From Drew Dumsch, Executive Director at The Ecology School, Saco, Maine. The five programs in Maine that do outdoor science school year programs (The Ecology School, Chewonki Outdoor Classroom, University of Maine 4-H Camp & Learning Center at Bryant Pond, and the University of Maine 4-H Camp & Learning Center at Tanglewood, and the Schoodic Institute […] The post Tale from the Field: A Regional Network in Maine appeared first on Beetles Project.| Beetles Project
From Ray Cramer, Senior Faculty for Teaching Practicum at Islandwood, Bainbridge Island, Washington. As a graduate program, Islandwood has been focused on developing a culture of learning within their instructional staff for many years. Here’s a brief synopsis of how they do it. Challenge people’s ideas of what science looks like and how we talk […] The post Tale from the Field: Setting a Tone: How We Develop a Learning Culture Among Staff appeared first on Beetles Project.| Beetles Project
Minnesota is home to five accredited residential environmental learning centers (RELCs) that host overnight field trips for students from Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, and more. Our centers are independent entities that have no financial ties to one another. But despite this, we’ve long had a collaborative approach to projects, grants, fundraising, and reaching broader audiences. Therefore, […] The post Regional Networks Tale from the Field: Minnesota Collaborative appeared first on Beetles...| Beetles Project
In January, 2020, the BEETLES team sent out a request for proposals for a new funding opportunity designed to strengthen the field of environmental and outdoor science through regional capacity building. With the support of the National Science Foundation, BEETLES offered six small grants for region-building efforts among environmental and outdoor science organizations. In part, […] The post Building Regional Networks: Lessons Learned in Collaboration and Community appeared first on Beetles...| Beetles Project
By Jen Schnakenberg, Amanda Schuster, Camila Rivera-Tinsley, Heather Berenson, Eva Barinas, and Kim Smith-Woodford How does a group of 20 near-strangers in a Zoom room become a community of learners? How does a diverse group of practitioners in environmental education and allied fields begin to confront bias and center racial equity in their work? In […] The post Regional Networks Tale from the Field: River Cities appeared first on Beetles Project.| Beetles Project
From Rob Wade, Plumas County Office of Education, Quincy, CA. The Native Voices Project is a regional collaborative in the Upper Feather River Watershed between local educators and leaders from the Mountain Maidu community. The Mountain Maidu, the native inhabitants of this landscape, have suffered centuries of devastation due to American Colonialism. This project is […] The post Regional Network Tales from the Field: Forming Community Partnerships to Inform Curriculum Design with the Nativ...| Beetles Project
In San Diego, there are over 50 environmental education nonprofits that work with school districts to provide outdoor science programming. As most of the organizations are non-profits, staff are busy managing their programs and often have limited opportunities for interactions with peers from other organizations despite sharing similar goals and challenges. Although there are a […] The post Regional Network Tales from the Field: San Diego appeared first on Beetles Project.| Beetles Project
Alabama Environmental Education Summits (AEES) – Building bridges and breaking down barriers in Alabama In our effort to strengthen the quality and quantity of environmental education in Alabama, AEES convened 1 statewide and 3 regional summits. Our initial thoughts were that leaders of informal environmental education were our primary audience, and our goal was to […] The post Regional Network Tales from the Field: Alabama Environmental Education Summits appeared first on Beetles Project.| Beetles Project
By Erin McCool Philadelphia is home to a complex tapestry of neighborhoods, each with its own challenges and strengths. Philadelphia students represent some of the most diverse in the region. While we are surrounded by nature, with 400 community gardens, 80 neighborhood parks and acres of federally protected open space, there is still great need […] The post Regional Network Tales from the Field: Philadelphia appeared first on Beetles Project.| Beetles Project
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 4-month series of intensive […] The post Introducing The Spring Cohort Of The Working Toward Racial Equity Workshop Series a...| Beetles Project
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, […] The post BEETLES and the Research Group To Present at NAAEE Conference 2021 (North American Association of Envir...| Beetles Project
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 […] The post Introducing The First Cohort Of The Working Toward Racial Equity Workshop Series ap...| Beetles Project
