Children & Nature network

2009 Grassroots Gathering

Participants 2009

Note: The following biographies are those which were submitted by participants in advance of C&NN’s 2009 Grassroots Gathering.

Janet Ady
Janet serves as the Chief of the Division of Education Outreach at the National Conservation Training Center in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. She is also the lead for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service "Connecting People with Nature: Ensuring a Conservation Legacy" initiative, otherwise known as “Let’s Go Outside!” The Division of Education Outreach offers national training, program coordination, technical support and distance learning for conservation professionals. Janet has worked in the Washington Office, the Alaska Regional Office, and at the SF Bay NWR for the Service. Her degrees are from Humboldt and San Jose State Universities in California.

Bethe Almeras
Bethe is an award-winning author, web producer, and eLearning designer. Her blog, The Grass Stain Guru, is about restoring childhood and saving ourselves in the process. Co-founder of the National Wildlife Federation’s Green Hour®, she has been connecting people with nature for two decades. A gifted speaker and trainer, Bethe also specializes in inclusive education and accessibility issues for individuals with disabilities. She instructs individuals and organizations in social media techniques and strategy development to educate, engage, and mobilize consumers on target issues through the use of Web 2.0, online tools, and social networking sites.

Stacy Armitage
Stacy currently serves as the Southeast Regional Coordinator for Volunteers, Friends Groups, Environmental Education, and Connecting People with Nature for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Atlanta, Georgia and has also worked at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge as their Environmental Education Specialist. Prior to working with the Service, Stacy taught High School Biology and Chemistry as well as 8th grade Physical Science. Stacy received her degree in Biology and Secondary Education. Outside her work in environmental education, Stacy loves to hike, camp, ski, snowshoe, read a good book and bake tasty treats for her family.

Camille Armstrong
Camille is co-leading the regional San Diego Children and Nature Collaborative which formed in February, 2009, in support of Richard Louv’s speaking engagement. As the Education Coordinator for the San Diego Audubon, Camille administers the after school program, OutdoorExplore! which takes students for adventures in nearby natural areas. During her 30 year public education career in San Diego, she implemented experiential outdoor education in her classroom and mentored district teachers. In addition, she volunteered for 20 years as a grassroots leader, organizer, and activist for federal public lands protection through campaigns for wilderness and wild and scenic river designation.

Tara Arthur*
Tara is the Program Director for World Trade Youth, an organization that emphasizes youth leadership, entrepreneurship, technology and trade. World Trade Youth seeks to connect diverse youth to promote a global perspective about the quality of life in the world. She has served as the International Project Coordinator for the Haitian Sports Foundation, an organization dedicated to improving the lives of Haitian youth through sports development. She has worked for The Nature Conservancy as a mentor working with inner city youth. Her interests include the outdoors and connecting the benefits of sport development to environmental initiatives and international development.

Elizabeth Denton Baird
As a kid, Liz was always picking up "treasures" during her time outside. Pockets filled with shells, stones, sticks and the occasional live bug were part of the daily routine. That passion for the outdoors has carried over into her work as Director of School Programs at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences (NCMNS) where Liz and her staff help improve student understanding of the natural world. From deep ocean research with a submersible, to leading teacher treks in Belize, to launching international Take A Child Outside week, Liz is continuing to discover and share treasures found in the natural world.

Cheryl Bauer-Armstrong
Cheryl is the Director of the Earth Partnership for Schools Program (EPS) at the UW-Madison Arboretum, a nationally recognized model of teacher professional development that enhances teacher and student learning. EPS reconnects children with nature by involving students, their families, teachers, and community partners in restoring native habitat on school grounds and nearby natural areas. From early childhood to life-long learning, interdisciplinary activities connect children and adults with the awe and wonder of nature, nurturing a sense of place and responsibility for caring for the earth.
Cheryl is the co-author of “My Nature Journal,” a phenology book for teachers and parents to share naturally occurring experiences with youth. The journal is based on Aldo Leopold’s phenology studies and nature explorations with his children. She has a master’s degree in Landscape Planning and Ecology from the Harvard Graduate School of Design. Her undergraduate degree is from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in landscape architecture.

Adam Bienenstock
Adam has spent over 25 years designing, building and maintaining outdoor spaces in Canada, the US, and the UK where he has won many awards. Over the last decade, he has focused on research, programming, design and construction of safer, more engaging playgrounds that connect children and families with nature. His firm, Gardens for Living Inc., has worked with the YMCA, YWCA, City of Toronto, daycares, school boards and municipalities across the North America. He is currently working on renewable energy projects that fund the natural playgrounds he designs. Adam has an MBA, Horticulture Diploma, Design training with John Brookes (UK), and Natural Playground training at North Carolina State University, www.naturalplaygrounds.ca.

Rick Bjorn
Rick has been the Executive Director of the Rutland County Court Diversion and Restorative Justice Center for nine years. Rick has a passion for the New England region and loves to connect to nature in his free time through camping, hiking and kayaking throughout the region. Rick's interests include the implementation of leadership, community and nature-based programs into the criminal justice system. Rick feels that these programs can be effective tools in creating change for first-time offenders in both the adult and juvenile populations.

Fletcher Brown
Fletcher is an Associate Professor in Science and Environmental Education at the University of Montana. He holds a joint appointment in the School of Education Curriculum and Instruction Department and the Environmental Studies Program in the College of Arts and Sciences. Fletcher’s focus on campus is teacher training in both the formal and nonformal setting. He works with preservice secondary science teachers and Environmental Educators at both the undergraduate and graduate level in Forestry, Environmental Studies and Education. Research and service work include a variety of Environmental Education curriculum development projects, certification initiatives in Environmental Education, university-based accreditation assessment in Environmental Education, research in inquiry science instruction, research in characterizing effective science learning environments and international teacher training.

Karl Brummert
Karl is the Audubon Center & Education Director for the Audubon Society of Greater Denver. Previously, he managed education programs and facilities at The New York Botanical Garden and at an Audubon center in New York. For both organizations, as well as the National Park Service, he created and led programs for all ages on a variety of topics, from forest ecology in the Bronx to geology on Mount Rainier. Karl has dabbled in documentary film production and volunteered on a variety of projects, including bird banding, protecting California condors, teaching kids kayaking, habitat restoration, grant writing, and leading field trips. He is an avid hiker, mountain biker, kayaker, and cross-country skier, and has begun his life list of Colorado 14ers.

Brett Bruyere
Brett is an assistant professor in the Warner College of Natural Resources at Colorado State University, and also director of CSU's Environmental Learning Center. He is involved in a number of research projects to examine how to connect youth to nature, with a focus on youth from highly urban settings. He serves on the steering committee for the Children and Nature Connection of Northern Colorado, a regional collaborative of more than 20 organizations.


Brother Yusuf Burgess
Brother Yusuf Burgess is a Family Intervention Specialist at the Green Tech High Charter School in Albany, New York. He serves as the school’s chief community liaison to build relationships with appropriate organizations and agencies that provide services and resources to families with issues that impact student achievement and/or behavior. Brother Yusuf, as most people call him, is a former Environmental Educator at the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, who as coordinator of the DEC Diversity Program, for the past seven years, was responsible for urban outreach and increasing the diversity of its Summer Youth Environmental Education Camps; Chairperson of the Environmental Awareness Network for Diversity in Conservation (EANDC); a member of the Albany City School District’s Strategic Planning Committee; a founding member of the Diversity Committee of the New York State Outdoor Education Association; a graduate of the Leadership Training Institute of Hofstra College currently pursuing a course of education in environment studies and urban planning; and a member of the Board of Directors of the Children & Nature Network.

Dr. Denny Casey
Dr. Casey is Director of Education and Public Programs at the Virginia Museum of Natural History. Casey initiated a local Community Nature Initiative, aimed at using nature as a way to stimulate learning and providing opportunities for children, educators, and families to increase appreciation for nature and as an effective means to better understand and address community environmental issues. Casey leads teacher professional development institutes in Global Learning and Observation to Benefit the Environment, in support of meaningful watershed educational experiences. Casey was instrumental in establishing the Virginia Master Naturalist Program, a statewide volunteer organization in support of natural resource education, stewardship, and citizen science. Casey serves as a member of the Virginia Resource Use Education Council, Virginia’s statewide environmental education organization. Casey co-wrote and produced two editions of a teacher’s guide entitled Virginia State Parks: Your Backyard Classrooms.

Cheryl Charles, Ph.D.
Cheryl is an innovator, entrepreneur, educator, author and organizational executive. She helped establish and is President and CEO of the Children and Nature Network (C&NN) (www.childrenandnature.org), co-founded in 2006 with author Richard Louv, Martin LeBlanc, Amy Pertschuk, Martha Erickson and others. She is also Assistant Deputy Chair and a member of the Steering Committee for the World Conservation Union’s (www.iucn.org) Commission on Education and Communication, a worldwide effort involving 80 nations and more than 1000 non-governmental organizations and businesses. Named a “new patriot” by author Mark Gerzon for her pioneering work to bring ecological concepts into the mainstream of schooling, Cheryl served for close to 20 years as founding National Director of what remain the two most widely used environment education programs in North America for K-12 educators, Project Learning Tree and Project WILD, receiving numerous awards for her leadership. Cheryl’s most recent book, with her husband Bob Samples, is Coming Home: Community, Creativity and Consciousness. Cheryl has a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Washington, with a specialty in factors affecting the achievement of minority youth.


