From Classroom to Career: Connecting Ohio Educators and Environmental Professionals for Student Pathways

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Please consider: This limited capacity event is intended for an audience of 50 formal classroom educators to network with 50 environmental professionals to inspire and plan local environmental education opportunities for students.

Agenda:

9:00 a.m. Doors open at the Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center. 

• Environmental education exhibition session in the Hallway.
• Coffee and light snacks will be provided for attendees.

10:00 a.m. Livestreaming services on the EPN YouTube channel begin.

A panel of presentations on engaging 5th-12th grade students with environmental education opportunities, including remarks from leaders in environmental education from across Ohio. Presentations from:

• Kwesi Kambon, Vice President, Friends of Columbus and Franklin County Metro Parks
• Brenda Metcalf, Executive Director, Environmental Education Council of Ohio.
• Angie Burke, Manager of Strategic Partnerships & Engagement, The Nature Conservancy
• Columbus and Franklin County Metro Parks: Jill Snyder, Visitor Engagement Manager, and Larry Peck, Deputy Director.
• Recent Recipients of the President's Innovation Award in Environmental Education: Amy Boros, M.Ed., Science Teacher, Hull Prairie Intermediate School, and Shari Insley, 5th Grade Math & Science Teacher, North Olmsted City Schools.
• And more!

11:30 a.m. Livestreaming services conclude; Catered lunch is served to in-person participants.

12:15 p.m. Depart for Columbus City School District's Spruce Run Nature Center (4175 Sunbury Rd, Galena, OH) for an extended environmental education session.

1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. Participate in rotating sessions related to environmental education resources, networking, and learning:

• Session 1: (1a) Tour of Spruce Run Nature Center and its Environmental Education Curricula, led by Heather Allen, Coordinator, Spruce Run Nature Center, and a (1b) networking session to connect classroom educators with environmental professionals to initiate future environmental-focused field trips for students, and a highlight of the Environmental Career Ambassadors program.

• Session 2: Showcase of environmental education opportunities led by state coordinators for (2a) Project Wild (Abby Ditomassi, Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Wildlife), (2b) Project Learning Tree (Heather Sheets, Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Forestry), and (2c) Project Wet (Dennis Clement, Ohio EPA), each spanning 30 minutes of in-the-field learning.

4:10 p.m. Buses depart for Nationwide and Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center.

4:45 p.m. Arrival at Nationwide and Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center and conclusion of event.

After the program, all in-person and virtual attendees will receive a printed Environmental Education Resource Guide, which will include a list of Ohio-wide opportunities for environmental education that formal and informal educators alike can apply to their own teaching.

Click here to register now and reserve one of 100 total seats at the event!

Morning Panelists

Kwesi Kambon, Vice President, Friends of Columbus and Franklin County Metro Parks

Kwesi Kambon serves as the Vice President of Friends of Metro Park, a non-profit organization dedicated to enhancing the public use and enjoyment of Metro Parks. He has also served as a Diversity Consultant for Metro Parks and volunteered at Innis Woods Metro Park. Kwesi retired from the Columbus City Schools, where he held several central office positions, including Director of Equity and Multicultural Education and Director of Dropout Prevention. Currently, his primary focus is to empower students from diverse backgrounds with the knowledge and skills necessary to pursue leadership roles in the environment.

Brenda Metcalf, Executive Director, Environmental Education Council of Ohio (EECO)

Brenda has served as EECO's Executive Director since 2003 and in this role, sheoversees Regional Directors (RDs) representing 8 regions across Ohio, various committees, multiple grants, and a host of extra events that EECO provides yearly. Brenda and the EECO RDs provide professional development, programs and activities that occur throughout Ohio related to Environmental Education to over 50,000 people per year. EECO is the affiliate organization for the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE). Brenda is a past Board Member for NAAEE, past Affiliate Steering Committee Chair, current Awards Committee Chair and the Jeske Award Recipient for 2019. Prior to EECO, Brenda worked as the Environmental Education Specialist for a Recycling and Litter Prevention Program. She graduated from Bowling Green State University with a degree in Environmental Studies Policy and Analysis, with an area of emphasis in Education and a minor in Geology in 1991.

