Introductions | NAAEE
eePRO

The hub for environmental education professional development

Introductions

Fri, 2018-08-17 12:00

Hello,

I am the new Conservation and Behavior Change group moderator. You can read more about me here (https://naaee.org/eepro/people/kelley-dennings). However, I'd like to meet others in this group. I just finished an all online master's program where at the beginning of each class we would do virtual, round-robin introductions. I found it useful to meet others with similar interests. If you'd like to participate, please answer the following questions in the discussion section below.

Where are you based?

"Conservation" can be a broad term. What area(s) specifically interest(s) you?

What types of things would you like to see posted in this group?

Are you going to the NAAEE conference?

Are you involved in any other EEPro groups? If yes, what?

Kelley
P.S. Bear with me as I learn the EEPro technology.

Fri, 2018-08-17 12:00

Kelley

Where are you based? Washington DC metro area

"Conservation" can be a broad term. What area(s) specifically interest(s) you? The intersection of health, the environment and social change.

What types of things would you like to see posted in this group? Resources, Events, Collaborative ideas

Are you going to the NAAEE conference? No

Are you involved in any other EEPro groups? If yes, what? Climate change, Evaluation

Fri, 2018-08-17 12:41

Hi
I'm based in Los Angeles
I agree "conservation" is very broad. My interest in teaching about the why of conservation in general (resource availability etc) in addition to practical ideas. I do specialize in water (which is a very big issue here in So. Calif.).

I'd like to see resources.

I'm not going to NAAEE this year

Other groups:
Higher Education, Connecting to Nature, EE Urban Settings, Early Child EE and K-12 EE

Fri, 2018-08-17 12:43

My name is Charlotte Clark, and I am on faculty at Duke University in the Nicholas School of the Environment (Durham, NC). I am interested in collective learning/action, with interest in the contribution of those to conservation outcomes. Within that, I am particularly interested in voluntary actions that are not mandated by law or policy, and that do not have market-based (dis)incentives. I am currently deep into a project around evaluation in EE, so would love to see posts around the link between EE evaluation and conservation outcomes. I currently am Board Chair of NAAEE, so will definitely be going to Spokane, both for the research symposium and the main conference. I am also on the eePro group for research and evaluation. Thank you for taking this on Kelly!

Fri, 2018-08-17 13:58

Hi, I'm Roberta from Kentucky. I work as an environmental educator for the Kentucky Division for Air Quality. This is my first time on EEPro -- I've never taken the time to try to figure out how it works until now. I am interested in how we motivate behavior change to conserve -- primarily clean air and energy. Open burning of trash is still a big thing in our mostly rural state, and it's a hard behavior to change, particularly because it's often connected to socioeconomics and geographic location. Yes -- I am going to NAAEE this year!

Fri, 2018-08-17 16:31

Good day everyone,

What a great forum to be in.

My name is Vinh Le and I am from a small city close to Toronto, Canada.

The conservation of energy, water and material resource are what interests me the most. I run my own interior design studio with my partner and we always try to be environmentally responsible in every decision we make for our clients.

I would love to learn how we can change behavioural habits in humans to help conserve energy, water and materials. I believe it all stems down to proper education and being aware of our behavioural habits.

I would love to go to the NAAEE conference, but I am not sure since it is quite expensive for me to fly over to attend.

I am involved with EEPro because I have been awarded the EE 30 UNDER 30 for 2018 from NAAEE. I am also in many other groups too. But, most of all I am happy to have found these forums and have it accessible to me because I want to learn from likeminded individuals to help me further my social impact and help continue to educate/ empower youth in my community.

It is so nice to meeting everyone who has posted above me. Looking forward to hearing from you all soon!

Best,
Vinh.

Fri, 2018-08-17 22:09

I'm Karen Clarke, and my career has been in formal education (secondary and higher education with a focus on global education) as well as consulting with behavior and social change programs (to improve student engagement, reduce, childhood obesity and school drop out rates).

To improve engagement in conservation through school-community action, I completed Duke's certificate in environmental communication for behavior change in 2013, then a Master's from Miami University in 2016, focusing on sustainability education. I then went to Paraguay and helped Para la Tierra develop its youth Eco-Leadership program, which now is expanding throughout the country with the help of Peace Corps and local volunteer groups. Para la Tierra deputy director Joe Sarvary just received the #EE30Under30 award by NAAEE.

