People

As a dedicated educational leader and lifelong learner, I am committed to cultivating school communities where every student and educator can thrive. With diverse teaching and leadership experience in both domestic and international settings, I bring a global perspective, a strong instructional focus, and a deep commitment to equity and excellence in education.

My name is Tess and I am a student leader and founder of Climate in Every Classroom, a youth-led initiative brings climate education into all subject areas and ensuring teachers have simplified resources and confidence to teach climate change. We are developing a workshop model led by a coalition of organizations for our volunteer’s K-12 teachers with continued follow-up throughout the school year designed to help schools easily integrate climate topics across disciplines and to make climate learning more accessible, and connected to everyday education. We’re looking to expand climate literacy and build practical, scalable approaches to environmental education within schools.

I am a teacher of 4 1/2 years at PGCPS. I have worked in the education sector most of my adult life. I love the Arts and all that it enlightens. I am the eldest of eight children. 

I am a special education teacher working in a K-5 elementary school which hosts a specialty program for Talented and Gifted Students. I work directly with about 20-25 students a year, but work in multiple classrooms to teach more than special education. 

I have a degree in Environmental Studies with a minor in Sociology. Additionally I have work experience in environmental social media marketing as well as intership experience in marine biology. 

NAAEE’s Senior Director of Capacity Building, Sarah Bodor comes from the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, where she held a number of program management and leadership positions throughout the organization. She worked closely with state education agencies in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia to develop and pilot standards-based curricula and provide teacher professional development. Her background also includes communications and fundraising. In 2008, she served as the writer of Maryland’s Children in Nature Plan, which resulted in passage of Maryland’s environmental high school graduation requirement.

I am a mother of 2. I have been a teacher for 25 years. I am a crafter.

I am a 5th grade teacher at North East Elementary School

Ms. Sudakshina Sengupta is a Programme Officer–Scientist at the Vikram A. Sarabhai Community Science Centre (VASCSC), Ahmedabad. She holds an M.Sc. in Zoology with a specialization in Environmental Biology and has over 14 years of experience in science communication, science education, and environmental education. She coordinates several flagship programmes of VASCSC for school students. As an environment educator, she works to build awareness of basic environmental concepts at the school level through hands-on and inquiry-based learning. She has contributed to different DST–NCSTC projects, the Science Express (2012–17), teacher training programmes, and has been actively involved in the development of NEP 2020–aligned TLMs and IEC materials.

Megha Parikh is an educator dedicated to bridging the gap between complex environmental science and community-based STEM education. With a post-graduate degree in Environmental Sciences and over 14 years of specialized experience, she plays a pivotal role at the prestigious Vikram A Sarabhai Community Science Centre (VASCSC) in leveraging her background in Environmental Sciences to develop innovative teaching-learning materials (TLM) that foster ecological literacy among youth. She also manages and coordinates large-scale projects centered on STEM education, innovation, and Artificial Intelligence, ensuring that emerging technologies are accessible to the next generation of thinkers.