People

 

Kia ora, Ko Sian Crowley toku ingoa. 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. Fueled by my childhood memories of nature connection, curiosity and experience, and opportunities I received as a student, I have a goal of improving environmental education across Aotearoa.

I take pride in being able to create and offer new opportunities to the community, whilst inspiring, and empowering other rangatahi along the way.

Taralynn has been a lifelong advocate of animals and the natural world and was inspired to pursue a career in conservation and education. After time in the field, she began teaching as an environmental educator at the Wildlife Conservation Society in New York after completing a master's degree in Conservation Biology from Columbia University. There she helped create and implement academic programs based on ecological learning principles and delivered them to students across the New York City metropolitan area. Taralynn helped develop a schoolyard habitat program with the National Audubon Society where she worked with K-12 students to plan and build "living laboratories" or outdoor classrooms.

An avid traveler, Taralynn has combined her passion for protecting the planet and seeing new places. She spent three months living in the rainforests of Madagascar, studying endangered primates as a study abroad student and two months in Ecuador where she led groups of high school students through the amazing experience of creating wildlife habitat and monitoring plant growth in the famous Galapagos Islands. This led her to accept a position as a biology and environmental science teacher at BASIS International School Shenzhen, China. 

Taralynn joined Group for the East End, a regional environmental advocacy, education and conservation organization in 2019 where she works as outreach director. In this position, Taralynn manages a 51-acre preserve, bringing environmental education and nature-based opportunities to the public, from schools to scouts to adults seeking respite, the audience she serves is diverse. She manages habitat restoration projects at preserves throughout Southold Town by removing invasive plants and re-planting with native plants. 

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.

I grew up in wild NY exploring acres of forest and farm. Years later I received a teaching credential and BA of Science in Phys. Ed from SUNY Cortland. My passion for play collided with outdoor education and later forest schooling. 5 years ago I co-founded EverWild's nature immersion program in LA.

Graduated from Institut Mines-Télécom (MSc Environmental Engineering) and Ecole Normale Supérieure (MSc Geosciences), I teach Environmental Sciences in Ecole Américaine de Rennes. My objectives are to raise students' awareness and transmit a global understanding of Earth Sciences with passion.

I'm Keshav Narang, a senior at Stanford Online High School (Class of 2024) hailing from the dynamic Silicon Valley in the Bay Area, California.

Growing up in the Bay Area has profoundly influenced my interests and values. Observing the devastating impact of a prolonged drought, such as the vanishing creeks in local parks, the shifting patterns of migratory birds, and the withering of once lush grass, heightened my awareness of the urgent need for sustainability. This experience ignited my passion for environmental engineering and the role of technology in safeguarding our planet. I am dedicated to driving positive change and actively engaging with individuals affected by fossil fuel projects, with the aim of raising awareness and fostering a more sustainable future.

My primary objective is to contribute to global efforts in limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. To achieve this, I am focused on connecting with and supporting an interconnected network of future voices and leaders through my nonprofit organization, GreenTeamPower. Additionally, I co-founded multiple startups and am the chief technical officer and co-inventor of a patent for ASK, a company that manufactures solar panels with integrated energy storage. By spearheading the integration of technical solutions with people-driven activism and government engagement, I collaborate to drive policy changes that genuinely benefit our planet and society.

I am both a home educator to my two children and homeschool group educator to many. I enjoy adventuring in the foothills of western North Carolina with my family and two dogs.

Rachel grauated from the University of Tampa with a B.S. in natural science she is currently working on her Masters at Miami University in the Project Dragonfly program, and is expected to grauate in December 2023.

Rachel first got into enviromental education when working with sea turtles in Australia; where she started to lead the educational tours. She has worked as an environemental educator across the county in places such as Juneau, Alaska, the north Georgia mountains, and the Georgia barier islands. She has served in two AmeriCorps positions in New Hampshire and Jakson Hole, Wyoming. Rachel currently resides in her hometown as a 4-H program assistant where she visits elementary classrooms teaching science education. She has also created a 4-H wildlife judging team with local members of the 4-H program, and continues to create environmental educational oppertunities for her 4-H members. 

Rachel has two cats named Lady Fluff and Minnie Mouser. 

Conservation biologist -Migratory pollinator conservation Hermosillo, Sonora, México