2018 Conference Schedule

Sessions are listed below alphabetically by title.  Please consult the schedule above for information about the date, time, and location of each.

Regular Sessions

Advocacy 101/102
Stephanie Bishop Schweickert (NC Conservation Network)

This session will cover the basics on how a bill becomes a law, what is lobbying/advocacy, and how grassroots efforts make a difference. The session will also go into deeper topics like what legislators have influence, how the Governor and legislature work together, and what impact elections have on public policy.

Air Quality: EPA's Air Quality Flag Program & Using Videos to Enhance Environmental Education
Donna Rogers and Elizabeth Landis (US Environmental Protection Agency), Keith Bamberger, Jonathan Navarro, Teresa Colon, and Aditi Chakraverty (NC Division of Air Quality)

Suntan lotion? Check.  Bug spray? Check.  Air pollution protection?  Hmmm.  Yes, you can protect students, family and friends from air pollution it's as easy as checking the air quality forecast and raising a flag.  Learn how to start an air quality flag program at your school, EE center or organization.   The Using Video portion will look at videos used by N.C. Division of Air Quality to enhance our environmental education programs. We will introduce our step-by-step video production process that ensures the videos enhance our curricula, provide content that is difficult or impossible for teachers to replicate in the classroom, and are core to the Division of Air Quality's educational mission.

An Evaluation of the North Carolina Environmental Education Certification Program
Lisa Tolley (NC Office of Environmental Education and Public Affairs)

What impacts does the N.C. Environmental Education Certification Program have on career advancement, teaching efficacy, educators’ views on environmental issues and on local communities? Join us for a discussion about the state’s certification program, based on the results of an exit survey of 217 educators from 2013-2017.   

Asking Answerable Questions
CC King (NC Wildlife Resources Commission)

The purpose of this session is to help the teacher become the guide as students learn to design research problems of their own choosing, gather data and present results to questions they design, using tools they have available and the time they can commit. This method of teaching science adapts to every circumstance, is highly creative and limited only by the imagination. We will experience the kinds of research questions that offer a scientific approach toward arriving at a solution, such as comparisons, or relative change, versus those that don't work scientifically, such as asking global questions (e.g. "Why?"). Participants leave with a better handle on how to lead students to ask 'answerable' questions. Class will take place outdoors if possible, using simple tools. Participants will find many similarities to project-based learning.

Bears and Myth
Stacy Brooks (Cradleboard Interpretive Services)

Bears have attracted human respect, fascination and story since ancient times. Myths provide insight, not only about the writer but also about bears and their behavior. This session will look at different myths about bears from different cultures and perspectives but emphasizing those from North Carolina. We will discuss this and how it can be applied teaching. Lesson plans provided also.

Building a Better Loaner Pack
Jonathan Marchal (The North Carolina Arboretum )

Loaning daypacks to visitors has become a very popular means of providing low-cost, self-directed environmental educational experiences for families. This session will include an overview of lessons learned by lending packs at The North Carolina Arboretum over the past eight years. We will discuss everything from utilizing check-out records to track participation, tips to ensure packs are returned in good condition, and which materials provide the best engagement. Attendees currently loaning day packs to the public are encouraged to bring a pack to share with participants and share their own experiences with the group.

Caterpillars Count! Citizen Scientists Tracking the Phenology of Bird Food
Sarah Yelton and Dr. Allen Hurlbert (UNC Institute for the Environment)

Looking for a new way to engage your students or visitors in hands-on science learning and contribute valuable information to research about insects and birds? In this session, we'll introduce participants to the Caterpillars Count! citizen science project, share strategies for tracking the phenology of bird food along with classroom-ready lessons to explore data collected across the country. 

Choosing the Right Project for your Environmental Education Certification Community Partnership
Marty Wiggins (NC Office of Environmental Education and Public Affairs)

Having trouble selecting a community partnership project for your environmental education certification? Join office staff for tips on developing successful projects that can enhance your current career or professional development goals. We'll show you some examples of successful and unique projects and explore resources for developing successful projects, including funding approaches.

Connecting Everyone to EE with Techniques of Therapeutic Horticulture
Amy Stidham and Mara Mitchell (Cape Fear Botanical Garden)

Share EE excitement with all groups using Therapeutic Horticulture techniques that modify and enhance activities indoors or out. Empower children and adults to enrich learning using multiple senses, adapting tools, and developing sensory filled environments. Hands-on session demonstrates how to offer EE to all participants to stimulate their senses, reduce anxiety, and improve overall well-being.

