Teachers

A Silent Service: Why Water Workers Support Environmental Literacy and Career Technical Education

By Tiffany Baca  |  November 12, 2020

Water is a vital natural resource that shapes the development of California’s environmental, social, and economic landscape. Despite this, the essential workers that maintain California’s water supply are often overlooked. As a member of the California Environmental Literacy Initiative’s (CAELI) Leadership Council, Public Affairs Manager at the Municipal Water District of Orange County (MWDOC), and leader of the Water Energy Education Alliance (WEEA), Tiffany Baca is working to change that. In this Q&A, Tiffany shares how environmental literacy frames her work at MWDOC, an agency that provides more than 3.2 million California residents with water-saving resources, water-centric education, sustainability programs, and clean drinking water.

How Global Education and Environmental Literacy Empower Students as Citizens of the World

By Emily M. Schell, EdD  |  October 8, 2020

Global education and environmental literacy go hand-in-hand when helping students connect with the world around them. As the executive director of the California Global Education Project (CGEP), Dr. Emily Schell works every day to help teachers deliver timely and impactful lessons as they relate to the current issues affecting our world. In this Q&A, Dr. Schell shares how global education and environmental literacy work together, why there’s a need to support teachers in this work, and how she applies this expertise as a co-chair of CAELI’s leadership council.

Teaching Environmental Science with Social Justice at the Center

By Suzanne Pierre, PhD  |  September 10, 2020

Science gives us critical clues to understanding the complex web of the natural world, how it works, and how we can embrace our role in it. That’s why Dr. Suzanne Pierre, a member of CAELI’s leadership council and environmental science educator at San Francisco’s Exploratorium Teacher Institute, believes curiosity and connection are the basis for understanding and action, especially on climate issues. In this Q&A, Sue shares her background as a microbial ecology researcher and woman of color, and how that informs her work to support teachers as they incorporate hands-on, inquiry-rich experiences into their classrooms.

The Green Return to School: California Administrators Find a New Lens for Teaching Environmental Literacy

By Cuauhtémoc Avila, PhD, Faris Sabbah, PhD  |  August 13, 2020

The new school year is approaching, and educators are having to adapt to a new educational reality amid the COVID-19 pandemic. As California administrators think outside the box with new solutions to keep environmental literacy at the forefront as students return to school, outdoor education is emerging as an opportunity to pair social distancing with the benefits of giving students access to nature and equitable educational opportunities.

Educators Using Biomimicry to Teach Nature-Based Problem Solving

By Kirk Anne Taylor  |  June 15, 2020

Educators are drawing from the emerging field of biomimicry to engage young people in the STEAM fields through real-life connections. This short film features a December 2019 professional development training for educators—hosted by CAELI members Inside the Outdoors and Ten Strands, in partnership with the Biomimicry Institute and Bioneers—and how biomimicry serves as a powerful component of environmental literacy.

The California History–Social Science Project’s 2019 Environmental Literacy Teacher Institutes: Hawks, History, and California’s EP&Cs

By Shelley Brooks, PhD  |  March 4, 2020

Shelley Brooks, PhD, is a program coordinator for the California History–Social Science Project, developing professional learning and teaching resources for K–12 teachers. In this article, she reflects on coordinating environmental literacy summer institutes, which promoted environmental education for both teachers and students.