People

My work focuses on "culture shifting", emphasizing curricular integration of service learning, sustainability and global citizenship across all learning environments and includes heavy doses of collaboration and communication with administration, faculty, students and external organizations.

Over the last 20 years, I've worked with eco-organizations including, The New York Botanical Garden, Sustainable South Bronx, the Greystone Foundation, Hudson River Clearwater, CityParks Foundation, and the Bronx River Alliance to bring stewardship opportunities to students of all ages. GI Nerd!

Patti Bonnin is a Senior Naturalist at the Houston Arboretum & Nature Center where she specializes in early childhood and family environmental education. 

As the Director of UConn’s Natural Resources Conservation Academy (NRCA; nrca.uconn.edu), I develop and implement place-based, environmental action programs that integrate technology used by professionals and support intergenerational (e.g., teen & adult teams) community conservation projects. My recent efforts with the NRCA are geared towards making NRCA programs more culturally sustaining, and using equitable, inclusive, and authentic community engagement practices. My integrated research efforts focus on: 1) understanding how place-based environmental action programs impact learners’ environmental science identities, environmental science self-efficacy, environmental science interests and career goals; 2) identifying educational practices and program design principles that promote intergenerational partnerships and expansive forms of participation and retention of students from historically excluded populations in environmental science fields; and 3) exploring how place-based environmental action programs build capacity to implement projects that have lasting environmental and community benefits.

I am a former educator and current HR professional. I live and work in San Francisco connecting qualified Environmental Educators with jobs.