Cosmic Evolution, Big History, and the Anthropocene
Lucy B. Laffitte (International Big History Association)

This presentation will recount the environmental history of 13.8 billion years, weaving together the sciences and the humanities of the past, present, and future.

Creating a Functional Learning Environment That Leads to Success
Corey L. Sperling (Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation - Reedy Creek Nature Center)

"Conscious Discipline" is a transformational social-emotional learning and classroom management model that uses everyday events to cultivate emotional intelligence through self-regulation.  Discuss and explore how Reedy Creek Nature Center uses this model successfully in their programs and how you can implement it at your organization.

Develop a Stewardship Poetry Contest
Thomas Randolph (NC State Parks - Mt Jefferson State Natural Area)

Initiate, curriculum-based environmental stewardship poetry in public and private schools. Encourage creative language, and poetry that empowers student expression and stewardship. Start a poetry contest!

EE Evaluation 101
Kathryn Stevenson, Danielle Lawson, and KC Busch (NC State University), Noelle Wyman-Roth (Duke University)

Effective evaluation of environmental education (EE) programming is critical to ensure that we are achieving the ultimate goal of EE- an increase in environmental literacy. Come join our conversation where we discuss the basics of evaluation, facilitate a conversation on how researches & practitioners might best partner, and workshop your evaluation challenges

Engage the Next Generation of Scientists with ecoEXPLORE
Jonathan Marchal and Elizabeth Dobbs-Alexander (The North Carolina Arboretum)

ecoEXPLORE is a citizen science initiative that encourages kids to help scientists study wildlife. Participants photograph wildlife and utilize iNaturalist to make and confirm identifications of species and earn points that can be redeemed for field tools. Learn about how your site can become a HotSpot as this initiative grows across the state.

Engaging Adults in Citizen Science: Benefits of Implementing Technology
Rosemary Lee

Here's how we went from using pen and paper to using an easy to make app for monitoring bluebird boxes. Benefits both expected and unexpected came as a result of updating our methods for the digital age. Tips and resources so you can, too.

Engaging North Carolina's Citizens in the City Nature Challenge
Chris Goforth (NC Museum of Natural Sciences), Mandy Smith-Thompson (City of Concord), Shannon Unger (Cabarrus County)

The City Nature Challenge is an international event to see which urban area can document the most species online over a 4 day period.  Hear from Cabarrus County and Triangle Area event leaders about how they planned for and implemented the event in their areas, trained participants, and lessons learned from participating in this international citizen science event.

Envirothon: The Extracurricular Your Students Have Been Missing
Chelsea Sloggy (Union County Soil and Water Conservation District)

Participants will be introduced to the nation's largest environmental education competition and the opportunities it holds for students. Join us to learn how this free program can be used by middle and high school educators to nurture inquiry, utilize the outdoors as a classroom, and prepare their students for career paths in natural resources, all while supplementing their existing curriculum.

From NC to Puerto Rico: How can we Drawdown Global Warming today!
Sarah Fuller (Randolph County Schools), Sarah Duffer (Asheville High School)

Get engaging lessons using the book Drawdown. This text has been used in both middle and high school classrooms to educate students on tangible, quantifiable solutions to reverse climate change. Through hands on activities AP Environmental Science students develop strategies for how to rebuild the energy grid in post-hurricane Puerto Rico making it more energy efficient and carbon friendly for the future. Many of these solutions are viable options in North Carolina.

Here There Be Dragons: The Amazing World of Dragonflies
Chris Goforth (NC Museum of Natural Sciences)

Ever wondered what the dragonflies you see at the pond are doing, how they got their names, or how to tell common species apart from each other?  Learn about dragonfly behavior and biology and start building your identification skills in this session!

Human Impact and EE through a Solid Waste Lens
Laura McCoy (City of High Point), Christine Brown (Henderson County)

The disconnect between human interaction with and impact on the environment can be very clearly seen in the field of solid waste.  We recycle or throw things away but then what happens?  What is a landfill and why do they matter? How do we keep from making more of them? What is recycling and composting? How does this effect nature? And how do we impactfully teach all this to the public?

Integrating Environmental Education and Technology With Style!
Toni Stadelman (Franklin County Schools)

This session will show how ArcGIS maps and an ESRI Story Map were developed to create engaging, interactive activities for students to explore natural and man-made features of the Tar-Pamlico River. The ESRI Story Map created activities that integrated text, images, and multimedia content. This was a project for the NC Environmental Education Program and the ExPLORE NC program.

Learning Outside: Building Teacher Capacity to Connect Students and Nature
Sarah Yelton & Megan Rodgers (UNC Institute for the Environment) 

Teachers cite many barriers to teaching students outdoors, which can be mitigated through effective professional development in place-based environmental education. We will share activities and evaluation data from watershed-focused experiences that have resulted in teachers taking their classes outside more often, connecting students with nature while meeting learning objectives.