Louise Chawla, Ph.D.
Louise is a Professor in the College of Architecture and Planning at the University of Colorado, with a background in child development and environmental psychology. Her work relates to children’s experience of both natural environments and the public spaces of cities and towns, and the opportunities that these places afford for positive development. As a Fulbright Scholar at the Norwegian Center for Child Research, she initiated a revival of the Growing Up in Cities project of UNESCO, which engages young people in documenting and improving urban communities. Among her many publications, she is editor and co-author of Growing Up in an Urbanising World, author of In the First Country of Places, and an editor of the journal Children, Youth and Environments.

Kim Check
Kim has been the Education Director of the Ward Museum of Wildfowl Art since April 2008. Through this position she is dedicated to educating children and adults about the preservation of the unique natural and cultural resources of the Delmarva Peninsula. Originally from western Pennsylvania, Kim’s professional experiences have taken her from south Florida to the Rocky Mountain West. Her diverse experience in conservation and environmental education includes work at the state and federal levels of government including the National Park Service and most recently in the non-profit realm including work with the National Audubon Society. Kim is passionate about connecting people to the natural world through birds and nature education, and inspiring others to conserve our wild places, wildlife, and local traditions.

Avery Cleary
Avery is the founder and Executive Director of Hooked On Nature, a non-profit that provides tools, resources and workshops to help people deepen their relationship with the natural world. She is a member of the Grassroots Advisory Board for the Children & Nature Network and helped launch the children and nature initiatives in the San Francisco Bay area and Baltimore, Maryland. She has a background in early childhood education and community organizing. Over the past two decades she has been a spokesperson for reuniting people and nature. She has one grown daughter and lives in the San Francisco Bay Area of California.

Leslie Cook*
Leslie has spent the last several years learning about and practicing place-based education around the West as a summer camp director in Colorado, while finishing her Master’s degree at Prescott College and through her work at Teton Science Schools. Currently at Teton Science Schools, she is a faculty member working with teachers as well as on a project to reconnect children to the nature of Wyoming. In her free time she enjoys anything that she can do in or near water, exploring in the Tetons and working in her garden.

Allen Cooper
Allen is an attorney and regional education policy manager for the National Wildlife Federation. The focus of his work is developing state and municipal policy to connect children and families with nature, with current initiatives underway to develop guidelines for natural play areas, and governor’s executive orders in Kansas and Texas. He grew up on a 97 acre hillside farm near Lester, West Virginia, and worked for ten years as a community organizer in Logan, West Virginia, and Austin and San Antonio, Texas.

Nilda Cosco, Ph.D.
Nilda is Research Associate Professor and Education Specialist, Natural Learning Initiative, NC State University, specializing in design programming and outdoor environments for children and families. Research interests include the impact of built environment natural components on active lifestyles, attention functioning, healthy nutrition, and overall wellbeing. Recent publications include “What makes a park inclusive and universally designed?” and “Developing evidence-based design: Environmental interventions for healthy development of young children outdoors” in Open Space People Space (2007). Dr. Cosco holds degrees in Educational Psychology (Universidad del Salvador, Buenos Aires) and a Ph.D. in Landscape Architecture (Heriot Watt University / Edinburgh College of Art).

Sue DiCicco
Sue is currently serving as Publisher and lead Creative at Americhip Books. Sue has an extensive background in children's entertainment, beginning her career as an Animator at Disney Features. She is currently developing a publishing program including a series of books for children that encourage an understanding and appreciation of nature and the world around them.

Chip and Ashley Donahue
In January of 2008, Chip and Ashley Donahue started a free family nature club, Kids In the Valley, Adventuring! The Donahue family continues to host events, now twice a month, and have more than 350 families who receive their monthly newsletter. During their presentation, Chip and Ashley will share barriers that keep families from enjoying the great outdoors, and will show how Nature Clubs for Families can empower families to regain their connection to the natural world and help build stronger family bonds, as well.

Daniella (Donna) Drader*
Donna is researching “green” careers for the Natural Leaders Network™. Donna has a master’s degree in Natural Resource Sciences, an undergraduate degree in Communications, and a legacy of experiential learning with diverse agencies ranging from the conservation field (e.g. The Student Conservation Association) to the health field (e.g. Wilderness Medical Associates). She has been a wild land fire prevention educator on two Native American reservations, an after school teacher with an outdoor curriculum, and an outreach coordinator for the Washington State University (WSU) Center for Civic Engagement. She is also establishing green career topic trainings for National Career Development Month (November) at the WSU Career Center, creating a new standard for youth outdoor career development. Recently, she has redefined collaborative natural resource management by promoting integrated intergenerational workshops in the outdoors. Donna loves camping and cooking in the backcountry, fishing even more than catching, and climbing trees barefoot.

Paul Dykema, MD FAAP
Paul is a pediatrician at Holland Hospital. He is affiliated with the Holland Fish and Game Club, Wildlife Unlimited of Allegan/Ottawa Counties, Outdoor Discovery Center of Allegan/Ottawa Counties, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, and Safari Club International. Paul enjoys travel, skiing, photography, gardening fishing and hunting.


Mike Ekey
Mike is the social media manager for Children and Nature Network. Before joining C&NN, he worked with Teach For America, Heart of Brooklyn, and The Missouri Department of Health as a communications consultant helping non-profits better use online tools and networking applications to raise money. Before joining the non-profit sector, Ekey was a political reporter and editor for The Kansas City Star in Kansas City, Missouri.

Debra Erickson
Ms. Erickson serves as Director of Communications and Interpretation for the San Diego Zoo and Executive Director of Kerzner Marine Foundation. She has been in the conservation, interpretation, marketing, communications, and education fields for over 25 years and has worked for the San Diego Zoo, the San Diego Wild Animal Park, Atlantis, Paradise Island, SeaWorld of California, SeaWorld of Florida, and Busch Entertainment Corporation. Ms. Erickson’s previous positions include Executive Director and Conservation Director of Orangutan Foundation International, Director of Marketing and Director of Communications for ZiLOG, Inc., a semiconductor manufacturer, and Director of International and Environmental Communications for Anheuser-Busch Companies.

Anne S. Fege, Ph.D., M.B.A
Anne is co-leading San Diego’s Children and Nature Collaborative, building on initial interest of 300 individuals from more than 80 organizations. Fege’s thirty years of accomplishments in natural resources management encompass biodiversity and habitat conservation, nature education, recreation and urban forestry, wildland fire science and education, wilderness management, and scientific research in the field of botany. Fege is Botany Research Associate at the San Diego Natural History Museum, Adjunct Professor at San Diego State University, retired Forest Supervisor of the Cleveland National Forest, and an active Girl Scout volunteer.

Carmen Field
Carmen is a marine science educator/naturalist at the Kachemak Bay NERR in Homer, Alaska. Here she oversees lab/field programs for K - 12 students – developing and teaching marine biology and estuary ecology classes. Carmen manages the Reserve’s public education and outreach programs, including year-round Discovery Labs and the Reserve’s Kids in Nature programs. She is the founder and chairperson of the Connecting Children with Nature in Homer Community Forum. Carmen also works independently as a ship’s lecturer/naturalist in Antarctic and Arctic locales and in 1999 authored Alaska’s Seashore Creatures, a field guide to marine invertebrates of the north.

Ken Finch
Ken is the president and founder of Greens Hearts Institute for Nature in Childhood (www.greenheartsinc.org), a young non-profit conservation organization dedicated to restoring the bonds between children and nature. He has spent more than 35 years in the environmental education profession, primarily working in nature centers and children’s museums. He holds a master’s degree in environmental education from Antioch/New England Graduate School (NH), and a bachelor’s degree in sociology and psychology from Dickinson College (PA). His volunteer work in the EE profession includes a term as national president of the Association of Nature Center Administrators (ANCA), plus service on state environmental education boards in Minnesota and Connecticut. Ken’s personal passions include his two sons, the writings of Loren Eiseley, the Boston Red Sox, and quiet adventures in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (MN), Assateague Island National Seashore (MD), and Lye Brook Wilderness Area (VT).

Martha Lyle Ford
Ford is the director of Great Outdoors University, an outdoor education and experience program of Tennessee Wildlife Federation which provides programming for low-wealth children, youth and families in Memphis and Nashville, Tennessee. She is statewide co-chair of the Every Child Outdoors Tennessee initiative, a consortium of over 200 Tennessee organizations and agencies working to promote and support opportunities that encourage children to engage with and experience the outdoors. Ford previously worked for The Nature Conservancy, US Representative John Tanner, Al and Tipper Gore, and the United Methodist Church. She recently completed a contract with National Wildlife Federation working with evangelical faith communities in the South on federal climate change legislation. Ford has a BA in Communication and a Masters in theology from Vanderbilt University. She is married to Bob Ford, senior scientist on climate change for US Fish and Wildlife Service for the Southeast. They have two school-aged daughters, Eliza and Mattie, and a beagle named Daisy.

