People

Preethi Mony is a specialist in the field of environmental education, program evaluation and grants and has a wide range of experience from developing resource matierials, conducting programs with children and adults, as well as evaluating programs and grant reporting.

Growing up in the busy metropolis of Mumbai, she quickly recognized the importance of the social aspects of conservation in protecting the natural world. She has worked with organizations in India and the US to help with environmental education program planning and resource development. She has over 20 years of experience working with zoos and museums to evaluate programs and exhibits and recommend strategies to improve the overall visitor experience. Over the last 2 years, she has worked at a local community college to support grant work (federal, state, and private) as well as to inform data driven decision making in the diversity, equity, and inclusion space. She brings all of these experiences to her current role of EE Grant and Program Manager at NAAEE.

Preethi holds a Ph.D. in Natural Resources from The Ohio State University. She earned her M.S. in interdisciplinary Ecology from the University of Florida, and a B.Sc. in Life Sciences from the University of Mumbai, India.

I contribute to participatory R+D and continuous improvemement process focused on environmental stewardship, justice, and advocacy learning opportunities.

I became an educator because I love learning, and I'm on a mission to ensure that all students have access to engaging, experiential, and culturally responsive learning opportunities that help them find their sparks. I believe that learning should foster awe and wonder and strengthen connections to ourselves, the land, and each other. It should be place-based, interdisciplinary, and driven by learners' own curiosities. I have a comprehensive background in outdoor and environmental education, project-based pedagogy and design thinking, and in leading professional development on a variety of topics.

Born and raised in Costa Rica, I developed a passion for nature, which led me to earn a B.S. in Biology from the University of Costa Rica and an M.S. in Nat. Res. with an emphasis in Environmental Education and Interpretation from UW-Stevens Point. I am passionate about conservation and education. I'm part of the K-12 Education team at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. 

Bridget Booth is an 8^th-grade science teacher at Haslett Middle School and a certified environmental educator in Michigan. She got her start in education at Woldumar Nature Center in Lansing and has been taking students outdoors to learn ever since. In addition to being an NAAEE CEE-Change Fellow, she is the past president and current board member of the Michigan Alliance for Environmental and Outdoor Education (MAEOE), and is chairing the Climate Education Committee. Bridget lives with her husband and two sons in East Lansing and spends her (scant) free time reading, playing in the woods, swimming in the Great Lakes and enjoying live music.

I am an environmental education researcher in the Civic Ecology Lab at Cornell University.

Blog: http://environmental.education

Website: http://alexkudryavtsev.org

While living for months in the newly formed Canadian Territory of Nunavut, Mr. Velazquez was invited to learn about the lives and environmental conditions of the Inuit people, sharing some of the work being done by U.S. state, federal, and environmental agencies to protect the environment. Carlos is currently in correspondence with members of the Sustainable Development Department in the Nunavut Territory. Currently, Carlos works with the North Carolina Environmental Educators (EENC), the Center for Human-Earth Restoration (CHER), and the Raleigh Parks Recreational and Cultural Resources. Many of his lectures are listed on Google under Carlos Velazquez Inuit.

Carlos Velazquez, an Otomi Indian, is a retired Mechanical Engineer, recipient of the Environmental Educators of North Carolina Outstanding Partnership Award, Environmental Educator of the Year from Wake County, NC, and winner of the NAAEE 2011 Rosa Parks and Grace Lee Boggs Environment Award. Mr. Velazquez has worked with environmental groups in Alaska and Canada, and in China as a project engineer, where he met with the Chinese Environmental Department. Mr. Velazquez was the first westerner to give a talk on Preserving the Environment and the Ways of China's Minorities, at Dalian University, in mainland China.