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 […] The post Reflecting On and Celebrating the Past Five Years of BEETLES Institutes appeared first on Beetles Project.| Beetles Project
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 […] The post Working with Large Groups: Interview with Korena David appeared first on Beetles Project.| Beetles Project
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 […] The post Outdoor In-Person Learning: Partnerships in the Pandemic Spotlight Series appeared first on Beetles Project.| Beetles Project
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 […] The post Partnerships in the Pandemic Spotlight: Santa Cruz Outdoor Science School appeared first on Beetles Project.| Beetles Project
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 […] The post Partnerships in the Pandemic Spotlight: McCall Outdoor Science School appeared first on Beetles Project.| Beetles Project
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 […] The post Partnerships in the Pandemic Spotlight: Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center appeared first on Beetles Project.| Beetles Project
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 […] The post Partnerships in the Pandemic Spotlight: North Cascades Institute appeared...| Beetles Project
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 […] The post Partnerships in the Pandemic Spotlight: Sierra Nevada Journeys appeared first on Beetles Project.| Beetles Project
By Cristina Edwards and Emilie Lygren Brooke Teller is the STEM Coordinator/Science Coach for Portland Public Schools, a school district in Portland, Maine. After 21 years as a high school science teacher, Brooke shifted to a role as the district’s STEM Coordinator. During the pandemic, she has taken on the role of Interim Outdoor Learning […] The post Partnerships in the Pandemic Spotlight: Portland Public Schools appeared first on Beetles Project.| Beetles Project
We’re pleased to reintroduce one of our flagship professional learning sessions, Making Observations. The BEETLES team has worked hard to improve the session and address issues that have arisen as we have presented the previous version over the years, and as our awareness has increased. As part of this work, we partnered with Annie Sorrell […] The post Revising Making Observations: Striving for Equity, Inclusion, and Cultural Relevance appeared first on Beetles Project.| Beetles Project
The BEETLES team is thrilled to introduce our newest member, Cristina Edwards. Cristina has worked at the Lawrence Hall of Science for two years and joins us from the registration office. She will be working with us as a project manager. BEETLES: Tell us a bit about your roles at The Lawrence Hall of Science. […] The post Meet Cristina! appeared first on Beetles Project.| Beetles Project
Featuring Examples from Westminster Woods and Warner Park Nature Center By Emilie Lygren Note: Huge thanks to Rachel Anderson and her colleagues at the Warner Park Nature Center, and Rebekah Jones and her colleagues at Westminster Woods, for creating the videos featured below and for sharing ideas and expertise in the interview at the end […] The post Creating Learner and Nature-Centered Videos appeared first on Beetles Project.| Beetles Project
We are excited to announce that our video for the National Science Foundation’s Diversity and Inclusion Video Exhibition (DIVE) Competition has won the Expert’s Choice Award. Our National Science Foundation (NSF) grant for BEETLES allowed us to share professional learning resources with teams of outdoor science and environmental education leaders and conduct research on how organizations take up improvement efforts. For the first five […] The post BEETLES Video Announced As Win...| Beetles Project
By Emilie Lygren and Jedda Foreman Over the last couple of years, the BEETLES team has been working to revise our professional learning system, including our guiding principles, student activities, professional learning sessions, and other implementation support materials, to better reflect equitable, inclusive, and culturally relevant teaching practices. When we first started BEETLES, we thought […] The post Partnering to Develop Equitable, Inclusive, and Culturally Relevant Student Activi...| Beetles Project
By Jedda Foreman, Rena Payan, Laura Rodriguez, and Craig Strang “We will not go back to normal. Normal never was. Our pre-corona existence was not normal other than we normalized greed, inequity, exhaustion, depletion, extraction, disconnection, confusion, rage, hoarding, hate, and lack. We should not long to return, my friends. We are being given the […] The post Racial Equity in Outdoor Science and Environmental Education: Re-Establishing the Field with Intention appeared first on Beetl...| Beetles Project
