New Opportunity: Emerging Leaders at BEETLES Leadership Institutes
BEETLES is welcoming and supporting the next generation of racially, socio-economically, and culturally diverse leaders to help foster a more representative, responsive and relevant environmental education and outdoor science experience for all communities.
BEETLES helps outdoor science programs take full advantage of the rich opportunities for science learning in the outdoors. Learning science outdoors can be a powerful, even transformational experience. Outdoor instructors need different tools and approaches than those designed for classrooms or other indoor spaces. BEETLES resources support the ambitious goals of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and are designed to help create student-centered and nature-centered experiences that are based on research about how people learn. We’ve tested and implemented these resources with programs all over the U.S. (and in several other countries!).
Weeklong BEETLES Leadership Institutes build participants’ leadership expertise to incorporate effective practices into professional learning experiences for their staffs. We model a variety of resources for professional learning and student experiences, as well as provide opportunities for program leaders to plan, share expertise, and build their own capacity for program improvement, including discussion of vision and reality, leadership, contextual conditions, organizational policies and priorities, instructional materials, and equity, inclusion, and cultural relevance. Throughout the week, we aim to inspire program leaders to dig deeper as they consider strategies for continuously improving the quality of their programs.
Selected Emerging Leaders will attend a BEETLES Leadership Institute, alongside program leaders from environmental education and outdoor science organizations from across the country to build their own individual capacity to take on leadership roles in the field of environmental education. All Institute participants, including Emerging Leaders, meet, network, and exchange ideas with outdoor science program leaders from a wide variety of organizations over the course of our week together, then participate in the BEETLES online community of Institute participants, including ongoing webinars and discussions, as well as, receive additional support from BEETLES.
Who should apply? We’re looking for Emerging Leaders who represent communities that have been historically marginalized in environmental-related fields and face systemic barriers to access the outdoors.
Our commitment: BEETLES will offer Emerging Leaders a transportation stipend to attend the Institute, as well as, room and board during the Institute. BEETLES will also pay an honorarium to any Emerging Leaders who are not currently salaried at the time of the Institute.
Please note that the Emerging Leaders is in its pilot phase. As such, we will invite your feedback and expertise to contribute to the continuous improvement of this program.
