Meet our Distance Learning Educators!
This Fall, NatureBridge will launch a variety of Distance Learning programs to support students, teachers and families. The programs are designed to connect students to their national parks, nature in their home communities and environmental science. Meet our team of skilled and passionate educators who have been developing these interactive lessons and will bring them to life in the virtual classroom.
Sonia #
Sonia is from upstate New York. She graduated with Special Education/General Education teaching degrees and a Spanish concentration from SUNY Buffalo. After college she moved around teaching environmental education, taught middle school science in Florida and then opted to come back outside to work for NatureBridge at Yosemite. She joined the Prince William Forest team as Education Manager last August. She is excited to share the love of our outdoor spaces with students in a new capacity through distance learning. Puns, backpacking, ice cream, trivia, baking, puzzles and sports bring her joy!
MacKenzie #
MacKenzie has been working with NatureBridge since January 2019, assisting with the Teacher Professional Development Program and as a Social Emotional Learning mentor. Hailing from the Great Lakes, she has been working in environmental education for over nine years at preschools, recycling facilities, nature centers and national forests. She holds a Bachelor of Science from Michigan State University and is currently pursuing a Master of Arts in Teaching online. Creating quality learning environments that incite curiosity, critical thinking, and care about oneself, others, and the natural world is her passion.
Amy #
Amy has been working with NatureBridge since September 2019. She studied Biology with a focus on Ecology and Evolution as well as Environmental Science at Colby College in Waterville, Maine. Working at NatureBridge has given Amy the chance to connect with so many wonderful people (both students and coworkers) who are also passionate about learning and connecting with the environment and people around us.
Kelvina #
Kelvina has been with NatureBridge in Yosemite since January 2019. She has a bachelor’s degree from Tuskegee University and a master’s degree from The University of Georgia. Prior to working at NatureBridge, Kelvina taught outdoor education and environmental science in Colorado and Georgia. Kelvina loves teaching at NatureBridge because her "classroom" can be different everyday. This helps participants make lifelong connections to this place and the outdoors.
Sal #
Sal is a musician and aspiring mycologist living with their cat Baby on Klallam land at NatureBridge Olympic. They are an alumni of the Educator Development Program at NatureBridge Yosemite, and they posses over a decade of expertise in youth mentorship, nontraditional education and social justice organizing. Sal loves queer and trans people, reading science-fiction, kayaking and wandering in the forest foraging for mushrooms and berries. They are dedicated to creating more access, space and leadership opportunities for BIPOC and LGBTQ+ students and educators at NatureBridge.
Lesly #
Lesly currently calls the ancestral land of Southern Sierra Miwok (Yosemite) home and is a third year educator at Nature Bridge and second year Equity, Inclusion and Diversity campus lead. She stands on the shoulders of strong, intelligent, hard working and caring mujeres in her family, most immediately being her mom and sisters—they are her motivation. She is dedicated to creating outdoor experiences that honor the lived experiences of all youth through culturally relevant and inclusive environmental education. Lesly wants students to feel welcome and see themselves and their communities represented in this field.
Talia #
Talia completed a Bachelors of Science in Environmental Health from The College of William & Mary. Talia has worked for NatureBridge since 2016 in both the Virginia and San Francisco Bay Area campuses. She has worked in farm-based education and founded an organization to bring environmental education into Northern Virginia schools. She loves teaching at NatureBridge because the program turns classrooms into teams, classmates into friends and the outdoors into a magical playground. In her free time, Talia enjoys traveling, salsa dancing and rock climbing.
Stories
Fall Reflections from NatureBridge Yosemite
As an environmental science educator, I spend a lot of time teaching about nature, but this season I’ve been finding that as it turns out, nature has a lot to teach us, too. Sometimes I can let the trees, the meadow, and the lichen teach for me. They show us how to respect each other’s boundaries, how to celebrate differences, how to work together, and how to lean on each other’s strengths in order to exist in a new place. These lessons felt incredibly relevant to me heading into the first week of November, a notoriously busy time at NatureBridge Yosemite. I wanted to focus on messages of kindness and inclusivity with my students, I wanted them to feel a sense of belonging in this new space, and I also hoped that they would share those messages with others.
An Incredible 10th Anniversary of Evening on the Lake
On October 25, the Amazon Meeting Center in downtown Seattle buzzed with celebratory energy as over 300 NatureBridge guests and supporters gathered for the 10th anniversary of "Evening on the Lake," our signature Pacific Northwest fundraising event for our Olympic campus.
"Science became fun" at NatureBridge for Alum Laura Lomeli Russert
Laura Lomeli Russert is a NatureBridge alum who grew up in Groveland, CA and now calls Washington, D.C. home. Laura’s journey with NatureBridge began when she attended the Golden Gate campus as a young student with her class from Tenaya Elementary. Laura credits NatureBridge with shaping not only her love for nature but also her passion for education and science. "Science became fun,” she recalls. “You weren’t learning from a textbook anymore, and it became so much more real." Her hands-on, scientific experiences at NatureBridge laid the foundation for her eventual pursuit of a Ph.D. in psychology. “I feel like I owe a lot to NatureBridge."