Currently I am teaching high school Spanish in the US and integrating sustainability into the curriculum while trying to generate interest and support for student leadership in sustainability campus-wide.

Sun, 2018-08-19 01:43

I am Rabin Kadariya from Nepal, working in wildlife conservation since 2009. Recent my work on Himalayan back bear conservation located in Annapurna Conservation Area. I am interested on wildlife conservation, particularly conservation behavior changes of local communities for biodiversity conservation. I would like to see resources and international collaboration for wildlife conservation. This year, as part of ee360 fellow, I am going to participate NAAEE conference, October 10-13. I am also the members of climate change group of eepro.

In reply to Kelley Dennings
Tue, 2018-08-28 11:07

I am posting this for Rebecca who had followed my lead in responding to a blog post with introductions. But that wasn't as interactive as this discussion thread so I changed it. Sorry for any confusion this may have caused folks.

Name: Rebecca Christoffel and I am based in Madison, Wisconsin.
Learn more here - https://naaee.org/eepro/people/rebecca-christoffel-0

I am a consultant and I am especially interested in behavior change in wildlife conservation, particularly that of "unhuggables" (e.g., reptiles, amphibians and bats). I also direct a non-profit (Snake Conservation Society) and am co-director of a second non-profit (Turtles for Tomorrow). I am especially interested in working with non-traditional wildlife audiences, such as female landowners and producers.

I am not attending NAAEE conference this year.

I am especially interested in learning of novel ways to evaluate my efforts and in current research findings pertaining to behavior change techniques. My degrees are all in Wildlife Ecology (B.S. and M.S.) and Fisheries and Wildlife (Ph.D.). I have taken Doug McKenzie-Mohr's Social Marketing class and was a faculty member at Iowa State University in a former life, teaching personal interpretation.

In reply to Charlotte Clark
Tue, 2018-08-28 12:37

Hi Charlotte. I am not sure if you remember me but I used to work in NC and know you from EENC. I am curious about collective learning/action. Is that the same as collective impact (https://www.collaborationforimpact.com/collective-impact/ or https://collectiveimpactforum.org)?

Getting robust evidence-based research for conservation is so important. I have been asking the social marketing community this question for a few years with no solution. Perhaps this group knows - The public health community has great databases (https://ctb.ku.edu/en/databases-best-practices) full of systematic reviews and meta-analysis for what works and what doesn't. Is anything like that being built for environmental and conservation projects?

In reply to Roberta Burnes
Tue, 2018-08-28 12:41

Welcome Roberta. I wish you success in your work around open burning. It is a fascinating topic that to me works at the intersection of health and the environment. It isn't quite the same as clean cook stoves in developing countries but kind-of. If I think of anything to support your work I'll let you know.

In reply to Karen Clarke
Tue, 2018-08-28 12:49

It is great to meet you Karen. I am a fan of Brian Day and his certificate at Duke. Congratulations on the Master's degree too. I did some vector control behavior change work this year in Panama as part of my Master's and loved it. You must be so proud of Para la Tierra. Let me know what you might like to see on these discussion boards.

In reply to Kelley Dennings
Sun, 2018-09-16 09:41

Hi! I'm Kottie Christie-Blick. I'm in New York State - suburbs of Manhattan. I am also in the climate change group. I teach an online course at the University of San Diego in California: "Teaching Climate Change in the NGSS Classroom," for formal and informal educators, K-12. (It's all asynchronous learning so you can join any time, and complete modules at your own pace.)

I am also a 5th grade teacher in Blauvelt, NY. This is my last year in the classroom, as I expand my educational consulting work - working to get climate change taught in classrooms around the world. I'm always looking for ideas to encourage others to conserve and recycle, and basically to develop a sense of personal responsibility. It's so difficult to get people to change old habits!

Yes, I will be attending the NAAEE conference next month and will be presenting with a colleague a fun hands-on workshop: "Using Models to Understand Climate Change" Saturday morning. We will be playing games, using 3D models, drawing 2D models, and looking at some of the best computer modeling sites for students. Would love to see you there. In the meanwhile, let's link up on Twitter and LinkedIn!

