Short write-ups of the situation, who it was for, what I designed, and how we'd know it worked.