People

I'm a freshman in college studying to be a teacher I'm part of the stunt team and love hanging with my friends

Emily Schaller's appreciation of the natural world started during her childhood in Connecticut playing in the mud with her brother, hiking in the woods with her dad, and picking flowers and berries with her mom. She was a dedicated Girl Scout for 10 years, which helped instill in her a love of exploration and a sense of civic responsibility. 

She pursued her interest in connecting people to the natural world and inspiring action to sustain it by earning her MS in Ecological Leadership and Education from the Audubon Expedition Institute of Lesley University. This unique program included 3 semesters of living and learning outdoors while traveling across different bioregions of North America in a retrofitted school bus. This transformational experience provided her with a deeper knowledge of herself as well as the role she could play in building connections between people, their communities, and their place. 

She has since developed and delivered a variety of environmental education experiences for all ages at Naturebridge Yosemite, Teton Science Schools, and the University of Michigan's Center for Education Design, Evaluation, and Research (CEDER). Emily currently supports professional learning programs offered through Shelburne Farms' Institute for Sustainable Schools, focusing on education for sustainability, climate education, and food systems education.

Colleen Hartman, CPBT-KA is the Director of Ambassador Programs and Education at the Carolina Raptor Center. She has been working with a variety of species of raptors since 2014. Colleen is responsible for the care and management of the collection of avian ambassadors at the Carolina Raptor Center as well as implementing the most up-to-date training practices. She has experience working with birds of prey in dynamic show settings as well as training foundation behaviors for husbandry and educational presentations. Colleen has been hosting raptor training and husbandry seminars since 2016 and has aided other facilities in their understanding and application of raptor behavior, training, husbandry care, and overall welfare through the teaching of formal classes, workshops, and consultation work.

I am the Vice President of a youth led initiative by name New Visions Agriculture, and I have a bachelor's degree in Environmental Engineering. Since 2022, I have been involved and led environmental initiatives , awareness and education from renewable energy training, to climate action and sustainable agricultural practices.And have empowered over 400 youth from 8-35 years on climate action and environment through workshops and training programs.

I'm currently based in Milwaukee working on urban environmental education and celebrating biodiversity with the Zoological Society of Milwaukee. I am an environmental educator working with the next generation of conservationists.

I have been a teacher in multiple capacities since 2008, but really struggled with the limits of classroom teaching in public education. While I often took kids on outdoor field trips, I wanted to go bigger, and create a true outdoor school program. With the support of my school Director, our Charter school developed a full-time, free-to-public Forest Transitional Kindertgarten with a Forest Days programs for our upper grades. I am now the Forest School Coordinator at Wildflower Open Classroom, where I manage the TK program (we have a 3 teachers in the field), and teach the Forest Days program.

As the former Director of Technology, Mary served as the project lead for NAAEE online technology, including the NAAEE website and eePRO, the hub for professional development. Mary had been on NAAEE staff since 1999 and her extensive background in technology, website development, outreach, multi-stakeholder collaboration, security, systems support, and project management experience consistently provided the highest level of support to NAAEE’s team, leadership, and members. 

Mary is now acting in an advisory role, continuing to support the work of the association.

Former Wildlife Educator for Frederick County Parks & Recreation for 12+ Year
Maryland Piedmont Master Naturalist
Middle School Science & Team Lead at Lucy School Environmental & Arts-Based Education

Dedicated environmental educator with over 5 years of experience.