People

Megan Fink serves as the Partnerships & Policy Manager for the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE). Working in the field of Environmental Education for over a decade, Megan brings a robust, place-based, outdoor education background to the NAAEE team. She has built enduring working relationships across the Chesapeake Bay watershed and the Mid-Atlantic region. As a graduate of Virginia Tech with a Bachelor of Science in Wildlife Science and Biology, Megan began her career as an Environmental Educator at the North Carolina Aquariums before joining the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) in 2011. Through several program management positions with CBF she led students, teachers, school administrators, and environmental professionals on ecological, cultural, and historical investigations of the Bay. She also managed a statewide leadership program for high school students, teaching them how to become environmental advocates at the local, regional, and national levels.

Megan earned an Executive Master of Natural Resources from Virginia Tech’s Center for Leadership in Global Sustainability in 2020. In 2022-23, she served as Education Director for the Annapolis Maritime Museum & Park, supervising 15 Environmental Education Programs and expanding their reach to 14,000 participants annually. She also initiated and managed a project to launch a brand-new, nature-based preschool and served on the Maryland State Department of Education’s Workgroup to develop statewide Outdoor Preschool licensing standards. 

Throughout her career, Megan has designed programs that inspire participants to act on behalf of their local natural resources and enhance people’s understanding of and connection to the natural world through compelling environmental education experiences. In her spare time, she can often be found hiking, gardening, paddling, and spending time with her loved ones, including her dog, Ruby, splashing around the Bay watershed!

Jimena Cuenca supports NAAEE's digital presence, helping maintain and improve our websites like eePRO so that it serves as a welcoming and useful space for environmental educators. Jimena brings a deep curiosity about how online communities grow, connect, and collaborate. She enjoys learning new digital tools and is always looking to make our web spaces more engaging. When not at work, she's walking her huskies and birding.

I am a teacher looking to expand beyond the typical classroom and get outdoors! My dream is to create an outdoor school or to work at one, so that everyday teaching is more hand on and creative. My favorite subject to teach is math and science, so I am excited to learn more about environmental education to incorperate into my curriculum. 

Stacie joined the NAAEE team in April 2020. She has worked in or alongside the education field for over two decades and in communications for more than 15 years. She started her career teaching at a public charter high school in Washington, D.C. Prior to joining NAAEE, she managed communications for Annenberg Learner, a leading national nonprofit that connects K–12 and college educators with classroom content and professional development to support and strengthen their practice. She holds an M.A. in Spanish and Latin American Studies from American University, and a B.A. in Modern Languages and Linguistics and Certificate in Secondary Education from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. She also completed a Certificate in Social Impact Storytelling at Georgetown University. Throughout her career, she has been committed to bringing exceptional educational opportunities to underserved areas and educating to promote civic engagement.

I am a 4th grade teacher in Berkeley County, WV and I have students that work with the Watershed group here. 

I am a documentary filmmaker and home gardener who has been volunteering at the North Carolina Botanical Garden for more than ten years.

Blue Ridge Therapeutic Wilderness instructors are professionals who develop a wide variety of skills: outdoor living, motivational interviewing, risk management, group facilitation, and mindfulness– to name a few. We emphasize a relational approach that provides students with the support, awareness, and skills needed to achieve their goals. Simply put: Field Instructors are role-models for a healthier way of life.

https://blueridgewilderness.com/careers/field-instructors-2

Environmental Education has always been a passion of my life. I am trying to be environmentally responsible myself and want to teach others. I take my students on field trips into the woods for science lessons. I use my school backyard as part of my classroom. You will often see my students outside with their science journals making observations and hypotheses, conducting research, making discoveries and exploring the world around them. Together we tend to our small garden and this year we incubated some chicks.

I am trying to bring outdoors to my classroom as well. We have a special place in class where we collect things found in nature. Students often use a magnifying glass to explore objects in every detail. It peaks their curiosity, makes them ask questions and together we look for answers.

I like to challenge my students by presenting real life problems. I want to see what they would do to cure world hunger, to fight droughts, to find new sources of energy. We just recently had a debate on AI and the kids discovered many environmental issues that it causes they were not aware of. They surprised themselves!

I would like to continue my environmental education to become a better teacher and human being.