News and professional development opportunities
News and professional development opportunities
Environmental Education
For Tomorrow's Stewards

Newsletter Sections 

Welcome to our newsletter! Click on any of the following to jump to that section of the newsletter:

Staff Spotlight

David Lincicome, TDEC Division of Natural Areas

About David

David manages the Natural Heritage Program in Tennessee, a member of the NatureServe network. His staff include a zoologist, a botanist, a recovery biologist, a GIS data manager, and an assistant biologist. David studied ecology and conservation biology in Ohio and Illinois before taking a job with the Tennessee Department of Environment & Education more than 19 years ago.

Education Connection

David engages the public in hikes and presentations at least five times per year. He enjoys talking about rare plants and animals in Tennessee, especially since the state has so much biodiversity. He also manages a database of rare plant and animal species to guide conservation efforts across the state.

His personal interest in public education and outreach stems from his investment in protecting native plants. He chairs the Steering Committee for the Tennessee Plant Conservation Alliance, a group of nurseries, botanical gardens, and arboretums; nonprofits; and professional biologists who seek to conserve and raise awareness of native plants. He believes that many people are predisposed to “plant blindness,” leading them to overlook the critical role of plants in the ecosystem and even in human affairs. Through his participation in the Alliance, David hopes to help people appreciate the importance of plants, especially native species of plants. The Division of Natural Areas is also a cooperating member of the national Plant Conservation Alliance.

Read More

News

Girl Scouts release new badges in Outdoors and STEM


Girl Scouts has introduced 23 new badges in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) and the outdoors, their largest programming rollout in almost a decade. Girl Scouts will be able to design robots and racecars, go on environmentally conscious camping trips, create algorithms, collect data in the great outdoors, try their hand at engineering, and more. GSUSA created these badges in collaboration with organizations in the STEM and outdoor industries, such as GoldieBlox, WGBH/Design Squad, the Society of Women Engineers, the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics, Code.org, and SciStarter.
The Eco Camper badge, for example, teaches girls skills for minimal impact camping and how to protect the environment while enjoying the outdoors.
Read More

Professional Development

Webinar from National Girls Collaborative Project


PLUM LANDING: Digital Support For Exploring Your Local Environment

Tuesday, August 22, 2017
2 PM to 3 PM Eastern Time / 1 PM to 2 PM Central Time
Participants will be introduced to digital resources developed by WGBH for PBS KIDS that help inspire kids age 6-9 and their families to engage in and explore the outdoors. Resources include Next Generation Science Standards-based outdoorhands-on STEM learning activities; and cutting-edge apps, games, webisodes, and online drawing tools, all centered around a lovable alien named Plum who sends kids on missions to explore and report on their outdoor observations.
Register for the Webinar
PLT_LOGO

New online modules from Project Learning Tree


PLT has announced the launch of three new e-units that are built around targeted Performance Expectations within the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).
The new units include:
  • Tree science for K–2
  • Energy in ecosystems for grades 3-5
  • Climate change for grades 6-8
Two of the e-units are available now (Energy in Ecosystems for Grades 3–5 and Carbon & Climate for Grades 6–8)Treemendous Science! for K–2 will be available in August. 

Read more
615-532-0779
powered by emma
Subscribe to our email list.