By Emilie Lygren At the North American Association of Environmental Education (NAAEE) Conference in fall 2019, BEETLES team members met Brianne Blom (Bree), a naturalist and educator with the Clay County Conservation Board in Iowa. Bree attended a BEETLES workshop at the conference in which she was introduced to the routine, I Notice, I Wonder, […] The post Offering I Notice, I Wonder, It Reminds Me Of as a Tool for Social Emotional Learning appeared first on Beetles Project.| Beetles Project
We want to acknowledge the recent racist events and killings in Minnesota, New York, Georgia, Kentucky, California, and other locations around the country. These events are not by any means isolated, nor is the racism that underlies them. We stand, unequivocally, in solidarity with the protests, marches, and global momentum that has come in response, […] The post Statement in Support of Black Lives Matter appeared first on Beetles Project.| Beetles Project
Check out the content of this post here. The post BEETLES Collaboration With Youth Outside appeared first on Beetles Project.| Beetles Project
We’re excited to announce that Rosalynn Sarvi, a Community Programs Coordinator at the Lawrence Hall of Science, will be joining our BEETLES team part-time! She’ll be working with us on communications, so you might connect with her in the future over email and on our online networks. BEETLES: Tell us a bit about your roles […] The post Meet Rosalynn! appeared first on Beetles Project.| Beetles Project
By Emilie Lygren, Kevin Beals, and Jedda Foreman What can effective virtual outdoor science experiences look like? Amid school closures and the suspension of in-person programming, this is a pressing question in the field of outdoor science and environmental education. Like many others, we are just starting to dip our toes into best practices in distance […] The post Designing Outdoor Science and Environmental Education Distance Learning Experiences appeared first on Beetles Project.| Beetles Project
Below, we’ve assembled answers to some of the most common questions we get over email about the use of BEETLES resources, and other BEETLES-related things. Questions About Using BEETLES Resources Can I present a BEETLES Professional Learning Session to my staff? Yes!! Anyone is welcome to download and teach a BEETLES Professional Learning Session (whether […] The post FAQ’s About BEETLES appeared first on Beetles Project.| Beetles Project
By Emilie Lygren, Kevin Beals, and Jedda Foreman In the spring of 2019, Waskowitz Outdoor Education Center hired BEETLES to develop a curriculum for their 4-day residential outdoor school program. The curriculum was to include BEETLES activities connected to the theme of Ecosystems, Matter, and Energy, that would engage students in science practices while building […] The post Tale from the Field: Designing a Custom 4-Day Curriculum with BEETLES, Part 2 appeared first on Beetles Project.| Beetles Project
BEETLES is Thrilled to Fund Six Region-Building Efforts! In January, 2020, the BEETLES project sent out a request for proposals for a new funding opportunity designed to advance and strengthen the field of environmental and outdoor science through regional capacity building. We received 26 proposals, approximately five times as many as we were able to […] The post BEETLES 2020 Region-Building Grant Awardees appeared first on Beetles Project.| Beetles Project
In the spring of 2019, Waskowitz Outdoor Education Center (Waskowitz) hired BEETLES to develop a curriculum for their 4-day residential outdoor school program. The curriculum was to include BEETLES activities connected to the theme of Ecosystems, Matter, and Energy, as well as engage students in science practices and build their sense of place and connection […] The post Tale from the Field: Designing a Custom 4-Day Curriculum with BEETLES, Part 1 appeared first on Beetles Project.| Beetles Project
Read on for open positions with BEETLES Partners: Field Instructor, Program Coordinator, Program Leader: Northwest Outdoor Science School “The Northwest Outdoor Science School is looking for staff members to join our organization. As a staff member, you will positively influence the lives of hundreds of students. You will teach sixth-graders about the ecology of the […] The post Job Opportunities With BEETLES Partners: February 2020 appeared first on Beetles Project.| Beetles Project
How can we honor Black History Month within the context of outdoor and environmental education? There is a lot of work to be done to fully acknowledge the history and contributions of Black leaders in outdoor spaces, and to support Black leadership in the present moment which means addressing issues of equity and inclusion more […] The post Reflections on Black History Month appeared first on Beetles Project.| Beetles Project