John Robert Fraser, Ph.D.
John Fraser, Ph.D., AIA, is an architect, psychologist and educator currently serving as Director of the Institute for Learning Innovation’s New York office. Dr. Fraser is adjunct faculty in the graduate program in psychology at Hunter College of City University New York and holds appointments as a Scientist with the Center for Environmental Research and Conservation at Columbia University, as Associate Editor - Operations for Curator, the Museum Journal and serves as a founding editorial board member Museums & Social Issues. Dr. Fraser’s research focuses on how worldviews impact learning attitudes, motivations and ability to develop new knowledge in free-choice settings. Today, he is the Education Consultant for the new National Museum of the US Army in Washington DC, is studying the outcomes resulting from citizen science projects coordinated by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, is working with PBS, the National Parks Service and the University of California to study how films impact our relationship to nature, and is the evaluator for the Children’s National Medical Center’s NIH funded projects to promote childhood wellness practices related to asthma, sickle cell disease, sleep disorders, and obesity. His recent projects including a national study of American perceptions of bison conservation, a three year national study on the perceived value of zoos and aquariums to America’s community of learners, evaluation of training programs for educators living in jaguar habitat of Honduras and Guatemala, and was co-developer of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s global species strategy.

Barry A. Garst, Ph.D
Barry is an educator, researcher, presenter, and facilitator. Currently the national Director of Program Development and Research Application with the American Camp Association, Barry is a former Assistant Professor/Extension Specialist in youth development at Virginia Tech. His background includes administrative and programming experience as a wilderness mental health counselor and camp/conference center director. Barry’s current work focuses on developing national educational alliances and partnerships, translating research into practice, and assessing and promoting the importance of camp and other nature-based experiences for healthy child development. Barry resides in Virginia with his wife Stephanie and daughters Savannah and Laurel.

Diane Genco
Diane is the Executive Director of NJSACC. This statewide network for afterschool providers is funded by the State of NJ and the Mott Foundation. NJSACC is in the midst of a statewide campaign, Celebrate Afterschool! Outdoors in the Garden State.
The purpose is to involve communities of the Garden State in connecting children with nature through afterschool programs. As a volunteer, she is involved in the restoration of Greenwood Gardens, a 28 acre public garden in Short Hills, New Jersey. Diane is also a new member of the Monarch Teachers Network. She hopes to release over 50 Monarchs with urban afterchool programs this year.

Elaine M. Gibson
Elaine was a free-range kid of the 1950s in Texas. Now as an Education Specialist at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, she created a program to reconnect kids to nature after reading Last Child in the Woods and taking students outdoors in March, 2007. Every thing Louv said was true, unfortunately. Since that time, she has led over 6000 elementary students who are apathetic or terrified of anything in “real” nature outdoors to explore our creek and oak woodland. In as little as 45 minutes of mentored exploration, students’ fears change to curiosity and total engagement. We have organized a coalition to Leave No Child Inside Santa Barbara and developed a web site to encourage parents to take their children outdoors, Santa Barbara Wild.org. On the Museum's eleven acres of property along Mission Creek, we are creating an outdoor area where children can play in a natural setting and where outdoor education will be enhanced. Speaking to groups and organizations, we are raising awareness in our community and the word is spreading quickly. Elaine has degrees from Texas Wesleyan University, Ft. Worth, Tx. and the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. She is a teacher, parent and grandparent.

Jacqueline Green
Jacqueline Green Public Relations Inc. is a Los Angeles-based independent public relations company representing authors and clients for speaking engagements, publicity and other media strategies. Among her clients for speaking engagements are Richard Louv and members of the Children and Nature Network Speakers Bureau.

Debbie Greene
Debbie is Superintendent of Natural Resources for the Joliet Park District, which is located just outside of Chicago, Illinois. Their Pilcher Park Nature Center sees 15,000 children yearly for Field Trips. They also created an Underground Railroad program that teaches history, science and black history. Debbie created a unique partnership with the Provena St. Joseph Medical Center, Joliet Schools, ExxonMobil, University of Illinois Extension and the Will County Community Foundation that has raised over $100,000 to provide an after-school program called Kids n’ Nature Adventure that allows children to garden and grow organic vegetables and play outside every afternoon.

Julie Gustafson
Julie serves as the Senior Regional Education Manager for the National Wildlife Federation's Rocky Mountain Office. Her work includes advocating and organizing to get kids outdoors and to advance climate change education and solutions in communities. Prior to serving NWF, Julie worked for both conservation and youth focused non profits in Colorado and Ohio. She has taught environmental education through a variety of informal programs in Ohio, Georgia and Massachusetts. Julie earned a B.S. from The Ohio State University School of Natural Resources. Her husband is a park ranger and they have two young daughters who spend most days outside. NWF's mission is to inspire Americans to protect wildlife for our children's future.

Joe Hackett
Joe has earned a living as an Adirondack guide since 1978, specializing in father/son and mother/daughter wilderness adventures. Fortunate to turn an avocation into a vocation, Joe has developed a following among travelers who appreciate remote and wild lands. As a co-founder of the NYS Outdoor Guides Association, he helped to revive the occupation in the early 1980s. He is also in demand as a scout and authenticity consultant for television, film and commercial projects and is very active in the angler/hunting community. He has written extensively about the Children and Nature Movement and often speaks to sportsmen about the need for outdoor mentors.
Although he works and plays in the wilderness, his greatest pleasure is the time spent with his wife, Maria, and daughters, Meadow and Willow.

Steve Hagler
Steve is the Director of the Youth Investment Program at the Stewardship Council, a foundation which seeks to improve the lives of young Californians through connections with the outdoors. Prior to joining the Stewardship Council, Steve spent 15 years as a teacher in the San Francisco Unified School District, helping raise the level of academic achievement and personal growth of low performing youth in San Francisco schools. Steve founded the Galileo Outdoor Adventures Program (GOAPe) and the Get Out & Learn program (GO&L) which utilized experiential and outdoor education methodologies to teach and engage disconnected youth.

Paul B. Hai
Mr. Hai is Program Coordinator for the Adirondack Ecological Center (AEC) of the State University of New York, College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY-ESF) and co-founder of Children in Nature, New York (CiNNY). Mr. Hai lives and works in the Adirondack Mountains, where he develops partnerships with and program content for diverse audiences. With an institutional mission to increase the conservation literacy of New York State citizens, Mr. Hai’s programs use natural history, inquiry-based activities and outdoor experiences as the foundations for teaching the process of science. Mr. Hai and ESF are committed to leaving no child inside, a commitment Mr. Hai brings to the new Northern Forest Institute for Conservation Education and Leadership Training that he is helping to develop. Mr. Hai is a member of the Children & Nature Network’s Grassroots Leadership Team.

Libby Hartfield
Libby began her career as a science teacher before becoming Education Coordinator for the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science and has served as Museum Director for 21 years. Libby is active in state and national organizations and has served as President of the Mississippi Museums Association, Science Education Chair for the Mississippi Academy of Sciences, President of the Mississippi Conservation Education Advisory Council, Board of Directors member for the Mississippi Science Teachers Association and National Board Member of the Natural Science Collections Alliance. She has received awards for conservation leadership including the Mississippi Wildlife Federation’s Lifetime Achievement Award for Conservation Education and the Holly Award for outstanding work in support of biodiversity.

Jennifer Garrett Herrera
Jennifer has been an educator and naturalist at the Houston Arboretum and Nature Center since 2007. She works with a variety of students, ranging from children to adults, using the 155-acre nature sanctuary as an outdoor classroom, focusing on hands-on science. Her passion for connecting people, especially children, with nature drove her to seek out and become involved in groups with a similar vision and mission, including C&NN, the Texas Children in Nature Community, and Houston’s Children’s Nature Collaborative. She has recently become a member of the steering committee for the Houston Children and Nature Coalition and is excited about helping to bring the children and nature movement to the forefront in one the largest cities in the United States. “

Nancy Herron
Nancy has over 30 years experience in various aspects of conservation education, teaching, community leadership and non-profit administration. She currently manages the outdoor learning education programs for Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. She has been a featured speaker at national conferences on educational technology, best practices in conservation education and volunteerism. Nancy serves on multiple state and national boards and is active at the local, state and national level for the Children and Nature Network. Nancy is the recipient of multiple awards for educational innovations and leadership and is passionate about bettering our children's future. She loves to hike, kayak and explore the natural world. She has two grown sons and lives with her husband in Austin, Texas.

Pam Hess
Pam is the Director of Education for the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC).
From 1992 – 2002 she oversaw formal and informal public education and interpretive programs at the US Fish and Wildlife Service (National Wildlife Refuges). There she worked with staff and volunteers (in urban and rural settings) to provide free public programming and developed interactive exhibits. From 2002 - present Pam worked as the Director of Education at the Appalachian Mountain Club. She oversees several programs including: Residential school program, Outdoor urban youth development and leadership training program, volunteer training (focusing on outdoors skills and leadership), and the Teen summer exploration program. She works throughout New England on several steering committees and State wide task forces focused on NCLI issues.

Jodi Hiland
Jodi is the founder and organizer of Happy Trails Family Nature Club, in the Minneapolis/St. Paul Metro area. Happy Trails offers area families free and simple nature outings, with a focus on loosely-structured, child-directed nature play. The future vision for Happy Trails includes more collaborative development, within the club and with organizations in the greater metro area. Jodi has a background in child development and was a teacher in child care settings and preschools, where she developed small-scale nature education programming. She is a certified Massage Therapist, and an at-home mother of two children, both of whom attend a nature-based preschool part time.