Making Evidence-Based Connections between the Environment and Human Health
Jenna Hartley (ORISE Participant hosted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency)

This fast-paced, hands-on, highly engaging session demonstrates connections between the environment and human health using evidence from 500+ scientific articles within an online tool from the U.S. EPA called EnviroAtlas. You’re guaranteed to learn something new and participants will all receive access to ready-to-go materials for students in grades 4-16.

North Carolina Children's Outdoor Bill of Rights
Linda Kinney (North Carolina Zoo), Ronda Hawkins (Sandhills Community College)

This session will provide an update on NCCAN! (North Carolina Children and Nature Network) and NC Children's Outdoor Bill of Rights.  We'll also explore ways to support nature play for young children. We'll end the session by showing an award winning film Schools Out: Lessons from a Forest Kindergarten.  Resources will be shared as well as time for questions and answers.

Project PLANTS: Growing Middle School Science Leaders
Elizabeth Overcash, Rachel Berube, and Elizabeth Driscoll (JC Raulston Arboretum at NC State University 

Developed over the past three years as a partnership between 4-H, NCSU, and the JC Raulston Arboretum (JCRA), Project PLANTS is a proven model of outdoor, experiential agriscience education for middle school students. Learn how to engage students using lessons aligned with NC Essential Standards, and participate in fun, hands-on activities and experiments to bring back to your students!

RAIN (Raising Achievement through Inquiry and Networking) Across the River: A Place-based Citizen Science Program for Middle School Students
Colleen Karl and Rebecca Ward (NC State Climate Office) 

Educators and Community Citizens - join the RAIN model! The NC State Climate Office has a place-based replicable model serving middle school students and the community to increase local rainfall understanding. The RAIN Across the River program builds student awareness of citizen science data relevant to the local environment. We will share an overview and start-up tips for a local RAIN program. 

Recoloring Green: Addressing Diversity in Environmental Education
Tameria M. Warren, Ph.D. (Whitetail Environmental, LLC and University of South Carolina)

Dr. Warren will present information from her research on the perceptions African Americans have about the environment and nature and how those perceptions influence their environmental behaviors. The goal of the session is to encourage dialogue on ways in which professionals can enhance their methods of educating about the environment and broadening their reach to larger communities.

Rescuing Monarch Butterflies from Hurricane Florence
Lois Nixon

When Hurricane Florence was bearing down on NC, our demonstration Pollinator Garden at the Page-Walker Arts and History Center in Cary, was in the midst of a Monarch Caterpillar frenzy of milkweed munching and chrysalis formation. We decided we had to try to rescue and protect the Chrysalides. I was not planning to “Raise the Migration” during a hurricane. The rest of the story.....

Serious Skills for Adults: A New Venture in Adult Programming
Kelly Hendrix, D'Nise Hefner, and Dana Fitz-Simons (Blue Jay Point County Park)

Youth programs are a mainstay for many EE Centers, but have some of your visitors asked for more adult-focused programming? Staff interested in drawing from their own unique interests to create engaging and hands-on adult learning opportunities?  Join Blue Jay Point Co. Park educators to learn how our dynamic "Serious Skills for Adults" series has created new avenues for adult programming. 

STEM Engagement with PLT and i-Tree
Renee Strnad (NC State University)

Project Learning Tree's new "Teaching with i-Tree" unit combines the US Forest Service's i-Tree Design online platform with traditional PLT activities to stimulate students' critical thinking and problem solving skills. The three hands-on activities help middle and high schools students discover and analyze the many ecosystem services that trees, especially urban trees, provide.

 STEM for Environmental Educators: Move-able Above Ground Raised Garden Bed:
Barnabas Coker (Lincoln Height Academy)

STEM- An all in all session. If you are involved in any of the four STEM areas (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), this is for you. This presentation covers how environmental educators can use a simple project to show-case how STEM is involve in the environment. A design of a move-able raised garden bed will thrill you to build one  garden when you return to your location. This sustainability project is designed for all ages.

Talk with the ED: Share your Ideas for EE in NC
Lauren Pyle (Environmental Educators of North Carolina)

Get to know EENC's first executive director Lauren Pyle and brainstorm what the future of EE in NC could look like! 

Teaching Soils
Erin Hines, Gaston County Soil and Water Conservation District 

Who wants to teach about boring ole soil? With exciting environmental topics like animals, trees, and weather, it can be hard to get jazzed about soil. Join Soil and Water Conservation District educator Erin Hines to learn why everyone should be psyched about soil! This session will cover the science of why soil is exciting (and important), and end with hands-on activities that you can do with students of all ages to engage them in soil.

