People

I am the director of eduction for a 152 acre non-profit nature preserve in the heart of Ogden, Utah. I have over 10 years of experience in Environmental Education as well as a bachelors degree in fisheries and wildlife and a minor in biology from the Unicersity of Missouri-Columbia.

Heather joined the KEEP team as a Project Assistant in October of 2022 and took on the role of Resource Specialist in June 2023. She engages high school green teams around the state through the Mini-Grant program and supports sustainability efforts in their schools. She also lends kits with hands-on materials to educators around the state and manages the WCEE kit collection.  Before joining the WCEE team, Heather worked with the Dane County Office of Energy and Climate Change as a youth librarian and taught English in the Philippines and China. 

Hello! I'm Shae, a 2023 University of Minnesota Morris graduate with a BA in Environmental Studies, with a focus on environmental and agricultural policy and practical experience in urban forestry. I'm currently looking for work in environmental policy, advocacy, science, or related fields in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area.

Sydney spent the bulk of her childhood learning and growing under the canopy of the southeastern deciduous forests that make up her home state of Virginia. She earned her B.A. in International Studies with a minor in Environmental Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University. Following her undergraduate schooling, she began working as a youth environmental educator, leading her to eventually pursue her M.A. in the University of Utah's Environmental Humanities Program to study how nature-based programs can better support nature-connections across diverse groups. While in Utah, she also co-founded Camping in Color, an overnight program designed for black youth and their families in the Salt Lake Valley area to enhance a sense of belonging, appreciation, and engagement in the outdoors. She joins the Natural Start Alliance team excited to further her work in making quality early childhood environmental education more accessible to all.

Madeline is a senior specialist for international and leadership programs at NAAEE, supporting the Global Environmental Education Partnership (GEEP), youth leadership programs, and other global initiatives.

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.

Chiamaka Uwazuruike is a Master's researcher specializing in Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and sustainable nutrient recovery. My work uses environmental modeling tools like SimaPro to evaluate ammonia recovery pathways from agricultural waste streams. Holding a B.Sc. in Environmental Education, I am passionate about combining systems-level environmental research with science communication and education.

Preethi Mony is a specialist in the field of environmental education, program evaluation and grants and has a wide range of experience from developing resource matierials, conducting programs with children and adults, as well as evaluating programs and grant reporting.

Growing up in the busy metropolis of Mumbai, she quickly recognized the importance of the social aspects of conservation in protecting the natural world. She has worked with organizations in India and the US to help with environmental education program planning and resource development. She has over 20 years of experience working with zoos and museums to evaluate programs and exhibits and recommend strategies to improve the overall visitor experience. Over the last 2 years, she has worked at a local community college to support grant work (federal, state, and private) as well as to inform data driven decision making in the diversity, equity, and inclusion space. She brings all of these experiences to her current role of EE Grant and Program Manager at NAAEE.

Preethi holds a Ph.D. in Natural Resources from The Ohio State University. She earned her M.S. in interdisciplinary Ecology from the University of Florida, and a B.Sc. in Life Sciences from the University of Mumbai, India.

I am an educator and an advocate for public-involvement and community science, working at the intersection of people, nature, climate, and science. I am the PI on the MacroBlitz project, leading a team of National Geographic explorers to empower educators from the Canadian forests to Chilean Patagonia to teach how to survey aquatic macroinvertebrates using iNaturalist as a data platform. My scope of work includes professional and curriculum development on water, soil, and grasslands. I facilitate and advocate for braiding Indigenous ways of knowing and Western STEM in my work.