Her Story
About Gabriella
Gabriella Gentry serves as an Adjunct Professor at Jacksonville State University in Jacksonville, Alabama. She has held this position for two years, during which she curates and instructs courses focused on environmental biology and environmental policy. Beyond classroom instruction, Gentry provides mentorship to first-generation college students and to graduate students in the master's program as they develop teaching skills. She earned her bachelor's degree in biology from JSU in 2021 and her master's degree in biology in spring 2024. Earlier in her career, Gentry completed a summer internship with the Alabama Department of Environmental Management and worked for one year with MTM Environmental LLC to help complete an education grant. She is also a member of the Alabama River and Streams Network, a statewide coalition of universities, agencies, and groups dedicated to conservation efforts, habitat protection, and related grant and fieldwork initiatives. Gentry attributes her success to her work ethic, resilience, and the opportunities and support provided by those around her. She values maintaining a healthy work-life balance and working with proactive leadership that supports employees.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Gabriella
01What do you attribute your success to?
I would say my work ethic, resilience, and then of course opportunities and the people around me that have helped me get here.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
To not be held to a specific career, to not let myself get pigeonholed in that way. And to kinda keep my options more broad and open, especially recently it doesn't seem like any profession is completely guaranteed so you don't want to work yourself into a point where you can't make it forward.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
My advice goes more to young women in general is to branch out, experience new things, take opportunities to move, take opportunities for internships. I didn't start out knowing that I wanted to do environmental, I didn't start out thinking that I was gonna do academia. I thought I was gonna go down a completely different career path. And I didn't even consider the one I'm on as a viable option until I was exposed to more things. So I think getting exposure, getting experience is the most important thing first of all.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
I'm trying to keep up with the changes that our current administration is instilling, especially as an environmentalist. We're talking about policy in one of my classes. And just trying to stay up to date on legislation changes and things like that so that I am as well informed as I can be and make sure that they are as well informed as they can be.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Being able to maintain what is to me a good work-life balance. I'm the type of person that will easily work 12-hour days or bring work home with me but that's more not that that's expected of me but that's just me trying to go above and beyond. And for me usually what I value most in any career is having good leadership, having a good boss that is proactive and looks out for its employees.
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