People

Sydney spent the bulk of her childhood learning and growing under the canopy of the southeastern deciduous forests that make up her home state of Virginia. She earned her B.A. in International Studies with a minor in Environmental Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University. Following her undergraduate schooling, she began working as a youth environmental educator, leading her to eventually pursue her M.A. in the University of Utah's Environmental Humanities Program to study how nature-based programs can better support nature-connections across diverse groups. While in Utah, she also co-founded Camping in Color, an overnight program designed for black youth and their families in the Salt Lake Valley area to enhance a sense of belonging, appreciation, and engagement in the outdoors. She joins the Natural Start Alliance team excited to further her work in making quality early childhood environmental education more accessible to all.

Jack Hilgert serves as the Statewide Environmental Education Coordinator for the Oklahoma Conservation Commission and Oklahoma State Coordinator for Project WILD and Project WET. He specializes in K–12 engagement, educator professional learning, and building statewide networks that connect students with hands-on, place-based environmental learning. Jack coordinates environmental education programs for youth, educators, and families while managing a network of volunteer facilitators. His work strengthens school and district partnerships, expands access to environmental education, and supports sustainable programs that reach rural and underserved communities. He also supports Oklahoma Envirothon and serves on the OKAEE Board.

I'm an associate professor of park resource management at Slippery Rock University of PA where I study metrics and outcomes of conservation education and utilize service-learning pedagogies. I teach in our online Environmental Education graduate program and our undergrad Park Resource Mgmt program.

I am a student at NKU and need to use this site for my course.