Dec
1
Anne Lewis - South Dakota State Coordinator
Anne Lewis has been involved in environmental education since 1997. In 2007, she became the charter South Dakota Leopold Education Project state coordinator, facilitating an agreement between the South Dakota Discovery Center and LEP national.
In addition to the Leopold Education Project, Anne is the state coordinator for Project WET (Water Education for Teachers) and administrates the 319 Information and Education Project for the state of South Dakota, 319 being that section of the Clean Water Act which addresses non-point source pollution. Anne is the current president of Environment Education Connections of South Dakota, the environmental education association for the state.
Anne graduated from the George Washington University where she studied education and is currently working on her Master’s in Natural Science and Environmental Education at Hamline University in Minneapolis. She lives in Pierre with her husband and a rapidly emptying nest which, when full, contains three sons.
How are you using LEP?
I use the LEP as part of our teacher training program to equip educators to teach about the environment. LEP activities also are used in outreaches to students and youth and will shape our programming for our new outdoor investigation program.
What are your goals for the coming year?
During 2009, I would like to see our outdoor outreach program successfully piloted. My goals are also to develop the facilitator network, and train at least 20 educators in the LEP.
Why is LEP important?
The LEP is important because it builds a land ethic, challenging people to think about our responsibility for flora, fauna, water and soil. The issues and concerns Aldo Leopold wrote about in the 1930′s and 40′s are relevant to today.
Tags: anne, coordinator, dakota, lewis, south, state
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Dec
1
Melissa Arthur - Kansas State Coordinator
I have been serving as LEP coordinator since 2004 as part of my position as Education Programs and Outreach Director for Kansas Association for Conservation and Environmental Education. We are a statewide non-profit environmental education organization that was founded in 1969. We developed a Kansas Edition of the LEP curriculum guide in 2005, with Kansas-specific background information and correlations to our state standards. We facilitate LEP workshops statewide in conjunction with Projects WET, WILD, and Learning Tree for both formal and non-formal educators. LEP is important as a tool to help children and adults connect with the world around them, and to take time to reflect upon and make meaning of time spent outdoors. My primary goals for the coming year are to (1) provide resources to engage chapter youth leaders, boy/girl scout, and field day leaders in using LEP at their events, (2) complete editing on our LEP for non-formal audiences project, (3) work with a new chapter-sponsered outdoor learning center to develop a Leopold-themed trail, and (4) continue building relationships with PF/QF chapters so that they see us as the “go to” resource to help them meet their education and outreach objectives.
Tags: arthur, coordinator, kansas, melissa, state
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Dec
1
Celeste Prussia - Missouri State Coordinator
Celeste Prussia is an outdoor girl born, raised, and schooled in New England where she maintained close contact with the woods, fields, wetlands, and hills of that region. She graduated magna cum laude with a BS in environmental biology at Eastern Connecticut State University and achieved her MS in botany from the University of Rhode Island by studying the ecology and chemistry of lichens. Celeste directed the forest education program of the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection and served as vice president and president of the Connecticut Outdoor and Environmental Education Association. She spent the next ten years directing the Litzsinger Road Ecology Center for the Missouri Botanical Garden during which time she helped establish the Missouri Environmental Education Association and served as its first full-term president. Celeste became an LEP facilitator in 1997 and has helped deliver facilitator training in other states. In 2003 she joined Missouri State University to manage the Bull Shoals Field Station and now lives happily ever after with her husband, labs, and horses at Possum Ranch in southwestern Missouri. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: celeste, coordinator, missouri, prussia, state
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Dec
1
Tony Esposito - North Carolina State Coordinator
I make my living working in the media business. Because of my love of nature, I decided to volunteer and became involved with the National Wildlife Federation.
I first became a Habitat Steward and then shortly there after trained to become a Host. As a Habitat Steward you give talks to groups and help people create wildlife habitats in their yards as part of the Backyard Habitat program. As a NWF Host, I hold workshops to train people interested in becoming Habitat Stewards.
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Tags: carolina, coordinator, Esposito, south, state, Tony
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Dec
1
Terry Bedford - Texas State Coordinator
Terry Bedford works at the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center in Athens, Texas as an education specialist for Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Terry has a B. S. in geology, M. S. in wildlife science (both from Texas A&M University), and 8 years experience as a secondary science teacher teaching earth science, physical science, biology, chemistry and physics. She has been the Texas State Coordinator for Leopold Education Project since 2006.
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Tags: bedford, coordinator, state, terry, texas
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