Ko Tauhara te maunga. Ko Waikato te awa. No Taupō ahau engari ka noho au inaiānei ki Ōtautahi. He kaiwhakaako ahau mo te taiao ki BLAKE. Ko Sian Crowley toku ingoa. 

Kia ora, I’m Sian, an environmental educator, programme manager, and volunteer. Through place-based environmental education and nature connection, I’m on a mission to create intergenerational change in our relationship with the environment. 

Fuelled by my childhood memories of nature connection, curiosity and experience, and opportunities I received as a student, I have been able to found and establish multiple new programmes aimed at engaging rangatahi in nature connection, conservation and restoration work. I take pride in being able to create and offer new opportunities to the community, whilst inspiring, and empowering rangatahi both inside and outside of the classroom.

I work as an environmental educator and programme manager, now for BLAKE (Jan 2022-current), previously for Kids Greening Taupō (2019-2021). My work is precious. I encourage passions to spark and imaginations to run wild; empowering tamariki (children) to grow into kaitiaki (guardians) for the environment as young leaders.

Outside of my core mahi I volunteer a large chunk of my free time working on national projects (NZAEE, and Forest & Bird Youth). These roles include coordination and organisation of events, youth councils, fostering community programmes, enhancing local and national collaboration, capturing events through photography, and creating resources… all with the goal of improving environmental education across Aotearoa.

The Seed Pod. podcast is my passion project. Together with guests we explore nature connection on a deeper level, sharing stories from childhood, adventures, experiences and nature facts, all in the hopes that we can collectively have a place to share in the awe of nature. In a world full of challenges, this is a space to celebrate connection, to the environment, people, and wellbeing through storytelling. We take listeners with us, sparking curiosity, admiration and care for nature, in turn creating a positive reminiscent base for positive action. The Seed Pod is sprouting into a hub for my environmental education, photography, and design. We have some exciting artistic collaborations coming up!

You can listen to The Seed Pod. here: https://linktr.ee/theseedpod_nz