Lynn Hinkle
An entrepreneur since the age of 28, Lynn Hinkle has used her background in advertising, marketing, and politics to craft a national model for citizen engagement in storm water management in Kansas City, Missouri. The initiative known as "10,000 Rain Gardens", has catapulted her region into prominence by focusing on green solutions as cost-effective ways to deal with expensive municipal problems. Now hundreds of millions of dollars are being deployed into the urban core to help alleviate sewer overflows, provide green jobs, and launch a revolution. She also created a venue to bring inspirational speakers such as Majora Carter, Ray Anderson, Hunter Lovins, and Richard Louv to KC in the past two years. Lynn is the proud mother of four sons and a newly minted grandson, Jackson. Read all about rain gardens at because kids love 'em!

Becs Hoskins
Over the years, Becs has bounced around the globe taking in every bit of the natural world as possible. From the deserts of Saudi Arabia to the sinkholes of Florida, the alpine peaks of Wyoming to the rainforests of Vancouver Island in Canada, Becs has made it her priority to live close to nature. She earned her Master of Science degree in Geography from the University of Victoria in 2007. Becs is currently a coordinator for the Child and Nature Alliance in British Columbia. The Alliance, launched in March 2009, seeks to build the Child and Nature movement across Canada.

Tyrell Hughes*
Tyrell is a graduate from Johnson C. Smith University and received his Bachelors Degree in Liberal Arts with interdisciplinary studies in Sociology and Business Management. Presently he works for the Social Security Administration, as a consultant and CAO of Men Organized to Develop, Empower and Lead, Inc. (MODEL, Inc.) a not-for-profit organization he co-founded in 2004. Through MODEL Tyrell receives his most enjoyment working with young men between the ages of 12-18 as a mentor focusing on their Personal, Professional and Educational development. The aim of MODEL is to overwhelm young men with the image of positive role models encouraging education, goal setting and community service. www.menofmodel.org

Steve Jansen
Steve is the Director of Marketing at Teton Science Schools. He moved to Jackson Hole, Wyoming in 1995 and has spent the years climbing, skiing, biking and testing a variety of careers while maintaining a mountain lifestyle. Previous employment includes: Climbing Shop Manager, Taxi Driver, Equities Researcher, Real Estate Marketing Professional, Computer Consultant, Radiant Heat Installer and Habitat for Humanity Restore Manager. Steve is also the owner of So What, LLC a company devoted to information design and visual communications. He has traveled throughout Central America, Western Europe and Southeast Asia.

Kristine Johnson
Kristine Johnson lives in Angwin California with her husband and two children. She currently works as a Speech Language Pathologist within an elementary school setting. She provides leadership at the board level of a Preparatory School, a Liberal Arts College and a non-profit Educational Foundation. Education has been her primary focus for the past 20 years. Providing students and teachers with the tools necessary to communicate and progress in their educational experience is rewarding. An educational setting should be holistic in nature without compromising the excellence required in academics.


Mary Jones
Mary Jones is from Lawrence, Kansas. Currently is a Realtor with McGrew Real Estate. She grew up in Lawrence and has always been active in the Community. In addition to being a member of the grass roots collaborative “Outside For A Better Inside” she is the Coordinator of Douglas County Toys For Tots, member of the Board of Directors for LINK ( Lawrence Interdenominational Nutrition Kitchen) for the homeless, Mission & Justice Committee and Trustee for the First United Methodist Church, Community Relations & Past President of the Lawrence Board of Realtors, Voters Coalition and others. She has seen the differences in the generations from herself, her children and now her grandchildren and believes we need to get everyone outside so we can all feel better inside.

Ken Keffer
Ken was raised in the outdoors of Wyoming, and graduated from the University of Wyoming with a B.S. in Wildlife Biology and Management. Ken was the President of the Student Chapter of The Wildlife Society, and is now an Associate Wildlife Biologist with The Wildlife Society. Ken’s extensive field biology experience includes working with small mammals in Grand Teton National Park, flying squirrels in the Tongass National Forest of Alaska, black-footed ferrets in northern New Mexico , and Bactrian camels in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia. Ken has evolved as an educator while working as a Community Naturalist for Audubon Wyoming and on numerous trips to the Teton Science Schools. Currently Ken is a bird bander at The Nature Conservancy’s Nassawango Creek Preserve in Maryland, as well as the stewardship and outreach coordinator for a Maryland land trust. He is also involved with the Bird Education Network, serving on the communications subcommittee. The recipient of a Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation Wildlife Leadership Award, Ken strives to combine science and education with hopes of inspiring future citizen scientist stewards around the globe.

Lori Kiesser
Lori is the Program and Fund Development Manager for Orange County Department of Education’s Inside the Outdoors (ITO), an environmental education program serving over 140,000 students and families annually. In 2007, she led the team that launched ITO's Community, High School Service-Learning, and Volunteer programs. Lori's passions are art and the environment. Those passions have resulted in family programs such as "Leave Only Footprints,Take Only Photos" where families create art from nature. Lori believes that one of the single most important aspects to connecting children to nature is making sure that every child has access to nature.

Manny Kiesser
Manny is a member of the steering committee for “Get Outdoors! OC”, Orange County, California’s initiative to get families and children back into the outdoors. He is on the board and is the current vice president of Inside the Outdoors Foundation and also of Friends of Harbors, Beaches, and Parks. He is the Manager, Cast Health Services for the Disneyland Resort. He is an alumnus of the US Naval Academy, Pepperdine University, and Loma Linda University. - “The answer to every question can be found in nature - if you know where to look and how to ask.” - “The Power of One”

Dr. Clifford Knapp
Cliff has been a place-based educator for over 45 years. He has taught at all levels of education, including 29 years as a teacher educator at two Illinois universities. His interests include ethics and values education, nature immersion activities, indigenous cultures, reflecting on experience skills, and curriculum writing. He has published more than 100 articles and book chapters and 11 books, either alone or with others. Since retiring in 2001, he has been consulting, traveling, speaking, and writing about what he loves. He believes that teaching others how to live peacefully with each other and the earth are two of the most critical needs of our time.

Jen Kretser
As Director of Programs for The Wild Center in Tupper Lake NY, Jen oversees all education program development and interpretive programs. Jen is a part of larger coalition – Children in Nature, New York (CiNNY) which works to reconnect kids and nature across northern New York. Her past experiences include teaching and developing programs at the Adirondack Mountain Club, Cincinnati Zoo, Aspen Center for Environmental Studies, and Zoo New England in Boston. Her interest in international conservation led to two exchanges in Siberia to collaborate on creating education programs for their parks. A native of Saranac Lake N.Y. and 4th generation Adirondacker, Jen graduated from Cornell University BS and an MS in Environmental Education from Antioch University. When she is not working, she enjoys kayaking, hiking, x-c skiing, bird watching, gardening and printmaking.

Cliff Lacey
In 1975 Cliff graduated from the University of Alberta with a B. A. in Recreation Administration – Park Planning and Operations. Cliff worked for the Province of Alberta as a forest recreation planner, a provincial park planner and served as the manager of the Urban Parks Program, an $80 million initiative to develop major park systems in Alberta's smaller cities. Starting in 1987 as head of the parks division of Strathcona County the County the division twice received awards for innovation in parks management, was twice selected as the best cross country ski facility in the Province, was recognized by the Provincial Emerald Award Foundation and the National Environmental Education and Communication Organization for work at the Strathcona Wilderness Centre and received both Provincial and National Awards in the Communities in Bloom competition. In 2006 the community received the Communities in Bloom National Award for Environmental Awareness. Cliff has retired and lives in Strathcona County, consulting on park matters and working part time for the Alberta Recreation and Parks Association on issues relating to Children in Nature.

Page Lambert
Page has been leading creative outdoor writing adventures for ten years, often working in partnership with organizations such as The Women's Wilderness Institute, the Grand Canyon Field Institute, and the Aspen Writers Foundation. Author of the memoir In Search of Kinship, a collection of stories about rearing her son and daughter on a small ranch in Wyoming, she believes: "Our vitality, and the vitality of our children, comes from an intimate and enduring relationship with a specific landscape. Telling simple stories to one another about the places we love is fundamental." She is a founding member of the Wyoming chapter of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, a board member of the Vore Buffalo Jump Foundation, and an active volunteer with The Horse Shelter of Santa Fe. She is also a member of the Quivira Coalition, a collaborative organization of environmentalists and ranchers. Page has been the recipient of two Literary Fellowships from the Wyoming Arts Council, and her stories are widely anthologized. Her work can be found in such publications as Parabola: Magazine of Myth and Tradition, as well as in books, including: Homeland: Ranching and a West that Works; Writing Down the River: Into the Heart of the Grand Canyon; and The Stories that Shape Us: Contemporary Women Write about the West.