Arvolyn Hill works at the New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) and attended a BEETLES Leadership Institute in August 2019. In the winter of 2020, Arvolyn designed and launched a program Celebrate Black History: Rooted in Plants, focused on the influence of the African diaspora on the plant world. We interviewed her to hear more about […] The post Tale from the Field: Celebrating Black History, Rooted in Plants, at the New York Botanical Garden appeared first on Beetles Project.| Beetles Project
Read on for open positions and applications with BEETLES Partners: Full-Time Environmental Scientist: Maryland Coastal Bays Program. The Maryland Coastal Bays Program is now accepting applications for a full-time Environmental Scientist. This is a regular full-time position (40 hours weekly) with occasional weekend work. Principle responsibilities are to manage and administer long-term monitoring programs including volunteer […] The post Job Opportunities with BEETLES Partners: January 202...| Beetles Project
BEETLES has now been supporting outdoor science programs since 2012. Since then, we’ve: Published almost 80 resources, including professional learning sessions, student activities, implementation support guides, videos, research/practice briefs, etc. And 15 more documents are currently in publication pipeline, in some form or another. Conducted 10 weeklong Leadership Institutes, working with over 200 organizations across […] The post The Other Side of the Coin: Supporting Districts to I...| Beetles Project
Overview The BEETLES project announces a new funding opportunity designed to advance and strengthen the field of environmental and outdoor science through regional capacity building. BEETLES, with the support of the National Science Foundation, is accepting proposals to fund 2-5 small grants for region-building efforts among environmental and outdoor science education organizations for up to […] The post BEETLES Region-Building Effort: Request for Proposals (RFP) appeared first on Beetles P...| Beetles Project
Mass Audubon is a nature conservation nonprofit with 20 nature centers throughout Massachusetts. They also have 75 permanent education staff and hire nearly 500 seasonal educators per year. BEETLES interviewed Education Coordinator Melissa Hansen about the challenges and opportunities that come with working with instructors across multiple sites, and how Mass Audubon is building a […] The post Tale from the Field: Professional Learning at Scale appeared first on Beetles Project.| Beetles Project
By Craig Strang, NMEA Past President In the wake of the controversy around the conflicting information released by National Weather Service scientists, NOAA administrators, and the President about the path of Hurricane Dorian, Rear Admiral Jonathan W. White, USN, who is the President and CEO of the Consortium for Ocean Leadership, wrote the following letter, […] The post A Rear Admiral Argument for Ocean and Environmental Literacy appeared first on Beetles Project.| Beetles Project
by Emilie Lygren We all want high quality student experiences in our programs, but sometimes the policies or structure of our organization can unintentionally get in the way. We all want high quality student experiences in our programs, but sometimes our program’s policies or structure can unintentionally get in the way. This Tale from the […] The post Tale from the Field: Making a “Destination Hike” Optional to Give Instructors More Flexibility appeared first on Beetles Project.| Beetles Project
Today, August 25th, is the 103rd anniversary of the establishment of the National Park Service. While it’s important to recognize the beauty, grander, and value that NPS adds to many of our lives, let’s not forget to acknowledge that this beauty and grandeur has come at a cost, particularly to the indigenous people who were displaced […] The post Acknowledging the Full History of the National Park Service appeared first on Beetles Project.| Beetles Project
written by James Taborda-Whitt, director of Camp Bovey, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Camp Bovey is a traditional sleep away camp for youth who are underrepresented in green spaces. Camp Bovey staff are guided by the belief that summer camp has the potential to improve how children learn and think about themselves as learners. Although we don’t know […] The post Tale from the Field– Connecting BEETLES Approaches and Trauma-Informed Teaching Practices appeared first on Beetles Project.| Beetles Project
In a few short weeks, 50 program leaders and 9 emerging leaders will meet in Portola, CA for our BEETLES Leadership Institute. This will be our biggest Institute to date, and we are excited to be joined by such impressive programs and leaders who are working hard to make an impact in the communities they serve […] The post August 2019 BEETLES Leadership Institute Participants appeared first on Beetles Project.| Beetles Project
