People

Bora Simmons serves as the founding director of the National Project for Excellence in Environmental Education. The North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE) initiated the Project in 1993 to help educators develop and deliver effective environmental education programs. The Project has drawn on the insights of literally thousands of educators across the United States and around the world to craft guidelines for top-quality environmental education.

I have been teaching biology, Honors Biology, Anatomy and Physiology, and AP Biology for 20 years at Three Rivers High School in Three Rivers, MI. I love teaching outdoors when possible and hope to instill a love of the outdoors in my students. I enjoy incorporating place-based education activities into my curriculum and find that students get very invested in these activities. 

I'm a former public aquarium professional now teaching STEAM topics at a charter school in NJ.  I focus on environmental science education as well as engineering.

I live in beautiful Stokes County NC with my husband and our 3 sons. I enjoy hiking and exploring nature. I've always been drawn to the outdoors, be it wildIife critters, amazing views of the sky, or trying to identify trees and wildflowers/ plants. I am an advid star gazer. I began working at Hanging Rock State Park in 2022.  

I was origioally in public school but switched to homeschool during covid. I enjoy teahing children so I am seeking to teach elementary school.

Austin D. Le, MS, teaches future and current clinicians how climate change affects health and how to practice sustainably. At the University of Illinois College of Medicine Peoria, he developed a team-based learning clinical case competition for medical students and led two Planetary Health Report Cards, helping bring climate health into core teaching for over 300 students annually and create a public resource site. Nationally, he convened a research conference for over 70 trainees and now leads a 10-student research literacy program with The Journal of Climate Change and Health. The first medical student on his hospital's sustainability committee, he studies lower-emission inhaler care. He leads research studying climate impacts on young people's physical and mental health.

International Partnerships Coordinator at the Center for Environmental Information and Communication of North America (Ciceana). Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Sustainability from Universidad Iberoamericana Mexico City, with experience designing, managing, and evaluating sustainability projects across different regions of Mexico.

I seek to contribute to addressing environmental challenges by recognizing the relationships between people, territories, and institutions. I am particularly interested in community development, conservation, environmental governance, and socio-environmental justice.

I am an outdoor educator leading in summer camps, preschool and afterschool programs.

Olga Schmidt is Chief Editor of ALLATRA Media and a contributing author. A healthcare professional with more than 20 years of experience, she brings a practical, evidence-based perspective to the publication’s editorial work and reporting.

She is currently pursuing a Master of Science in Data Science at Eastern University, expanding her expertise in data analysis, artificial intelligence, and emerging technologies. She has also completed professional training in climate journalism through the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas at The University of Texas at Austin and the Global Investigative Journalism Network.

As Chief Editor, Olga contributes to ALLATRA Media’s editorial direction and standards while reporting on healthcare, artificial intelligence, data science, emerging technologies, and climate.

I am the Principal of Holy Trinity Catholic School, where I have the privilege of serving students, families, and staff in a Catholic school community I truly love. With more than 25 years in Catholic education and a Master’s degree in Educational Leadership from Grand Valley State University, I am passionate about creating schools where faith, learning, and relationships come together. I am especially excited about creation-based education and hands-on learning, and I am working to help Holy Trinity become a leader in this area. I believe strongly in the power of small Catholic schools to make a lasting difference in the lives of children and families.

I am the Project Manager for the SHARP (Skills for Health and Research Professionals) Program based at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. The SHARP Program consists of short, intensive boot camps led by field experts to teach in-demand research skills and methods to investigators at all career levels and from any organization.