Martin LeBlanc
Martin is national youth education director for the Sierra Club, where he oversees the organization’s youth programs and advocacy efforts relating to children and nature. His advocacy work has been focused, for the most part, on California, New Mexico and Washington State, as well as at the federal level. Martin also has been instrumental in forming partnerships with military and health organizations around the issue of children and nature. He was a founding board member of the Children and Nature Network and serves as Vice President of the Board. Previously, Martin worked as an outdoor educator in Seattle, and served as an outdoor-education advocate for Texas Parks and Wildlife in Austin, Texas. He is currently chairman of the No Child Left Inside committee in Washington State, as well as a member of the North American Association for Environmental Education's Advocacy Committee. Martin believes that "the next generation of American children deserves a special place in nature so they can be empowered to solve the environmental challenges of the future."

Richard Louv
Rich is chairman of the Children & Nature Network and the author of seven books, including his most recent, "Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder" (Algonquin). He is the recipient of the 2008 Audubon Medal. Past recipients have included Rachel Carson, E.O. Wilson and Jimmy Carter. He has served as an adviser to the Ford Foundation’s Leadership for a Changing World award program, is a member of the Citistates Group, appears often on national radio and television programs, and speaks frequently in the United States and overseas. He has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, and other newspapers and magazines, and was a columnist for The San Diego Union-Tribune and Parents magazine. Married to Kathy Frederick Louv, he is the father of two young men, Jason and Matthew. He is working on his eighth book, but would rather be fishing.

Kyle Macdonald
Mr. Macdonald’s connection to nature began early in life, on family trips in the Appalachian Mountains of New England. He began working with youth at the age of 17 and has worked with urban youth in Boston, Detroit, Ann Arbor and San Francisco. He has taught outdoors - backpacking, canoeing and basic rock climbing - and in the classroom, in public schools in New Orleans and Boston. He is the founder and co-director of Bay Area Wilderness Training (BAWT) and drives new initiatives and strategic growth for the organization. He currently lives in San Francisco with his wife and two small children.

Meggan Laxalt Mackey
Meggan is one of the founders of the Idaho Children and Nature Network, based out of Boise, Idaho. Since 2007, she has worked as Chair of IDCNN to establish Idaho’s statewide initiative, “Be Outside.” Over 148 partners are committed to IDCNN’s mission to “connect children in Idaho, from backyards to mountaintops.” Meggan works for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Boise, Idaho as an External Affairs Officer. She has a background in publications and graphics, as well as public history. She and her husband Dennis live in the Boise foothills with their four dogs, a flock of birds and a multitude of plants.

Fran Mainella
Fran is Visiting Scholar at Clemson University Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management and hosted “the summit on the value of play” further fostering the play movement. Previously, Director Mainella completed nearly six years as the 16th Director and the first woman to lead the National Park Service. Fran served twelve years as Director of Florida’s State Parks, which were awarded the Gold Medal Award, recognizing Florida as the best state park system in the country. She has also served as executive director of the Florida Recreation and Park Association and as president of both the National Recreation and Park Association and the National Association of State Park Directors. Clemson University has presented Fran with its Walter T. Cox Award, and also named an award in her honor, encouraging women to pursue conservation careers. The American Recreation Coalition also presented her with the Sheldon Coleman Great Outdoors Award. In 2006, she was awarded the William Penn Mott, Jr. Award for Excellence by the NSPR. Most recently Fran was presented the 2007 Pugsley Award, the highest award given by the American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration. Fran is currently a member of Newsweek Magazine’s Environmental Advisory Board, a board member of the National Society for Park Resources, a fellow of the American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration, a member of the Advisory Board for the Children and Nature Network, and a national speaker on parks and recreation. Director Mainella holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Connecticut, a master’s degree, and an honorary doctorate from Central Connecticut State College.

Juan Martinez*
Juan is the Children & Nature Network’s Natural Leaders Network™ coordinator. He is a proud resident of Los Angeles and grew up in South Central. Through a trip to the Teton Science School sponsored by the Sierra Club, Juan not only changed his life around, but has gone on to be an emerging environmental professional.

Maizah McCann
Maizah is the Community Organizer for East Michigan Environmental Action Council in Detroit, Michigan and Program Director for the Back to Basics Project. This initiative is a Foundation Building model, designed to reconnect families and communities back to nature and develop an unspoken presence of interdependence within a community and family. In working with community members, workshops are developed based upon the needs of the neighborhood. The focus is to develop a viable plan for environmental, social and psychological change in their communities. They are currently in the process of developing Detroit’s first fully sustainable community run recirculating aquaculture fish pond, creating much needed ownership and green space for residents.

Barb McKean
Barb is the Head of Education at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Hamilton, Ontario. She is a career interpretive naturalist and outdoor educator with degrees in science and education, and has spent over 30 years in a variety of positions that all focus on helping to connect people with the natural world. Barb has worked for a variety of land protection agencies in Canada but much of her career has been spent at Royal Botanical Gardens in Hamilton, Ontario, where she leads the education department. RBG protects 2,700 acres of the most biodiverse natural landscape in Canada, and have been offering programs to connect children and nature since 1947 - their newest interest is nature integration for newcomer children. RBG began working to connect organizations in a province-wide ‘Back to Nature’ network in late 2007.

Heather Moffat
Heather is Director of Education & Exhibits at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. For nearly twenty years, she has taught science education emphasizing outdoor experiences to a wide range of grade groups, from preschool to graduate students. In addition to being an educator, Heather is also a paleontologist and her field work has enabled her to enjoy first-hand the value of spending time in nature, as well as its vital importance to understanding how our dynamic world works. Heather holds a M.S. in Earth & Environmental Sciences from University of Rochester, a second M.S. in Geological Sciences from University of Southern California and an A.B. from Smith College in Geology.

Robin Moore
Robin is Professor of Landscape Architecture and Director, Natural Learning Initiative, NC State University, specializing in design of child and family environments that support healthy human development. Research interests are focused on the built environment and sustainable urban landscape design, particularly neighborhoods, parks, and childcare centers. Recent publications include, “Design for Healthy Childhoods and a Healthy Planet,” in Biophilic Design (2008); and “Growing Caring Children,” in The Inclusive City (2007). Moore is past chair of the Environmental Design Research Association, and a consulting principal, MIG, Berkeley. Moore holds degrees in architecture (London University), and city and regional planning (MIT).

Matt Mutel*
Matt grew up in southeast Iowa exploring and restoring tallgrass prairies and oak savannas with his family. After studying geology and biology at Oberlin College, OH, he moved to the Southern Appalachian Mountains and began his career as an educator. He currently lives and works atop Mount Mitchell State Park, the highest peak east of the Mississippi River, where he works as an environmental education, law enforcement, EMS, and resource management ranger. His free time is largely spent outdoors, either biking, hiking, photographing, or studying ecosystems.

Janet Roell Naughton
Ms. Naughton is an experienced attorney and policy advisor with a broad range of skills in public relations, natural resources, and environmental regulation. She currently maintains a private natural resources consulting practice in Alexandria, Virginia, and provides clients with assistance in government relations, grant management, children in nature program strategies for private sector and public entities, community outreach, and special event planning. Ms. Naughton has over 20 years of Federal Government experience in regulatory law, public affairs, intergovernmental affairs, and strategic planning. She most recently served as Chief of Staff to the Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks at the U.S. Department of the Interior. In addition to that role, she was responsible for the development of two major Secretarial initiatives: the establishment of the World War II Valor in the Pacific national monument and the “Get Outdoors, It’s Yours!” children in nature initiative. Prior to her time at the Department of the Interior, Ms. Naughton served as an attorney in various regulatory roles, principally providing government conflict of interest advice and counsel. During this period, she served in the Office of the White House Counsel, where she assisted with the appointment process and implementation of rules prohibiting conflicts of interest. Ms. Naughton began her career in public service as the public affairs officer for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative before serving as a law clerk for the General Counsel. She is a graduate of the University of Mississippi, (BBA 1984), Mississippi College School of Law (JD 1988), and the George Washington National Law Center (LLM 1989). She resides in Alexandria, VA with her husband and daughter.

Marcie Oltman
Marcie is the Director of Early Childhood Education at Schlitz Audubon Nature Center in Milwaukee, WI. Marcie has advanced degrees in early childhood education and environmental education and works with nature centers and children’s museums across the country to develop early childhood programs, nature preschools and exhibits. Marcie works with local, state and national partners to increase opportunities for all children to have nature a part of their everyday lives. Previously, Marcie directed Tamarack Nature Center near St. Paul MN, creating My Nature Preschool, in cooperation with the local school district and The Wild Place, an outdoor play space that has since become a model for how parks and nature areas throughout the Midwest can provide safe, outdoor natural areas for children to experience unstructured play.

Lisa Panich
Lisa is the Marketing/Communications Coordinator for the Kalamazoo Nature Center (KNC) and the Coordinator for the No Child Left Inside Initiative in Kalamazoo, MI. as well as a member of the Michigan No Child Left Inside Coalition. She is a member of the steering committee for the Kalamazoo NCLI Initiative and will continue to coordinate the implementation phase of the Kalamazoo Community Action Plan.

Lynda Paznokas
Lynda is an Emeritus Professor in Washington State University's College of Education. She most recently served as Associate Dean for School and Community Collaboration and was a K-8 science methods professor at WSU and Northern Arizona University. Lynda is active nationally and internationally in science education reform. Over the years, she has been a teacher, curriculum director, museum docent, and outdoor school director. She was the 1982 Oregon Teacher of the Year and 2003 Washington Higher Education Science Teacher of the Year. She is currently an EPA grant PI (Sustainability and Environmental Education for Pre-Service) bringing more significant EE to pre-service teacher preparation programs. She served on the NEON (National Ecological Observatory Network) Education Committee, the ICASE Board (International Council of Associations of Science Education), is a life member of Girl Scouts, and currently serves on the NAAEE Pre-Service Advisory Council.

