People

Environmental advocate and educator dedicated to social and environmental justice, community empowerment and fostering global citizens. Working to cultivate an inclusive and safe world through connection and education.

Massachusetts-based nonprofit dedicated to hands-on, minds-on, inquiry-based science education

Planetary Health Practitioner

 

 

Carla Gull is the coordinator of the masters of art of environmental education program and associate professor at Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center of Goshen College in northern Indiana. She has over 20 years of experience in the education field at the preschool, elementary, and college levels. Dr. Gull enjoys helping educators incorporate more nature in the everyday early childhood setting. She hosts a podcast, Loose Parts Nature Play; facilitates an international group, Loose Parts Play; and presents workshops, presentations, and academic research around loose parts, tree climbing, STEM outdoor classrooms, and nature education. She is coauthor of the book, Loose Parts Learning in K-3 Classrooms. 

Aurora Cortes was born and raised in Santa Ana, CA. Growing up, she worked with her dad, un jardinero, and helped weed plants, rake debris, and mow the lawn. Aurora went on family camping trips to the Angeles National Forest. She celebrated many birthdays with her family amongst the trees, in the snow, and under the stars. As she grew older, she loved listening to stories that her mom and dad shared from their own experiences back home in Mexico from el ahijadero and la florenia. All the family stories and childhood experiences planted the seed of adventure and love for the outdoors for Aurora.

I develop educational programming that brings environmental monitoring programs to local communities. Science education allows me to embrace a role that combines making environmental education accessible and connecting educaiton to relevant ecological research efforts. I have had many different roles as before becoming an environmental educator including being a collections assistant for a natural history museum and a field assistant to ornithology researchers.

I am an educator and an advocate for public-involvement and community science, working at the intersection of people, nature, climate, and science. I am the PI on the MacroBlitz project, leading a team of National Geographic explorers to empower educators from the Canadian forests to Chilean Patagonia to teach how to survey aquatic macroinvertebrates using iNaturalist as a data platform. My scope of work includes professional and curriculum development on water, soil, and grasslands. I facilitate and advocate for braiding Indigenous ways of knowing and Western STEM in my work.

I am the Executive Director for the Wisconsin Association for Environmental Education and the Green and Healthy Schools Wisconsin Coordinator for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Sustainable Schools, accessible green career pathways, and environmental equity are my main motivators.

As the Associate Director of Conservation Education at The Marine Mammal Center, an educational center and the world’s largest marine mammal hospital, Adam challenges the community to think differently about ocean conservation using the stories of individual patients that are rescued by the Center.

I am the Adopt-A-Stream Director for the state of Mississippi. I am also the Chairman for the MS Environmental Education Alliance (MEEA)