Sorensen Named 2006 Project Learning Tree
Facilitator of the Year

Christina Sorensen was recently named the 2006 Project Learning Tree Facilitator of the Year. Renee Strnad, NC PLT State Coordinator, presented Christina with the award during a Wake County Parks education staff training at Blue Jay Point County Park.

Christina, the Assistant Park Manager at Harris Lake County Park, was trained as a PLT Facilitator in the fall of 2005. Her first workshop as a lead facilitator was a ten hour PreK-12 Fire Focus workshop held at Lake Crabtree and Harris Lake County Parks. She also lent a hand as a co-facilitator for another 10-hour workshop held at Agape Center for Environmental Education. Twenty-nine educators were trained at these two workshops. These are great accomplishments for a new facilitator, and for these reasons the NC PLT Steering Committee chose Christina as the award recipient.

Christina began her environmental education career at Steven's Nature Center at Hemlock Bluffs Nature Preserve in Cary, and then served as Assistant Park Manager at Lake Crabtree County Park before moving to Harris Lake. She became a NC Certified Environmental Educator in 2003. Christina is known for her positive attitude, dedication to environmental education and an unusual fondness for strawberry Twizzlers!

Project Learning Tree (PLT) is an award-winning environmental education program designed for teachers and other educators working with students in pre-kindergarten through grade 12. The program prepares students to make informed decisions about management practices and natural resource use by stressing how to think about the environment, not what to think. Facilitators like Christina play a vital role in promoting the program and training teachers and non-formal educators to use PLT resources.

Please join us in congratulating Christina!

Office of Environmental Education site Receives
National Web Award

The North Carolina Office of Environmental Education Web site was awarded the American Association of Webmasters Bronze Web Award for February. The AAW Award program recognizes Web sites for creativity, design and usability. Most importantly, the AAW seeks sites that "make a positive contribution to the World Wide Web Community." Winning this award also makes www.eenorthcarolina.org eligible for the AAW's "Site of the Year Award."

Aurora Fossil Museum Opens New Learning Center

We would be willing to bet a fossilized shark's tooth that the majority of our readers have sifted through a bucket or pile of "fossil dirt" provided by the Aurora Fossil Museum. But if you've never visited, you're missing one of eastern North Carolina's hidden little gems. The Museum is located on Aurora's Main Street in Beaufort County--just down the Pamlico River from the NC Estuarium and Goose Creek State Park.

The Museum recently opened a new Learning Center across the street from the main building. This facility will allow the Museum to do more programming and expand their current audience. Marty Wiggins with the Office of Environmental Education was lucky enough to tour the Learning Center last May while it was still under construction. Curator Rich Olsen related his excitement that this facility would provide the museum much more flexibility in its programming and would also allow them to partner even more with other science museums and environmental education centers.

The Learning Center is now open and staffed by a loyal and knowledgeable group of volunteers. Their Friends of the Museum have donated new tables and chairs for classes and meetings and outdoor classes and other gatherings can be held under a covered pavilion. There is a lending library of scientific literature that is available and an outstanding collection of rocks, fossils and minerals from around the world on display. Wall art depicts the earth as it may have appeared at various times in the past. A nice little side note of sustainability is that the very attractive and comfortable Learning Center was once a service station!

The Learning Center is available for group use and they welcome environmental education and related programs. Usage fees are negotiable. The Learning Center can hold up to 40 people classroom style and up to 24 at tables. A large screen television and DVD player are also available. Reservations are required along with a liability waiver and can be made by contacting the museum.

Note this other exciting news:

The Museum will be open on Sunday afternoons from 1pm to 4:30pm beginning on the first Sunday in March.

The Museum recently installed a 15-foot nearly complete 20 million year old whale skeleton in the main museum.

And don't forget that the annual Aurora Fossil Festival is Saturday, May 26!

The Aurora Fossil Musuem is listed as a North Carolina Environmental Education Center and is also a member of the NC Grassroots Science Museums Collaborative.

Malat Named Director of NC Aquarium on Roanoke Island

Joe Malat has been named the new Director of the North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island. Malat has many years of experience with the NC Aquariums, and has served as Roanoke Island's Exhibits Curator since 1989. Read more about Joe, his history with the Aquarium and his vision for its future on the Aquarium's "What's New" page.

Thanks for taking the time to speak with PEEple, Neill. Tell us where you work now and a little about your environmental education career.

I work at Lumber River State Park.  I have worked for state parks since 1994, all of it at Lumber River.  My experience in the environmental education field coincides with my state parks career.  The opportunities that a ranger has to do environmental education are almost unlimited as far as the types of audiences that we might interact with.  Leading programs in the park has often given me the chance to be the very first person to ever talk about nature to a child who has never been exposed to any type of environmental education.