Angie Burke, Manager of Strategic Partnerships & Engagement, The Nature Conservancy

Angie Burke works alongside communities across Ohio to conserve the lands and waters on which all life depends. She is passionate about activating youth and young adults statewide for the past 8 years, helping to foster meaningful connections to each other and to nature. In her role, Angie works to advance partnerships with educators, students, and individuals across Ohio through dynamic engagements illuminating the wonders of the natural world.

Jill Snyder, Visitor Engagement Manager/Public Information Officer, Columbus and Franklin County Metro Parks

Jill Snyder is Columbus and Franklin County Metro Parks' Visitor Engagement Manager. Jill has been a part of the Metro Parks team for over 20 years, leading programs, coordinating events, working in nature centers, and overseeing the education program, including SEED, for the park district. She is also an Adjunct Lecturer at The Ohio State University's School of Environment and Natural Resources. Jill grew up exploring the outdoors and loves running, hiking and sharing the park system with her family. 

Larry Peck, Deputy Director, Columbus and Franklin County Metro Parks

Larry Peck has been the Deputy Director of Metro Parks since 1991, where he played a pivotal role in developing environmental education-focused collaborations with Columbus City School District, including the SEED curriculum and CSI high school intern programs. Prior to this, he served as Deputy Chief of Ohio State Parks from 1983 to 1991, and has extensive experience with Ohio State Parks, the City of Davenport, the City of Steubenville, and the Department of the Army as a Presidential Management Intern. Larry holds both a BS and MS in Natural Resources Management from The Ohio State University and has been an Adjunct Lecturer at the School of Environment and Natural Resources for approximately 18 years.

Shari Insley, 5th Grade Math & Science Teacher, North Olmsted City Schools

Shari Insley is a middle school math & science teacher for North Olmsted City Schools with 20 years of experience in education. Of her 20 years in education, the past 18 years have been dedicated to North Olmsted, and her first 2 years were spent teaching in Gallup, New Mexico. Shari earned a B.S. in Middle Childhood Education in Mathematics and Science and a Master’s degree in Curriculum and Teaching from Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio. In addition to her teaching expertise, Shari was honored as the recipient of the 2024 Presidential Innovation Award for Environmental Educators. She has also served on the Strategic Planning Committee for Science Education Council of Ohio in the past year. Since 2016, Shari has dedicated her summers to participating in educator courses to expand her knowledge of freshwater ecosystems in the Great Lakes. She has taken part in grant opportunities through Ohio Sea Grant at The Ohio State University’s Stone Laboratory, sailed aboard the R/V Lake Guardian with the EPA, worked with the Gelfand STEM Center at Case Western Reserve University, and received a Martha Holden Jennings Foundation grant to travel to Iceland this summer to document the diverse geological features of Iceland's untouched wilderness to enhance climate and earth science instruction.

Amy Boros, M.Ed., Science Teacher, Hull Prairie Intermediate School

Amy Boros teaches 5th and 6th grade Science at Hull Prairie Intermediate School in Perrysburg. She has experience in classroom teaching at the elementary, middle school and collegiate levels; educational classroom technology; grant researching, authoring and evaluation, as well as educational consulting and conference presentations in both mathematics and science. With degrees from Bowling Green State University and the University of Toledo, Amy is currently in her 30th year in education. She has authored several articles about middle school science education in Science Scope Journal and Science and Children Journal, publications of The National Science Teachers Association. In 2019, Amy was invited to participate in an extensive research project onboard the Lake Guardian, an EPA research vessel on Lake Erie; selected as one of 15 educators to collect data alongside scientists. While on board, she evaluated the presence of microplastics, toxic algae and microbial organisms in surface water and sediment throughout Lake Erie’s basins. In 2022, Amy was awarded the President’s Innovation Award in Environmental Education, a joint award from the White House and the EPA for her environmental education work inside and outside of the classroom.