@KottieCB

Kids Against Climate Change

Thu, 2018-09-20 10:26

Hello, all. What a fantastic group with diverse experiences! I am founding director of the year-old Global GreenSTEM (www.globalgreenstem. Articles and resources there). Everything I have done in my diverse work experiences has centered on instilling conservation ethics and behavior change through inspiring and empowering educational experiences. I love to create bridges of understanding between people and wildlife/environment. I have taught high school and elementary school science and GreenSTEM, established mountain gorilla conservation education programs for schools in Rwanda and Uganda, done educational consulting with zoos, museums, nature centers, division of wildlife. With Global GreenSTEM I work with educators in schools, districts, organizations, agencies to create purposeful culturally-relevant STEM experiences that allow learners to investigate a local environmental issue and the implement their own designed solutions so they experience making personal impact in solving a real world problem. My hope is to start connecting students with people around the world who would like partners in solving an environmental (conservation) problem. I post ideas and resources on my Facebook and Linkedin pages-- www.facebook.com/globalgreenstem , www.linkedin.com/in/laurasandersarndt . Unfortunately, I won't be at the conference.

Fri, 2018-09-21 06:52

Hi My name is Shawn McCrohan. I’m based in Arizona.

I’m interested in the conservation areas of positive behavior change in adults and decision makers.

I would love to see ideas, contacts of experts on behavior change and social marketing, success stories, research.

Yes, I will be at the conference.

I’m also a member of the Affiliate, Advocacy, and Climate Change groups.

Thanks for creating this group!!!!

In reply to Shawn McCrohan
Fri, 2018-09-21 09:40

Shawn, Welcome to the group. It sounds like you and I have a lot in common. If you are into social marketing, in particular, take a look at the Social Marketing Association of North America (https://smana.org/). Having just gotten a Master's in Public Health with a social marketing concentration I wish the environmental community had a robust database of evidence-based research documents to know exactly what works and what doesn't like public health does but they've been at it a little longer than us.

We do have a number of great journals that can help us but if only we could do a systematic review of all of our different topics. Can you tell I am passionate about this? Are you familiar with the website Tools of Change (http://www.toolsofchange.com/en/home/). This does provide a lot of great peer-reviewed case studies. Kelley

Tue, 2018-09-25 13:04

Good afternoon! My name is Sammi and I am based in Chattanooga, Tennessee at the beautiful Tennessee Aquarium. Conservation for me is all about educating and empowering others to value and preserve our resources. I'm lucky to get to work with youth all the way up to lifelong learners. I have a background in outdoor experiential education which flowed naturally (pardon the water pun) into my current role as an informal environmental educator.

In this group I'd love to hear success stories on integrating conservation and behavior change into curriculum.

I will be attending the NAAEE conference this year. Come find me during the poster session!

I am also a member of the Diversity eePro group and look forward to seeing this group develop.

Mon, 2018-10-15 11:05

Hello! My name is Amy Hollenshead and I am a curriculum coordinator for Northwest ISD's Outdoor Learning Center in Northlake, Texas. (We are a fast-growth public school district in North Texas, in the Fort Worth area of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex).
I am really interested in and passionate about conservation topics that focus on natural resources like water and energy, as well as wildlife conservation for biodiversity. Especially with suburban communities.
I would love to see shared resources, events and a variety of ollaborative ideas through this group.
I attended the NAAEE conference for the first time last week and it was awesome! Learned a bunch! The other groups I am involved with are:
K-12 EE, Connecting to Nature, and e-STEM education

In reply to Amy Hollenshead
Thu, 2018-11-08 12:59

Amy, Welcome to the group. That is wonderful that you went to the conference. Sounds like conservation to you is all-encompassing - which is great! Thanks for letting me know what you are looking for from the group. I hope we can provide event, resource and collaborative ideas.

Wed, 2019-10-23 16:09

Hello, I'm based at Santiago, Chile. I was encouraged to join a group here by my English teacher at University of Santiago of Chile.

I'm interested in behaviour change, as I feel it is the most important factor in order to make real changes to the world. Due to this, I would like to learn how this can be done effectively.

I am currently at my second year at University, and I want to become an English teacher.

It is nice to meet everyone here.

Warm regards,
Nicole.