Ed Pembleton
A life-long educator and conservationist, Ed Pembleton has dedicated his professional career to connecting people of all ages to nature. Pembleton has taught a wide variety of “students” in settings ranging from the sandbars of the Platte to the corridors of Congress. A Missourian, trained as a biologist and classroom educator, Ed taught in public schools and nature centers before becoming a Kansas-based field representative for National Audubon in the Midwest. In 1987, he transferred to Washington, DC, to direct Audubon’s water resources program and began “teaching” 535 distracted Congressional pupils. He had become a lobbyist! In 1994 he went independent working as a photographer and an "outside the Beltway" water resources consultant to non-profit organizations and the Department of Interior. In 2000 he returned to the Midwest from 13 years on the banks of the Potomac to join Pheasants Forever as Director of the Leopold Education Project, with a mission to educate individuals to develop a personal land ethic based on Aldo Leopold’s writings in A Sand County ALMANAC. In 2008, he returned to photography and consulting. He and his wife, Seliesa, focus on introducing children and adults to the wonders of the natural world and training educators how to teach in the outdoors.

Seliesa (Sil) Pembleton
Seliesa began school teaching with the philosophy that science is the exciting process of making discoveries about the natural world. After moving to Washington, DC, she worked at the National Science Resources Center, based at the Smithsonian Institution, writing hands-on science curriculum for the National Academy of Science. A position as director of environmental studies at Hard Bargain Farm Environmental Center, located on the banks of the Potomac, lured Seliesa back outdoors teaching everything from wetland ecology, to canoeing, to cow milking. She coordinated a Potomac Watershed Cleanup for 10 years with more than 100 sites participating throughout the drainage basin. She was invited to Japan several times to teach environmental education “American Style.” Seliesa authored two natural history books for children, The Pileated Woodpecker, and The Armadillo, part of the Remarkable Animal series published by Dillon/McMillan Press. Seliesa currently works free-lance as an environmental educator and teacher-trainer.

Amy Pertschuk
Amy is managing director of C&NN and part of the strategic planning and implementation team. She designed and developed C&NN’s online strategy and continues to manage the ever-expanding Web site resources to serve the needs of the growing children and nature movement. Her work includes outreach and communications with network members as well as grassroots leadership. Amy is especially active in the regional children and nature campaign in Northern California, where she lives. She also serves as a member of the board of directors of Hooked on Nature, and was a co-founder of eNature.com, the Web’s premier nature-discovery resource: www.enature.com

Hanna Pinneo*
Hanna from Lincoln, Nebraska has enjoyed the outdoors from an early age. Some of her best childhood memories take place at the Lincoln Children's Zoo and the local parks. As she grew she became actively involved in service-learning through Zoo Crew at the Lincoln Children's Zoo and fell in love with all there was to know and love about the world around her. As she went through high school she used her position on Zoo Crew to spread her love of the outdoors to children in the community. In her senior year of high school, Hanna created a service-learning program called Science Day where high school students teach elementary age children about the importance of science in our everyday lives, especially with an emphasis in environmental education. Hanna is now program director of the Zoo Players program at the Lincoln Children's Zoo. Zoo Players strives to educate children about the wonders of nature, and works to encourage children to engage in creative play outside. Hanna is also using technology to help the education department move forward and reach a wider, more diverse audience with its educational resources.

Tamara Poles
Tamara is the Nature and Outdoor Education Manager at the Virginia Museum of Natural History. She is the coordinator of Martinsville-Henry County’s first nature and outdoor educational programming organization called the Martinsville-Henry County Community Nature Initiative. This organization provides nature and outdoor educational programs and events for the community to help remedy the growing concern of “nature- deficit disorder” by using nature as an educational tool. She has also initiated the pilot Earth Force program in the area which consists of a group of educators who will be developing student-led teams around the community to help raise awareness and address environmental concerns in the area.

Andrea Putnam
Andrea is a passionate outdoor enthusiast who helps children and families to connect with nature. Andrea has spent the past five years with Missouri State Parks encouraging people to get out and play. As an interpreter, she has had the opportunity to engage many people with outdoor resources. Prior to working in state parks, Andrea spent several years as a naturalist for the Missouri Department of Conservation. Now, as the Interpretive Resource Coordinator, she coordinates the Children in Nature initiative for Missouri State Parks. Andrea is no stranger to playing outside with children. She has spent many years as the outdoor “entertainment” to her niece and nephews and now is playing with her own daughter under trees and in streams.

Elizabeth Renton
Elizabeth is a landscape architect with Asakura Robinson Company in Houston, Texas. As a designer of outdoor spaces, Elizabeth has a passion for incorporating natural elements in children’s outdoor environments. She is currently engaged in a variety of public projects which will facilitate ‘nature play’, including several public and private schools as well as regional parks. Elizabeth is also co-founder of the Houston Children and Nature Coalition, a collaborative effort of Houston organizations dedicated to promoting the benefits of nature in children’s lives. Founded in July 2009, the HCNC is poised to tackle nature deficit disorder through a variety of educational campaigns, family-oriented activities, and demonstration projects.

Rafael Reyes
Rafael is Program Manager for ecoAmerica where he leads large scale for-profit and non-profit partnership projects to make the environment relevant to mainstream Americans. Rafael is project manager for the "parents campaign" under development in collaboration with the Children & Nature Network. Among Rafael's other projects with ecoAmerica are the collaboration with Monster.com to create GreenCareers, a green jobs service which shows that environmental progress leads to economic opportunity, and the college Green Rating with the Princeton Review, which makes college green practices relevant to mainstream students by showing how they improve campus quality of life and career preparation. Rafael also sits on the board of the Sierra Club where he is focused on climate crisis initiatives. Fluent in Spanish, Rafael has presented "An Inconvenient Truth" in both English and Spanish. Rafael was born in Peru, is a graduate from UC Berkeley and his career includes 15 years of high tech project management, systems architecture design and business consulting.

Margaret Rietano
Margaret is the Founder of ELEMENTS, LLC. Raised in the South, Margaret spent her childhood playing in the Blueridge Mountains of Virginia. She had a love of the outdoors and always found that being outside was where she felt most ‘sheltered’. As an adult, living in Washington DC and the mother of 4 young children she was often surprised at how few kids were playing or exploring the urban parks during the Winter months. In 2006 she retired her landscape-design business and founded ELEMENTS LLC – a DC based after-school program that gets kids, ages 8 – 14 outside, January through March. “I love the time I have with children outside in the Winter where the weather surprises us, the streams run dark and icy and the trees are like sculptures towering over us. But best of all, is seeing the looks of delight, the rosy cheeks and the twinkles in the eyes of the ELEMENTS kids. We are all in our element.”

Breece Robertson
Breece Robertson is National Director of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for the Trust for Public Land. Since 2001, Breece Robertson has directed enterprise GIS applications for TPL. She manages a team of GIS and planning staff and consultants to design sophisticated models, collect and analyze spatial data, and develop demographic and analysis maps. She has overseen modeling efforts that balance a wide range of land protection issues including storm water management, clean drinking water, wildlife protection, and farmland conservation for both local governments and Native American tribes. Breece spearheads projects working with communities to create analyses that combine park and open space issues with health issues. Her team received the Special Achievement in GIS Award from ESRI, the leading GIS software provider in the U.S., in 2006. She holds a Master’s degree in geography and planning from Appalachian State University and a Bachelor’s degree in exercise physiology from Lenoir-Rhyne College in North Carolina.

Mary Roscoe
Mary is the coordinator of the Children in Nature Collaborative and the San Francisco Bay Area’s regional children and nature movement. She was a co-chair of the original planning team for an event two years ago with Richard Louv that launched the area’s “Leave No Child Inside” initiative. Mary is presently working intensively with the Children in Nature Collaborative and a consulting firm on a strategic plan to be completed by January. Mary’s past experience includes starting an independent school and serving as the school’s administrator for over twelve years. She is currently a board member of the Institute for Social Renewal.

Katia Rossi*
Katia had the good fortune of meeting Dr. Jane Goodall by chance on an airplane in 2001. She learned about Roots & Shoots, a humanitarian and environmental program for young people, and was inspired to get involved. In 2003, Katia established a R&S chapter at Washington State University in Pullman. WSU R&S did countless projects, including hosting Earth Day celebrations, working with the local animal shelter, and assisting with stream cleanups. They joined national campaigns, such as Campus Climate Challenge and Focus the Nation. Katia has worked as a project leader for theWSU Center for Civic Engagement. In 2007, she earned her Zoology degree from WSU, after which she acquired an AmeriCorps position for a year, working at thePalouse Discovery Science Center in Pullman. While there, Katia promoted environmental education, coordinating volunteers and planning outreach activities. One day, she hopes to develop an outdoor education facility for youth that includes an animal sanctuary.

