Maria Coryell-Martin is an expeditionary artist. That’s right. Expeditionary, as in expeditions. What type of imagery does this bring up? If you imagine an artist traveling with a scientist or an explorer, you are imagining things correctly. This episode originally aired in 2019. Back then, Maria took a few moments to speak with me while she was packing for her trip to meet a scientist in Alaska. In this episode, we discuss Maria’s journey from student to artist, how she has sustained herself as a working artist, and the three questions she answers before taking on new projects. Plus, I have e ..read more

Wendy Nadherny Fachon is an author, journalist, podcast host and environmental educator. Her work is published by Natural Awakenings Magazine, Sustainable Living News, and Dreamvisions 7 Radio. After working many years in the healthcare industry, Wendy left her position to focus on children's health and wellness issues. She developed an afterschool walking program, which gave rise to her radio show, the Story Walking Radio Hour. How did Wendy develop her afterschool program? What is her radio show about? How does she approach partnership building, which has been critical to her success? Let's ..read more

Today, we get to learn from Gloria Desanker, geospatial storyteller, founder, and Principal Consultant at Map Nerd Consulting. More About Gloria My name is Gloria Desanker, and I founded Map Nerd Consulting so that I could work as a Geospatial Storyteller to help others unlock the power of location-based insights. My services are designed to uplift community stories, especially communities of color. I offer tailored GIS solutions, visually appealing cartographic design, social media and marketing support, and storytelling guidance so that you can ensure your stories and experiences are authent ..read more

In this episode, we get to learn from Dr. Tom Rhodes, an economist and professor at Towson University. Dr. Rhodes shares his transition from sports economics to environmental economics and his research integrating economics into environmental education. Dr. Rhodes explains that his interest in environmental education began about five years ago when he noticed a shift in the demographics of his class, with more environmental science and studies majors than economics majors. This led him to change his approach to teaching environmental economics, focusing more on the environment and finding the ..read more

I hope you enjoyed my conversation with Bill Reynolds, Lars Wohlers, and Mike Mayer, co-founders of Experiential Interpretive Design, a coaching company they founded to help individuals, organizations, and sites develop the interpretive experiences they provide. In this episode, we learned about the founders, their respective specialties, and why they founded EID. Today is part 2 of this conversation. In this episode, I sit down with Mike Mayer to discuss his specialty (environmental education) and to learn more about the environmental program that inspires what he, Bill, and Lars do at EID. W ..read more

In this episode, we meet the co-founders of Experiential Interpretive Design (EID) -- Bill Reynolds, Lars Wohlers, and Mike Mayer. Collectively, they have many years of experience in interpretation and experience design and bring to EID the experience they gained from various roles in tourism, planning, heritage interpretation, environmental education, and coaching. We learn about the founders, why they started EID Coaching, and discuss what is working in the field of interpretation and what is not working. This is the first installment of a two-part episode.  In Part 2 of this episode, I ..read more

Janice Kelley is the founder and program director for Nature Detectives, where children in kindergarten through third grade discover the mysteries of the outdoor world on their school campus, at home, at a park, and in their neighborhood. She is the author of several publications, and when she was here before, we spoke about her book "Mornings on Fair Oaks Bridge: Watching Wildlife at the Lower American River." Today, we’re talking about a book she wrote for parents, grandparents, and family friends called "Nature Detectives at Home."   LINKS Nature Detectives website Nature Detectives at ..read more

Roots of Success (RoS) is an empowering environmental literacy and job training program that prepares youth and adults with significant barriers to employment to access jobs and career pathways in environmental fields and to improve environmental and social conditions in their communities. The program is centered around a federally registered Department of Labor Apprenticeship and Pre-Apprenticeship program and 10-module course. We prepare individuals for 70 jobs and 111 career pathways  in environmental and STEM fields. Roots of Success is offered in job training programs, reentry progra ..read more

Today it is my pleasure to introduce you to Jerry Willenbring. Jerry is a community organizer, teacher, and guide. He is also a physicist and an electrical engineer who has taken on electrifying California. Literally. In 2020, Jerry formed Electrify California, a nonprofit committed to providing education and resources to guide the transition from fossil fuels to clean energy. When Jerry and I met we talked about why he started Electrify California, who he created it for, and how he engages with the public and supports them as they explore what’s possible while living an electrified life. &nbs ..read more

Erin Majeske is a mother, wife, dreamer, kitchen experimenter, wannabe gardener, nature explorer, and founder of Barefeet Farm School. When she's not in the outdoor classroom with preschoolers, she loves to enjoy the beautiful Pacific Northwest with her family and make as much music as possible. In this episode, Erin shares how the need for a summer job led to her opening Barefeet Farm School. She shares her successes, challenges, and what she has learned to improve. Topics discussed include licensing, consulting, working with parents, and building community partnerships.   LINKS Barefeet ..read more