Afternoon Session Speakers

Heather Allen, Spruce Run Nature Center Coordinator, Columbus City School District

Heather Allen is the Spruce Run Nature Center Coordinator for Columbus City Schools. She has 26 years of teaching experience, including 16 years at the elementary level, 7 years as a Science Curriculum Coordinator, and 3 years as the Spruce Run Nature Center Coordinator. In her current position, Heather organizes and facilitates field trips for PreK–12th grade students and retreats for adults and district departments at the 50-acre Spruce Run Nature Center. She loves having the opportunity to work with community and educational organizations to bring enriching opportunities to Columbus City School students and teachers.

Nicole Jackson, Environmental Education Specialist, Columbus, Ohio

Nicole Jackson graduated from The Ohio State University (2011) with a bachelor's in Environmental Education & Interpretation and is a nature enthusiast, park advocate, and birder passionate about connecting marginalized communities to nature. She founded N Her Nature LLC, a Columbus-based coaching business offering nature therapy tools for Black women seeking joy and healing. Nicole co-organizes Black Birders Week (2020), celebrating Black birders and STEM, and created Black in National Parks Week to highlight Black experiences in national parks. In her free time, she enjoys birding at any of the Franklin Columbus Metro Parks.

Dennis Clement, Environmental Specialist II, Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Environmental Education

Dennis Clement is a 1994 Hocking College Graduate with Associates of Applied Sciences in Recreation and Wildlife Management and Interpretative Services.  Dennis is currently employed with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Environmental Education (OEE).  With OEE, Dennis helps administer the Ohio Environmental Education Fund, provides grant writing workshops, instructs Level 1 Qualified Data Collecting (QDC) trainings and is the Project WET State Coordinator since 2015.

Abby Ditomassi, Wildlife Education Coordinator, Ohio Division of Wildlife

Abby Ditomassi is a Wildlife Education Coordinator and Project WILD Coordinator with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Wildlife. She graduated from The Ohio State University with a Major in Zoology and a Minor in Society and Environmental Problems where she conducted undergraduate research on rattlesnakes and unisexual salamanders. Abby’s first full-time job was with Crawford Park District where she took Project WILD activities into the classroom to do nature programming. Now, as the Wildlife Education Coordinator and Project WILD Coordinator for Ohio, she trains teachers on Project WILD to utilize in their classrooms.

Heather Sheets, Project Learning Tree State Coordinator, Ohio Division of Forestry

Heather Sheets serves as Ohio’s Project Learning Tree State Coordinator and is the Media and Marketing Manager for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR), Division of Forestry. A graduate of both Hocking College and Ohio University, Heather holds degrees in Anthropology, Sociology, Environmental Studies, and Wildlife Resources Management. Growing up immersed in the outdoors, Heather developed a deep-rooted passion for nature that has shaped her 20-year career in environmental education. She began her journey with ODNR as a state naturalist and has always been dedicated to helping others connect with the natural world. Today, she leads youth programming and professional training initiatives that integrate environmental education into a wide range of programs, with a strong emphasis on the Project Learning Tree curriculum.

Additional Information 

We strive to host events that are inclusive and accessible to everyone. If you have a disability and require accommodations to fully participate in this activity, please reach out to Hallie Stelzle, EPN Program Assistant (stelzle.2@osu.edu). Requests made five business days in advance will generally allow us to provide seamless access. However, we will make every effort to meet requests made after this time frame. You will be contacted by someone from our staff to discuss your specific needs. 

Masks are optional for all event attendees at this event, in accordance with Ohio State’s Safe and Healthy Protocols as of this date. In-person attendees will be expected to follow Ohio State protocols regarding the prevention of COVID-19 transmission. More health and safety information available on this Personal Safety Practices page.