Turtle Tactics
Julianna Nieuwsma (NC State University)

The Eastern Box Turtle makes the perfect program animal, not only because it can be found in all 100 counties in North Carolina but also for it's amazing shell.  Like human finger prints, box turtles have their own unique shell patterns.  Turtle Tactics will teach how you can use box turtle shells for programs targeted towards early childhood all the way up to adults. 

Two Roads Converged: Interpretation & Environmental Education
Thomas Randolph (NC Parks - Mt. Jefferson SNA)

Are environmental educators influenced by the principles of interpretation? What are the principles of interpretation, and are they a part of environmental education today? Should educators be more like interpreters, and are interpreters doing more than provocation? During this session we explore these converging paths and seek to identify a few best practices developed by both contemporary and historical leaders from both fields as we navigate toward a more informed and inspired future.

Using Environmental Education to Rock your Geology Programs
Randy Bechtel (NC Geological Survey), Renee Strnad (NC State University)

How can you combine Environmental Education techniques with Geoscience Education topics to reach formal and non-formal audiences?  We have recently developed a matrix to help us do just that! Examples of this process, as well as an overview of the National Association of Environmental Educators (NAAEE) Guidelines for Excellence, will be presented using the matrix.

World Migratory Bird Day: How You can Engage Your Community Around Bird Conservation
Bethany Sheffer (Balsam Mountain Trust)

Interested in engaging your community around bird conservation? World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) is an initiative managed by Environment for the Americas that seeks to engage participants around migratory bird conservation across the globe.  Join me in learning about this incredible effort and how you can leverage its resources to engage diverse audiences around migratory bird conservation!

Worldviews and Environmental Education Practice
Holly Denham and Brad Daniel

To be effective environmental educators, we must understand how people think and what motivates them to hold certain positions. Join us as we explore commonly held worldviews and environmental worldviews. We will examine our own beliefs and biases and how to more effectively communicate with diverse worldview audiences.

www.ncwetlands.org : A new wetland education resource
Amanda Mueller and Kristie Gianopulos (NC Department of Environmental Quality)

Do you find it difficult to locate informative, appealing, and interactive wetland education materials? NC DEQ has a new website focused on everything wonderful about North Carolina wetlands. Be the first to see our new website: its interactive map, downloadable materials (e.g., factsheets, activities, posters), summaries of past NC DEQ wetland projects, ways you can help wetlands, and more.

Research Symposium Posters

Approaching Common Ground: Measuring Agricultural Literacy using an Environmental Literacy Model
Sara Brune Arita, Kathryn Stevenson, Sara Brune, Whitney Knollenberg, and Carla Barbieri (NC State University)

Environmental Justice in North Carolina - Progress and Process
Sarah Carrier and Katy May (NC State University)

Integrating Environmental Education into Physical Science through Energy
Dorothy Holley (Clayton High School), Kathryn Stevenson (NC State University)

Measuring Children’s Emotional Responses to Wildlife
Charmaine Pedrozo, Lincoln R. Larson, and Kathryn Stevenson (NC State University), Caren B. Cooper, Stephanie Schuttler, and Roland Kays (NC Museum of Natural Sciences)

Research Symposium Presentations

EPA’s Air Quality Flag Program – Protecting Health and Raising Awareness
Donna Rogers and Elizabeth Landis (US Environmental Protection Agency)

Exploring Student Impressions of Conservation Photographs: Potential Environmental Education Strategy
Alexandra Morrison

How Family Activities Predict Parent Well-being After Children Leave Home
Daniel Choi, Kat Bordewieck, Alex Cannon, Eli Fry, Julia Jansson, Jessica Page, Maria Sharova, Dr. Nils Peterson, and Dr. Rene Valdez (NC State University)

Impacts of Citizen Science on Students’ Environmental Literacy and Efficacy
Marianna Berry, Lincoln Larson, and Kathryn Stevenson (NC State University), Stephanie Schuttler, Caren Cooper, and Roland Kays (NC Museum of Natural Sciences), Ann May (NC Wildlife Resources Commission)

Program Evaluation Partnerships: Findings, Lessons, and Next Steps
Kathryn Stevenson, Nils Peterson, and Brent Jackson (NC State University), Ryan Olson (Muddy Sneakers)

Students as Environmental Change-agents: Two Research Projects Studying Intergenerational Transfer
Jenna M. Hartley, Danielle Lawson, and Kathryn Stevenson (NC State University)