People

Hello! I am April Engelmeier, a current fellow of the California Climate Action Corps representing the County of San Diego Department of Parks and Recreation. I am a passionate environmentalist who loves anything outdoors - running, climbing, camping, etc. I am originally from San Luis Obispo, California, and moved to San Diego for this opportunity to pursue climate action across San Diego's parks! I studied Environmental Science and Management in college, and am excited to learn more about environmental education specifically. 

For three years I facilitated two of the four WI Registry Nature-Based Early Childhood Education Credential courses at UW-Whitewater. Prior to COVID, I created the Wonder Bugs Preschool Program (child and adult program) and implemented the Nature Preschool at Aldo Leopold Nature Center.

Tina Harte Ballinger is a Project Support Specialist for the NASA Langley Science Directorate's Education Team. She is also the founder and Project Manager for the NASA GLOBE Goes to Camp Project providing informal outdoor environmental education opportunities to communities across the United States. She has over 30 years of experience in STEAM based instruction and curriculum development with a M.S. in Secondary Science Education from the Univeristy of Tennessee at Martin with an emphasis in Geoscience.  

Environmental scientist, educator, course designer, trainer and mentor.

I have been teaching environmental science for about 7 years now. I have a love for our environmental and I want to try to pass that on to students.

Being raised on a Pennsylvania farm near Lake Erie, Rhonda developed a deep connection to land and water. She earned a BS and MEd from Penn State University and an MFA in Creative Nonfiction with an environmental focus from UNC Wilmington, where she now teaches. Rhonda is also a freelance environmental journalist in the Wilmington, NC coastal region. Her work has appeared in Black Warrior Review, American Submariner, Coastal Review, storySouth, among others. A former Brauer Fellow, she was a semifinalist for North Carolina Literary Review’s 2024 Alex Albright CNF Prize. She is working on a memoir exploring brain injury and the healing power of trees. With five grown children, Rhonda, her beloved, and their dog savor sunrise beach walks.