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BEETLES and the Research Group To Present at NAAEE Conference 2021 (North American Association of Environmental Educators)

September 20, 2021: Events

We’re pleased to share that we will be presenting five sessions at this year’s North American Association of Environmental Educators (NAAEE) Conference 2021. Join us as we mark an NAAEE milestone! Our 50th-anniversary conference—to be held virtually—will celebrate the power of connection and the profound, restorative role of the natural world in our lives. Together, […]

Introducing The First Cohort Of The Working Toward Racial Equity Workshop Series

June 7, 2021: News

The Lawrence Hall of Science and Justice Outside (formerly Youth Outside) are proud to launch a new 2-year series, Working Toward Racial Equity, which will support environmental and outdoor science organizations to build capacity to foster equitable, inclusive, and culturally relevant work environments and organizations. Participating organizations will engage in a 5-month series of intensive […]

Reflecting On and Celebrating the Past Five Years of BEETLES Institutes

May 28, 2021: Uncategorized

We celebrate the close of the National Science Foundation grant that funded the past 5 years of BEETLES Leadership Institutes. In 2016, we received funding from the National Science Foundation to broadly share the BEETLES Building Capacity Model with the environmental and outdoor science field. Under this grant, we led five BEETLES Leadership Institutes, reaching […]

Working with Large Groups: Interview with Korena David

February 19, 2021: Tales from the Field

Some program activity groups have 30+ students in them, plus chaperones. We’ve heard some folks say, “The groups I work with are too large to do student-centered BEETLES stuff.” We’ve heard other folks say, “Working with large groups forces you to make things student-centered, because it’s too hard to make it instructor-centered.” We interviewed Korena […]

Outdoor In-Person Learning: Partnerships in the Pandemic Spotlight Series

January 28, 2021: News | Tales from the Field

By Cristina Edwards and Emilie Lygren Over the course of the past year, the BEETLES team has heard many stories about how the environmental education community is adapting to the Covid pandemic. From Zoom classrooms to widely spaced outdoor stump circles, this community has shined with its creativity and flexibility in continuing to teach––both in-person […]

Partnerships in the Pandemic Spotlight: Santa Cruz Outdoor Science School

January 26, 2021: News | Tales from the Field

By Cristina Edwards and Emilie Lygren Heather MacDougall Molloy directs Santa Cruz Outdoor Science School, a residential outdoor science program located in Santa Cruz, CA. She is also an active participant in efforts to develop and implement an environmental literacy plan focused on increasing outdoor learning opportunities for students across Santa Cruz County. We talked […]

Partnerships in the Pandemic Spotlight: McCall Outdoor Science School

January 26, 2021: News | Tales from the Field

By Cristina Edwards and Emilie Lygren Karla Eitel (right) is the Director of the McCall Outdoor Science School, a residential outdoor science program located in McCall, Idaho. She also teaches a place-based education class to graduate students at the University of Idaho College for Natural Resources. Beth Kochevar (left) is the K-12 Residential and Outreach […]

Partnerships in the Pandemic Spotlight: Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center

January 26, 2021: News | Tales from the Field

by Cristina Edwards and Emilie Lygren Joe Walewski is the Director of Naturalist Training at Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center on the North Shore of Lake Superior in Finland, Minnesota. We spoke with Joe about the ways his organization has partnered with two local charter schools to offer outdoor, in-person education during the pandemic. These […]

Partnerships in the Pandemic Spotlight: North Cascades Institute

January 26, 2021: News | Tales from the Field

by Cristina Edwards and Emilie Lygren Jeff Giesen is the Associate Director at North Cascades Institute (NCI), a conservation organization focused on transformative learning experiences in nature in Northwest Washington State. Although NCI is predominantly a residential outdoor learning program, during the pandemic, they have partnered with several partner organizations to offer in-person outdoor learning […]

Partnerships in the Pandemic Spotlight: Sierra Nevada Journeys

January 26, 2021: News | Tales from the Field

Sean Hill is the Vice President of Education at Sierra Nevada Journeys (SNJ) in Reno, Nevada. He shared advice on getting the attention of school districts when there wasn’t an established partnership already. We spoke with Sean about Sierra Nevada Journeys’s Fall pilot of an outdoor, in-person weekly program at Incline Elementary School, located in […]

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