People

Take Me Outside is a non-profit organization committed to raising awareness and facilitating action on nature connection and outdoor learning in schools.  We believe in a future in which spending time outside playing, exploring and learning is a regular and significant part of every student’s day. We work collaboratively with other organizations, school boards and individuals to encourage children and youth to spend more time outside through various projects and initiatives.

TMO’s target population is students and educators across Turtle Island/North America who we reach mainly through the education system. Our goal is to encourage schools to extend the learning environment beyond the desk and four walls and to use the great outdoors as part of the regular teaching practice. The ultimate goal is to encourage more time spent outside during the school day to counter balance excessive screen time and sedentary tendencies. Our programs are simple, fun and accessible to all.

I am the Director of America Adapts Media and host of America Adapts – The Climate Change Podcast. I previously worked on climate adaptation issues with the National Park Service, FL Fish and Wildlife Commission and in Queensland Australia. I'm dedicated to highlighting the issue of adaptation.

Director of EEE.

I have been based on the Eastern Shore of Virginia since 2010 providing public interpretation and environmental education programs to tourists and local community members. I love working among our pristine barrier islands and salt marshes and taking people out in these areas to learn more about the plants and animals that call them home. Our education program currently focuses on providing Meaningful Watershed Education Experiences for 5th, 7th, and 10th grade students as well as professional development for all teachers from Accomack and Northampton Counties.

Outdoor Recreation Supervisor at Mountain Recreation in Edwards, Colorado. I have been working in outdoor education/recreation since 2012. I fundamentally believe the outdoors are for everyone, and I strive in my role to make outdoor recreation more accessible to everyone I serve.

I have been teaching in the outdoors since I was 15 years old and it never gets old! I love opening the eyes of youth and adults alike to the wonders of the natural world around them, and consider myself very fortunate to mentor new educators in how they can do the same.

Michael Cruse is a secondary school resource teacher at the Arlington Career Center, in Arlington, VA, where he also serves on the superintendent's environmental sustainability committee.  He has worked with committee members to develop a school-based sustainability liaison program, supporting teacher-liaisons' capacity to address environmental projects with students.

At the Career Center, he initiated a closed loop compost system for the culinary arts program, where culinary students are composting their scraps and growing herbs and micro-greens for use in their commercial kitchen.  He has received funding from the Chesapeake Bay Foundation for a student-led Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) study, and horticulture remediation project.  He has also received local community foundation funds for arts-based crosswalks at several Arlington elementary schools, promoting sustainable transportation choices.

In 2018, Mike received a Fulbright Distinguished Awards in Teaching fellowship to study green schools and environmental education in Israel and Palestine.  His inquiry project focused on pluralistic school and community-based programs that support environmental stewardship in contested landscapes.  He has blogged about his work for Education Week, and National Geographic Education.  He has also written for Urban Environmental Education and Techniques Magazine, the journal of the Association of Career and Technical Education.  

Mike is a manuscript reviewer for the National Science Teachers Association's publication, Science & Children.  He is also currently serving a two year term on the advisory board of the U.S. Green Building Council's Center for Green Schools, where he has helped advise the organization's outreach and communications, and peer reviewed presentations for the Green Schools National Network's annual conference.  He is also a volunteer conference presentation reviewer for NAAEE. 

Mike seeks opportunities to give students and teachers the tools to improve their communities, and platforms to share their stories.  He believes that urban youth and educators should be at the forefront of addressing the impacts of climate change, and advocating for more sustainable cities.

Assistant Professor of Biology at the County College of Morris in Randolph, NJ. I possess a M.S. in Biology with coursework focused in ecological topics such as plant ecology, freshwater ecology, etc. Environmental Courses Taught: Biology of Environmental Concerns, Ecology