What role do you think environmental education plays in North Carolina's future?

I think it is critical to the future of North Carolina that all of our citizens, from the most prominent business people to the youngest pre-schoolers and everyone in between, be exposed to environmental education.  I believe that it is smart business for us to operate in an environmentally friendly way.  If we don't, we will be leaving a mess for future North Carolinians to live in. And it's also essential to teach children an appreciation for the environment since they will be its guardians when we are long gone.  Right now, because of its incredible ecological diversity and natural beauty, North Carolina is considered one of the premier vacation states in the country.  We have a real treasure that we need to work really hard to preserve. The better our citizens understand the many environmental issues we face, the more likely they will want to preserve our natural heritage and know how to preserve it.  That is what makes environmental education so important.

What do you like the most about your job?

One of the things I enjoy most about my job is that I am in a position to open people's minds to not only some of the natural beauty of our state but also to ways that they can work to preserve it.  I can talk to a classroom of 5th graders or a high school science class until I am blue in the face about why it is bad to litter and maybe a few of them will get it.  But when they come out and do a cleanup on the river I don't have to say a word.  They get it and they have a lot of less than flattering things to say about the litterbugs who would spoil any natural area.  They might get to hold a species of fish that could not survive in polluted water or see up close a bird that could not survive if its wetland habitat was depleted.  You can see the gears turning in their heads as they are making the connection between human activities and the consequences those activities have on the environment.

Many of the folks in the environmental education community know you from your work at Lumber River. What are some things you enjoy that most people that know you professionally would not know?

In my spare time, if it is cold enough, I enjoy snow skiing and, if I am in the mood for some pain, snowboarding.  When it's warm I canoe and recently have gotten hooked on kayaking after taking a class to lead kayak trips for state parks.

Do you have an "environmental education hero" or person that inspires you?

Some of the people I admire most in the environmental education field are the staff members of Big Sweep and the volunteers who come out every year and get dirty picking up all the trash they can from our waterways.  I believe the citizens of North Carolina who treasure the time they spend on our state's waters owe them a big thank you for all the hard work they do every year to clean up those waters and educate our youngest citizens about the importance of not littering.

Thanks for your time Neill!

Earth Day is Just Around the Corner!
(And that means that "Environmental
Education Month" is too!)

North Carolina has so many Earth Day related events that the NC Office of Environmental Education decided last year to declare April "Environmental Education Month" in North Carolina. The Office invites organizations and environmental education centers to send in special Earth Day and Environmental Education Week events to be listed on their Environmental Education Month web page. Items can be sent to
Rachel.Golden "at" ncmail.net. We encourage program providers to still use the Calendar to post workshops and events in April.

The Office of Environmental Education will also be highlighting National Environmental Education Week, April 15th - 22nd. National Environmental Education (EE) Week is a project of the National Environmental Education and Training Foundation (NEETF). It purpose is to increase the educational impact of Earth Day by creating a full week of educational preparation, learning and activities in K-12 classrooms, nature centers, zoos, museums and aquariums.

National EE Week will involve thousands of educators and millions of students, and NEETF wants your input! To participate, just register your organization on the EE Week Web site. There is also list of suggested activities for your school, business or organization.

2007 North American Assocation for Environmental Education Annual Conference and Research Symposium

Virginia Beach, Virginia November 13-17, 2007

The next NAAEE Conference will be "right next door" in Virginia, so we hope North Carolina can have an even better representation than ususal at this year's event.

Research Symposium: November 13-14, 2007
"Celebrating the diversity of our research methodologies: finding common ground"

Visit the NAAEE Conference pages for details and registration information.

NAAEE is the professional association for environmental education. Members promote professional excellence in nonformal organizations, K-12 classrooms, universities (both instructors and students), government agencies, and corporate settings throughout North America and in over 55 other countries. Since 1971, the Association has created opportunities for its members to improve their skills in creating and delivering programs and services that teach people how to think, not what to think.

Did you know that the Office of Environmental Education Web site also maintains several lists of updated news articles that either feature or relate to environmental education? Check them often for new stories:

EE News for Parents (and anyone interested in child rearing or preschool-secondary education)

News from the Farm (agriculture news from our Informed Consumer Section)

GrEEn Development (stories about green building, community development, etc.)

RecrEEation News (environmental education stories that involve trail development, outdoor recreation, and active activities such as bird watching and hiking)

Home Gardening News

Energy News

And many more!

Return to Top of Page

North Carolina's Environmental Education Centers often get state
and even national media attention. See what's been going on in our often updated and environmental education friendly
EE Centers in the News link.

NC Environmental Education Centers: Gateways to environmental literacy

October 2006
November 2006
December 2006