People

Preethi Mony is a specialist in the field of environmental education, program evaluation and grants and has a wide range of experience from developing resource matierials, conducting programs with children and adults, as well as evaluating programs and grant reporting.

Growing up in the busy metropolis of Mumbai, she quickly recognized the importance of the social aspects of conservation in protecting the natural world. She has worked with organizations in India and the US to help with environmental education program planning and resource development. She has over 20 years of experience working with zoos and museums to evaluate programs and exhibits and recommend strategies to improve the overall visitor experience. Over the last 2 years, she has worked at a local community college to support grant work (federal, state, and private) as well as to inform data driven decision making in the diversity, equity, and inclusion space. She brings all of these experiences to her current role of EE Grant and Program Manager at NAAEE.

Preethi holds a Ph.D. in Natural Resources from The Ohio State University. She earned her M.S. in interdisciplinary Ecology from the University of Florida, and a B.Sc. in Life Sciences from the University of Mumbai, India.

I am a Professional EEC Educator and have taught middle school science for 35+ years!  My knowledge of environmental science and sustainability has developed over the years from the excellent graduate courses taken, professional conferences and workshops attended, and my professional memberships to local, state and national organizations.

It is my goal as a science teacher to weave in the concepts of human impacts and sustanability into every unit I teach. I love meeting challenges to help students to learn by designing and testing ideas with STEM investigations, and especially take this learning outside.  

I am an Evenson Fellow, and this fellowship enabled me with a grant to purchase and develop Live Walls and improve our Green Roof at the school I teach with.

My website, Hope Challenges includes a section for teachers to increase their use of their state and local parks, providing ideas for STEM activities specific to each park. 

I love hiking and traveling all over Michigan and throughout the US!

Lee is a devoted social innovator and environmental educator. As an assistant teaching professor at the University of Colorado Boulder, his work explores how collaborative approaches to community engagement can improve the design, implementation, and assessment of cross-border environmental initiatives. Lee holds a PhD in Environmental Studies from the University of Colorado Boulder, an MA in Environmental Conservation Education from NYU, and a BS in Computer Science from the University of Rochester. His recent projects include a community-based planning initiative with Boulder Food Rescue, co-leading community development projects in Spain, Israel, and Costa Rica with The Sustainability Laboratory, and a global action network study with the Savory Global Institute. Lee's long-term professional goals include building new programs in transformative environmental education and bridging gaps in cross-cultural understanding towards a more unified human society.

Bora Simmons serves as the founding director of the National Project for Excellence in Environmental Education. The North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE) initiated the Project in 1993 to help educators develop and deliver effective environmental education programs. The Project has drawn on the insights of literally thousands of educators across the United States and around the world to craft guidelines for top-quality environmental education.

Charissa V. Jones (she/her/hers) is the Outreach and Access Manager for the Oregon State University (OSU) Extension Service Outdoor School Program and a scholar-practitioner working at the intersections of Black Studies, outdoor and environmental education, Extension and Engagement, and community-engaged scholarship. With more than 20 years of experience across formal, informal, and environmental education, her work explores how race, gender, power, place, and joy shape experiences of nature, recreation, and public space. Her research centers Black Joy, belonging, and community as pathways toward more equitable and liberatory futures.

I am a wellness professional and retreat designer working to build spaces where natural remedies, therapeutic practices, and environmental connection come together. My focus is on helping people restore a sense of alignment and wholeness by reintegrating nature into their healing journeys. I'm drawn to environmental education as a way to deepen this work—grounding therapeutic practice in ecological literacy and a genuine relationship with the land.

Mountain Watershed Association began its life around a kitchen table. The organization was founded in 1994 to oppose an underground coal mine proposal in the Indian Creek Watershed in the Laurel Highlands of Southwestern Pennsylvania. MWA’s input and organized opposition resulted in the denial of the permit. MWA’s board of directors and dedicated community members realized that to restore the watershed to a viable community, they would have to address the legacy of more than 150 years of extraction and disinvestment in our rural Appalachian region. Since then, MWA has restored more than 70 percent of the Indian Creek Watershed and prevented countless sources of additional pollution in the broader Youghiogheny River Watershed. The organization has expanded to eleven full-time employees, a 17-person volunteer Board of Directors, and more than 2500 members and supporters.