People

As the first Director of Education for a long-standing membership driven non-profit, I have opportunity to learn from our diverse program leaders and members every day. Our mission to preserve, protect, and restore is present in all of our citizen science projects and especially in our outreach to public school teachers in a collaborative project between Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy and Loudoun Co. Public Schools. The Peterson Young Naturalist journaling program brings teachers and students to the outdoors and to the idea that nature can be our teacher and our classroom.

4th-year doctoral candidate in the Department of Disability and Psychoeducational Studies (DPS) at the U of A. My research explores the advancements of increased accessibility, program inclusion, and equitable practices within EE educational opportunities for historically marginalized communities.

I have a background in freshwater fisheries management and outdoor education. I recently shifted to teaching full time in a higher ed institution. My courses include environmental education for natural resources students, ichthyology, principles of ecology, and marine ecology.

Passionate about the environment, education, and social innovation. I am dedicated to driving meaningful change through community engagement, collaboration, and leadership in conservation efforts.

Biologist with a Master's in Environmental Education, specializing in sustainability consulting in collaboration with national and international organizations. Have held public positions in environmental education within government agencies. Fellow of the Mesoamerican Reef Leadership Program of the Mexican Fund for the Conservation of Nature. Accredited with the Environmental Registry for developing Solid Waste Management Plans. University and Master's Degree Lecturer. Former Licensee for TEDxCancún and TEDx Ambassador for Mexico.

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.

I am currently an AmeriCorps member serving with the Environmental Education Leadership Corps in Kentucky. I serve at the Louisville Nature Center where we provide educational programming for kids and adults of all ages with our forest preschool, summer camps, field trips, outreach, and guided hikes. 

Chief Fairy Godmother

Connecting children and nature through fun outdoor educational activities

 

Doreen has a deep desire to ignite a love of nature in children using her magical ability to communicate with all ages. She has degrees in Cultural Anthropology, Early Childhood and Elementary Teaching. She then went on to complete a Masters in Special Education.

Her smile disarms and gives an opening to understanding opposing views that is so needed in our world. She is a lifelong student of philosophical and metaphysical methods that expand human thought into various realms where the sacred and scientific are beginning to intersect.

It’s her vision and listening skills that allow her to walk as one with nature and all creation. She holds a great wealth of ancient wisdom from indigenous cultures. She is an educator and master at igniting a passion within those she meets.

Doreen recently joined the Board for Caregivers of Mother Earth where she immediately made significant contributions and continues to lead with courage and an unstoppable joy in living.