Tiffany Saleh*
Tiffany is the California Youth Representative and Natural Leaders Network Liaison for Sierra Club’s Building Bridges to the Outdoors Project. Raised in California, she understands how difficult it can be to balance the demands of the city with a desire to connect with nature. To fuel her own love of the outdoors, she studied Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology at UC Davis before working in environmental education and in wildlife rehabilitation. She later earned her graduate degree in Environmental Studies at the University of Montana. Tiffany hopes to inspire the next generation to a healthier, happier, greener future.

Carrie Samis
Carrie is the Education Coordinator for the Maryland Coastal Bays Program, one of 28 National Estuary Programs. With over 15 years experience as a conservation education professional, Carrie has been involved in developing a variety of programs designed to help children and adults foster a connection with nature. Carrie works with multiple partners and community leaders to help organize and coordinate children & nature activities for diverse audiences throughout the Delmarva region – where she enjoys exploring with friends, family, colleagues, and visitors. Now, she is excited to share her love of nature with her 2 ½ year-old daughter, Ella.

Jane Sanborn
Jane is the Executive Director of Colorado Outdoor Education Center and Sanborn Western Camps near Florissant, CO. COEC and SWC operate residential summer camps, a residential outdoor education program for school children and The Nature Place Conference Center which focuses on team-building and leadership programs for adults. Jane is also a member of the American Camp Association’s Children and Nature Committee and represents the ACA at this gathering.

Tim Sandsmark
Tim is the Director of Lookout Mountain Nature Center and interpretation and environmental education programs and services for the Jefferson County Open Space system in Golden, Colorado. Prior to that he was the Executive Director of the Greenway and Nature Center of Pueblo and was involved with the creation of the Mountain Park Environmental Center near Pueblo. He has served on several nonprofit boards including the Colorado Alliance of Environmental Education and the Association of Nature Center Administrators and was President of this organization from 2005-2008. Tim has served as a leader and member of several consulting teams for nature/environmental centers throughout the United States

Dr. Tiffany Sauls
Tiffany trained in Pediatrics, Adult Psychiatry and Child/Adolescent Psychiatry at the University of Kentucky. She has been involved in multiple conferences and discussions on the importance of nature for children. She presented at the Kentucky Green and Healthy Schools Conference on "The Health and Learning Benefits of Green Schools for our Children." She completed a research project during residency on "The Benefits of Wilderness Therapy for Adolescents with Substance Abuse Issues." Tiffany is now working as a child psychiatrist in outpatient and residential settings in Corvallis, Oregon. She spends all of her free time outdoors with her husband, daughter and 2 dogs.

Lottie Spady
Lottie has been working with young people and adults around media creation, activism and literacy for the past 7 years. As education director for East Michigan Environmental Action Council, Ms. Spady utilizes a framework rooted in popular education, social justice, and social entrepreneurship to help develop relevant 21st century skills that community residents can translate into community and economic development in underserved and underrepresented urban areas. For the past year, she has been focusing on the creation of an immersive community-based transformational environmental justice media program, “ReMedia”. The ReMedia program integrates environmental education, art, multi-media production, media literacy, green technologies, popular culture, social networking, civic engagement and social consciousness as a means to trigger systemic change on individual and social levels. The program is being deployed in SE Michigan to address environmental justice issues and help make disenfranchised communities visible and vocal.

Tom Springer
Tom is a project manager at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation in Battle Creek, Michigan, an organization that has funded three pilot projects to connect vulnerable children with nature. When he’s not stuck in his office or sitting in meetings, he loves to fish, garden, camp, hike, and write about the outdoor world. He lives in an old farmhouse in rural southern Michigan with his wife and two daughters, ages 6 and 11.

Rolland Smith
Rolland Smith has over 45 years of broadcast experience as an anchor, reporter, documentary producer, and writer. Smith formally worked for the CBS network where he was co-host of "The CBS Morning Program.” He also anchored WCBS-TV Channel Two News in New York for many years and anchored the Ten O’clock News at WWOR-TV in New York. Smith is the recipient of eleven Emmy awards, three Telly awards and numerous other honors. He is an author and poet. His book of poetry, Quiet Musings, published by Sunscape Publications, was nationally released with critical acclaim. A second book Encore - The Poetry of Nature followed in 2001. His third book of poetry and commentaries entitled Stone Wisdom was published in December of 2008. Details and contact information at http://www.rollandgsmith.com.

Nicholas Stanger
Nick just recently descended from the treetops, where he was living a fruitful and complex life of epiphytology - the study of plants that grow on other plants. Realizing that his audience of mosses and lichens weren’t able to make effective behavioural change in the world, he set his sights on teaching environmental education. He has worked in formal and non-formal settings from training teachers at UBC Okanagan to working with youth in First Nations Communities, the Bahamas, and the BC education system. Nick currently works at Royal Roads University as a Senior Development Officer for The Robert Bateman Centre, a living building being built over the next few years. He is also the chair of the Child and Nature Alliance in Canada. He recently completed his Masters in Environmental Education and Communications at Royal Roads University, where he focused on the role of creativity in the development of ecological literacy. He is an avid photographer, musician, and actor, and has a hankering for un-structured play!

Molly Stevens
Molly, Executive Director of Westcave Preserve, has been dedicated to environmental and natural area protection for nearly 20 years. Before coming to Westcave Preserve she was the Texas managing director for Environmental Defense and State Development Director for the Nature Conservancy of Texas. While at Westcave Preserve, Molly has worked with a team of local community leaders to launch the Austin Children in Nature Community (ACINC). Since 2006, ACINC has organized two events with Rich Louv, several conferences geared to segments of the target population, a premiere of Where Do the Children Play as well as several gatherings of the larger ACINC community.

John Stark
John is director of Mississippi No Child Left Behind. John received degrees at Millsaps College and Iliff School of Theology. He taught environmental education at the Houston Independent School District Outdoor Education Center. He worked as a fundraiser and educator for rain forest and coral reef conservation (Earth Foundation) and as a sales director and curriculum writer in the fair trade crafts sales industry (World of Education). As an instructor for the National Outdoor Leadership School John has led mountaineering and ocean kayaking expeditions in Wyoming, Montana and Alaska. Details on John’s work as a storyteller are available at JohnStarkStories.com.

Ronald R. Swaisgood, Ph.D.
As Director of Applied Animal Ecology for the San Diego Zoo’s Institute for Conservation Research, Ron supervises several endangered species recovery programs in southern California and around the globe. In addition to this role, he is championing the Zoo’s goal of forming a strategic alliance with the Children & Nature Network. As a father of two boys, aged 3 and 4, he is a passionate advocate of getting his own family out in nature, especially hiking and camping. His wife and he are founding a local family nature club and are also involved in the local civic association’s efforts at sustainability, which includes the goal of connecting children to nature.

Elena S. Takaki
Elena is the Program Manager for education at the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. She has over 15 years experience in both formal and non-formal education settings. Elena is one of the lead staff for the Maryland Partnership for Children in Nature, which was formed in April 2008. The Partnership is implementing innovative ways to get kids and families connected to nature while at school, in a park, or in their neighborhood. Elena is President of the Maryland Association for Environmental and Outdoor Education, which hosts an annual conference of over 600 attendees. Her area of interests include incorporating the use of technology to enhance outdoor field experiences and professional development for educators.

Kellie Tharp
Kellie is the Environmental Education Manager for the Arizona Game and Fish Department. Prior to joining Game and Fish in 2007, she obtained a M.S. in Environmental Science from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore Maryland. While in graduate school, she worked as an educator for the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore, teaching about conservation biology through live animal presentations in classrooms and at events throughout the state. She earned her B.S in Wildlife Biology from Humboldt State University and spent her summers during college in the field working for the BLM and USFS as a wildlife technician and wildland firefighter. After college she worked as a Wildlife Biologist researching the breeding success of Dusky Canada Geese on the Copper River Delta in Alaska and spent a few seasons collecting data on Goshawk nests in Southeastern Oregon. In addition to her field experience, she has also spent time in the classroom as a high school science teacher in California. Kellie enjoys camping, spending time on the river and backyard barbeques. She serves on a variety committees within the Children and Nature Network and Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. Kellie also serves on the board of directors for the Arizona Envirothon and Be Outdoors Arizona, working to introduce youth to the outdoors and incorporating conservation education into classroom curriculum.

John Thielbahr
John is the retired Director of Professional Education at Washington State University’s Center for Distance and Professional Education in Pullman, Washington. In that capacity, John directed the creation and delivery of non-credit continuing education programs to professionals in the workplace in both face-to-face and online learning environments, focusing on emerging issues of importance to society. Prior to joining Washington State University, John spent 25 years in a private sector career that included corporate finance for major U.S. financial institutions, international consulting, and business ownership. John has also managed a business incubator for economic development in North Idaho and was a Regional Director for the Idaho Small Business Development Center. John holds an MBA from the Thunderbird School of Global Management and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in International Relations from Stanford University. As a volunteer, John was President of the Board of Directors of the Palouse Clearwater Environmental Institute of Moscow, Idaho (a “More-Kids-In-The-Woods” grant recipient), delete the following(is Southeast Region co-chair of E3 Washington), serves on the Washington No Child Left Inside Advisory Committee for legislative funding allocations, is on the Board of the Washington Child Care Resource & Referral Network, serves as a member of the Children and Nature Network Grassroots Leadership Team, and is a member of Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna’s Youth Internet Safety Task Force. John is married and the father of four.

