Erin McCool is an informal education leader with more than 20 years of experience working in environmentally focused organizations. She earned a degree in Biology from Salisbury University and a graduate certificate in Environmental Communications from Duke University.  In 2022, she founded Cool Heron, an organization dedicated to ensuring that every student has access to learning experiences that build environmental literacy.  www.coolheron.com

In her career as a non-profit leader, she has built and developed teams of educators, creating programs that reach diverse community and school audiences. Her expertise includes program design for schools, communities and families, teacher professional learning, informal educator staff development, strategic planning, grant-writing, and coaching. As an organizational leader, Erin understands the complexities of developing mission-based programs that are financially sustainable.  She has created a network of experts in education, non-profit and environmental conservation. Erin and partners will work with you to identify your school or organization’s unique aspirations and make them a reality.

Erin currently serves on the PA Environmental Literacy Capacity Building steering committee, supporting environmental literacy across Pennsylvania. 

She remains active in the STEM education community, as a member of the PA SEED STEM Ecosystem and Pennsylvania Science Leadership network (PennSel), working to support teachers and schools in transitioning to the new PA STEELS academic standards.

She is a facilitator with Open Sci Ed, an innovative non-profit organization that provides high quality, NGSS aligned science instructional materials and professional learning for educators.