Support EE in NC!

Do you remember being outdoors and loving it at any point in your life?  If you're like me, you spent most of your childhood outdoors and loved it so much that you found a job that lets you spend time in nature as an adult too.  I love the natural world and find it an endless source of wonder.  It's a good place to relax, center myself, and explore the amazing, crazy, chaotic, and heartbreakingly beautiful world around me.

Most of you probably know that I planned to become an entomologist.  I still love my bugs and always will, but my current position allows me to do something with insects that I love even more than research: teaching.  I adore taking a group of kids outside to look for dragonflies, or teaching adults how to identify ladybug species.  It's a thrill to take a dozen people out into the prairie with cameras to document the world around them and understand just how diverse even the most urban environments can be.  

I absolutely love my job and the best part of it for me is the opportunity to teach environmental education lessons that help others learn to appreciate nature like I do.  I didn't expect to become an environmental educator, but it's something I loved from the first moment of the first outdoor program I taught and I'm thrilled that my life took a little detour into EE!

My passion for environmental education has led me to seek opportunities to learn more about the field, improve my own skills, and network with other like-minded people.  I have attended the annual meeting of the Environmental Educators of NC every year since I arrived in North Carolina and found it so rewarding that I am about to enter my third year on the EENC board.  I relish the opportunity to help shape and build this organization that gives so much to people like me who love environmental education and seek to offer high quality outdoor learning experiences to the best of their abilities.

You can help support an organization I love do its important work by supporting EENC here.  Your donations will help the organization continue to promote the field of environmental education in North Carolina and provide high quality professional development opportunities to environmental educators statewide.

Need a bigger incentive to donate than helping a great organization do important work?  I've got two for you this year!

1) All of the EENC board members who make their personal fundraising goals are committed to doing a polar plunge in the Atlantic during our January board retreat.  Those of you who know me probably know that I a) do not enjoy getting into the ocean AT ALL and b) really, really, really hate getting cold water on my lower back.  Want to see me shriek like a crazy person because I've just dunked myself in a frigid ocean?  Help me make my $1000 goal!  I'll post a video online so you can see the plunge.

2) Donate $20 or more and I'll send you a matted 4x6" nature photo from my collection.  I'll send you a link to an online photo album once you donate so you can choose your favorite!

Thank you for supporting EENC and EE in NC!