Betsy Townsend
Betsy is Chair of the Grassroots Leadership Team for the Children & Nature Network. She is also the Co-Founder and Co-Chair of Leave No Child Inside - Greater Cincinnati (LNCIgc), a collaborative of individuals and organizations educating the community that time spent in nature is essential to physical, mental and emotional health of all children. Betsy is also on the Board of Directors of the Civic Garden Center of Greater Cincinnati, and represents LNCIgc on the Cross Boundary Leadership Team for Community Learning Centers in Cincinnati.

Mary Vidas
Mary is the Director at the Tamarack Nature Center, a 320 acre nature reserve within Ramsey County’s Bald Eagle-Otter Lake Regional Park located in White Bear Township. Tamarack is in the beginning stages of a 12M, multi-year umbrella project entitled Destination for Discovery designed to expand and enature based education and recreational opportunities for public enjoymeuse. Prior to her work at Tamarack, Mary was the Public Policy Director and Education Coordinator for the University of Minnesota’s Landscape Arboretum working closely with diverse stakeholders regarding issues of land-use and design, ecology, preservation of natural resources, low impact development, education and sustainability. Mary is also a consultant to the University of Minnesota’s Business and Community Economic Development Center assisting locally owned businesses and public/private partnerships looking to strengthen their organizational capacity and outreach. Mary earned a Masters from the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, is a current Humphrey Board member and an affiliate member of the ASLA American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA). Having worked in formal and informal education settings as instructor and administrator of experiential learning, Mary maintains a keen interest in the study of “biophilic design” and built environments aimed at supporting human/nature connections. Mary is a frequent speaker specializing in research, benefits and practical applications of creating nature rich environments and connecting children and families to nature. Her work has been featured in both local press and on national media. Mary is a member of the Executive Board of the Minnesota Children and Nature Network, a professional member of the National Association for Interpretation (NAI), the National Association for Education of Young Children (NAEYC), Minnesota Association for Environmental Educators (MAEEA) and the National Association for Strategic Planning.

Bob Wattendorf
Bob helped create the Get Outdoors Florida! Coalition, which was recently incorporated. He is serving as its first elected chair. Bob has worked for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission for 30 years, as a fisheries biologist, Assistant Division Director, Sport Fish Restoration Coordinator, and Marketing Coordinator. He helped write and research the Aquatic Education Supplement to the Federal Aid Manual (USFWS) and the Best Practices in Fishing, Boating and Aquatic Stewardship Education guide (RBFF). His educational background includes a Masters in Fisheries Science (statistics emphasis) from North Carolina State University, and a Masters in Executive Management (marketing emphasis) from Florida State University. See www.GetOutdoorsFlorida.org.

Robin Will
Ms. Will has worked in the Washington Office (USFWS), and the Fisheries Office in Panama City, Florida before assuming the Park Ranger duties at St. Marks NWR, St. Marks, Florida in 1979. She supervises 5 employees and a complex visitor services program for over 300,000 visitors each year. The refuge offers excellent wildlife viewing, photography, saltwater and freshwater fishing, hunting, interpretive programs, and a well-established environmental education program. The refuge hosts a strong volunteer program, including local volunteers, RV camper volunteers, college alternative break volunteers, and interns. Ms. Will established the St. Marks Refuge Association, Inc. in 1987, which supports the educational and biological objectives of the refuge with over 350 members and over $160,000 gross receipts each year. She also initiated the refuge entrance fee program in 1987, which also grosses over $145,000 each year. Ms. Will has assisted numerous refuges in the southeast with exhibits, sign plans, publications, and public use reviews, as well as taught at Basic Refuge Academy, worked on Service Manual Chapters, participated on the writing team for the “People” chapter of the “Fulfilling the Promise” document, and served as the Region 4 representation on the national Visitor Services Career Pathways Promise Team. Ms. Will is responsible for representing the Service on the following local and statewide committees: Leon Association for Science Teaching, Community Classroom Consortium, Wakulla County Tourist Development Council, Florida Project Learning Tree Steering Committee, Florida Birding Trail Steering Committee, Get Outdoors Florida!, and the University of Florida School of Natural and Forest Resources Advisory Committee. Ms. Will is married and has three daughters (ages 23, 18, and 18) and enjoys the beach, birdwatching, and reading.

Rosie Williams*
Rosie is the Training and Development Coordinator for the Rocky Mountain Youth Corps in Taos, New Mexico and a member of the Natural Leaders Network™. She is a recent graduate of Prescott College where she successfully earned a liberal arts degree in Integrative Studies and Education (read: vague). Rosie enjoys most things that involve people, heavy backpacks, carbohydrates, wilderness settings, simple living and experiential education. She has a hard time committing to jobs /activities that require exorbitant amounts of time in front of a screen and/or don’t allow flip-flops and jeans. Rosie is currently learning the art of raising a puppy.

Travis Williams
Travis has served as the Executive Director of the Outdoor Discovery Center in Holland, Michigan for nine years. The Outdoor Discovery Center (ODC) is a nonprofit outdoor education center and wildlife preserve that services over 30,000 people a year in educational programs designed to connect people with nature. Travis has significant experience in science education, grass roots project development, master planning and strategic management. Travis has played an integral role in a partnership formed between the Children & Nature Network and the Outdoor Discovery Center to pilot a community initiative in the Holland Area utilizing the C&NN Community Action Guide: Building the Children and Nature Movement from the Ground Up. Travis has been working on the Connecting Children & Nature movement with the Children & Nature Network since 2007. He is involved in numerous projects and serves on multiple boards and committees including the National Association for Interpretation Board of Directors, the Ottawa County Healthy Kids Coalition, the Holland and Zeeland Area Preschool Ready For School Initiative and the Michigan No Child Left Inside Coalition. Travis is married with three children.

Jeff Williamson
Jeff was named the President of the Arizona Zoological Society in 2007. The Arizona Zoological Society is a 501©(3) Arizona not for profit corporation founded in 1961 to operate the Phoenix Zoo as a zoological garden and recreation destination that engenders affection for and appreciation of nature. He was CEO/President and Executive Director of the Zoo from 1996-2007. Before that he was the Deputy Director for three years. Prior to his work in Phoenix, he was Deputy Director at the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago. Mr. Williamson is a life-long conservationist who grew up on farms and has spent his career trying to integrate the interests of people and nature. He is an advocate for sustainable community and is involved with many regional conservation organizations. He routinely speaks to issues of land conservation, water, urban development and wildlife habitat conservation.

Susan Wirth
Susan is the Nature Explore Outreach Director for the Arbor Day Foundation and Dimensions Educational Research Foundation. The Nature Explore program is a national initiative designed to help organizations, educators and families provide experiences and create spaces that allow children to connect with the natural world as an integral part of their daily lives. Susan speaks and authors articles nationally on the subject. In her 22 years with the Arbor Day Foundation, Susan has served as Education Director and been involved with the design/development of many interpretive/interactive nature experiences at Arbor Day Farm as well as in the creation of national youth nature education materials. She chairs the Early Childhood strand for NAAEE. Susan has received awards from the Girl Scouts of America and Project Wild for her work in conservation education.

Marilyn Wyzga
Marilyn convenes the NH Children in Nature Coalition, a statewide initiative she helped launch in 2006. As an educator with the NH Fish & Game Department, she writes and speaks on enhancing wildlife habitat in residential and community spaces, including co-authoring Integrated Landscaping: Following Nature’s Lead and coordinating Project HOME, the award-winning schoolyard habitat program she created for Fish & Game. Marilyn received her M.S. in environmental communications from Antioch Graduate School New England, and her B.A. from Colgate University; she continues studies in landscape design. Marilyn currently serves as co-President of the New England Environmental Education Alliance.


*Natural Leaders Participants in the C&NN 2009 Grassroots Gathering.

• [>] 2009 Agenda [PDF]
• [>] 2009 Breakout Sessions [PDF]

Breakout Session Notes

Select a PDF for download.

• [+] Connecting to Early Childhood Allies and Audiences : Ken Finch, Green Hearts Inc; and Marcie Oltman, Schlitz Audubon Nature Center


• [+] Connecting to the Community: Lisa Panich and Michelle Karpinksi, Kalamazoo Nature Center; Breece Robertson, Trust for Public Land; and Maizah McCann and Lottie Spady, East Michigan Environmental Action Council


• [+] Connecting to the Media: Rolland Smith, Emmy-award winning broadcast journalist and poet, and Sue DiCicco, award-winning children’s book illustrator, artist and designer


• [+] Connecting to Research—Standing on the Evidence and Common Sense: Dr. Louise Chawla, University of Colorado, presenter


• [+] Connecting to the Medical Profession: Travis Williams, Outdoor Discovery Center, Dr. Paul Dykema, retired, Holland Pediatrics Clinic, Janet Ady, US Fish and Wildlife Service, and Dr. Tiffany Sauls


• [+] Connecting to Design: Professor Robin Moore and Dr. Nilda Cosco, NaturalLearning Initiative


• [+] Connecting to Policy Makers: Fran Mainella, Clemson University and former Director of the US National Park Service, and Janet Naughton, former Chief of Staff, Office of Assistant Secretary for Fish, Wildlife and Parks, US Department of Interior