From Jenny McGuigan, School Program Coordinator, Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont, Townsend, Tennessee. The implementation of BEETLES transformed our program in a variety of ways. The discussions within sessions helped reveal where we wanted to be, and the session activities showed us ways to get there. It inspired us to question a lot of […] The post How Implementing BEETLES Transformed Our Program appeared first on Beetles Project.| Beetles Project
From Gregory Bahr, Principal of San Joaquin County Outdoor Education program, La Honda, California. Why BEETLES? After many rewarding years in outdoor science schools as an instructor and director/principal, I remember feeling like what we were doing was great, but could be better. I didn’t know how, but I just felt like it could be. […] The post The Whole Enchilada: How We Transformed Our Program Through BEETLES appeared first on Beetles Project.| Beetles Project
From Seth “Lion” Weinberg, School Programs Manager, Westminster Woods, Occidental, California. At Westminster Woods in the past, we used introductions to our program blocks that were designed to provide a baseline of information, and also to be fun. On our Forest Ecology day, we helped students act out a food-chain skit. For Watershed Ecology, we […] The post How We Changed Our “Tone-Sets” to Inspire Students for Inquiry appeared first on Beetles Project.| Beetles Project
From Beth Taylor, Education Program Manager of Expedition Yellowstone, and Jessica Haas, Program Manager of Yellowstone Forever Institute, Wyoming. Our two programs serve the same population in different ways. Before BEETLES, we didn’t collaborate at all and, in fact, were somewhat competitive and territorial with each other. When we learned about BEETLES, we thought we […] The post How Our Two Programs Conducted BEETLES Professional Learning Collaboratively appeared first on Beetles Proj...| Beetles Project
Outward Bound USA first came into contact with BEETLES in 2015, when a team from Thompson Island Outward Bound– the only Outward Bound USA sites with an explicit focus on science– came to a Leadership Institute. They were immediately hooked, and saw potential for wide-reaching implications across the organization nation-wide. Fast-forward a couple of years, […] The post Collaboration Spotlight: BEETLES and Social Emotional Learning at the BOOST Conference appeared first on Beetles Project.| Beetles Project
For some time, BEETLES has been interested in encouraging and helping establish regional “hubs” of outdoor science programs. Part of our motivation is to encourage/promote regional capacity to support professional learning communities for program leaders, educators, and other key stakeholders. We’ve hoped that these regional hubs could collaborate on professional learning experiences, and exchange of […] The post Collaboration Spotlight: BEETLES Oregon Leadership Institute appeared fi...| Beetles Project
The post Examining Equitable and Inclusive Work Environments in Environmental Education appeared first on Beetles Project.| Beetles Project
By Keith Williams, Executive Director, Richard Garber, Director of Education, and Salena Garber, Education Manager, NorthBay, Elk Neck State Park, Maryland. (Note: This post was originally published in the BEETLES Guide for Program Leaders. Check the Guide for Program Leaders publication out for additional implementation support and Tales from the Field.) When Daksha and I came […] The post Tale from the Field: How Our BEETLES Implementation Was a Learning Experience for Everyone Involved ...| Beetles Project
Tara Fuad and the San Elijo Lagoon Conservancy in San Diego, California, attended a BEETLES Leadership Institute in the summer of 2017. Tara has done a lot in the year and a half since attending the Institute and has used BEETLES materials and approaches to transform the way teaching and learning happens at her site. Part 1 […] The post Tale from the Field: Improving Teaching and Learning Through Shifts in Program Policies (2 of 2) appeared first on Beetles Project.| Beetles Project
Tara Fuad of the San Elijo Lagoon Conservancy in San Diego, California, attended a BEETLES Leadership Institute in the summer of 2017. She’s done a lot in the year and a half since attending the Institute and has used BEETLES materials and approaches to transform the way teaching and learning happens at her site– but […] The post Tale from the Field: Improving Teaching and Learning Through Shifts in Program Policies (Part 1 of 2) appeared first on Beetles Project.| Beetles Project
How can we honor Black History Month within the context of outdoor and environmental education? There is a lot of work to be done to address issues of equity and inclusion, and to acknowledge the history and contributions of black leaders in outdoor spaces. Below are some actions we commit to, and that we encourage […] The post A Reflection on Black History Month appeared first on Beetles Project.| Beetles Project
Help us distribute the International Ocean Literacy Survey to students across the world!| Beetles Project