Initiatives promoting environmental adult education (EAE) through professional development (PD) ensures educators have the knowledge and skills to inform their audience about environmental literacy and stewardship. However, no research has focused on reflective experiences of an EAE PD from educator participants at least five years after participation. Analysis using the contextual lenses of EAE, outdoor experiential learning, and transformative learning theories led to five emergent themes: (a) becoming a more effective educator; (b) increasing awareness of conservation importance; (c) experiencing positive emotional effects; (d) augmenting behaviors that impact the environment; and (e) having positive experiences at the EAE PD location. These findings may ignite new means for approaching curriculum specific content with heightened attention on the value of conserving natural resources.

This presentation is introduced by a group of high school students who are now creating one of the first Eco-schools in China entirely initiated and organized by high school students. They will share solutions to prevailing problems existing in Eco-schools like us and most of the Eco-schools in China and the world.

US Regional GLOBE Student Research Symposia provided 800+ students, most fully funded and from underserved and underrepresented groups, with the opportunity to share their GLOBE research projects with peers and STEM professionals. Presenters share 2019 evaluation summary, the challenges in creating these equitable and welcoming events, and our solutions.

Games that model ecosystems provide an enjoyable way for students to become more comfortable thinking at the systems level, a necessary skill for understanding environmental problems and solutions. Attendees will receive a list of ecosystem games, details for several games, and suggestions for adapting them to other systems

Understanding data is a key component of environmental literacy, yet many students and teachers still feel uncomfortable working with data. In 2012, the Asombro Institute for Science Education and the Jornada Basin LTER in Las Cruces, New Mexico founded Desert Data Jam as a data-literacy and communication competition for high-school students. The competition introduces students to many NGSS data literacy practices, including developing models, analyzing and interpreting data, and obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information. The Data Jam model engages students with local or regionally collected scientific or community specific datasets and teaches students how to analyze, and communicate the findings of that data in a creative, meaningful way to them(i.e. painting, song, or dance).

This ee360 Fellowship project focuses on the launch of a Community Action Program for teen volunteer junior docents at Squam Lakes Natural Science Center in Holderness, New Hampshire. The Community Action Program partners with local nonprofit organizations to increase volunteer opportunities and extend the reach of teen volunteerism on environmental issues into the community. After volunteering for a project teens share the story of their work with the public through in-person talks and social media. The launch of the program was in 2018.