People

Jessica joined Black Rock Forest in 2023 as the Director of Education. Her primary focus is educational programming for K–16 students, teachers, and the general public. Jessica taught middle and high school science in the Bronx for six years, beginning as an NYC Teaching Fellow in 2017. Prior to teaching, Jessica conducted postdoctoral research in wildlife conservation modeling in Germany for four years; first at the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology and then as a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Biology at the University of Konstanz. She also taught college biology courses focused on assessing habitat loss of forest endemic birds. Jessica holds a BS in Nutritional Sciences from Cornell University, an MS and PhD in Biology from Rutgers University, and an MSEd in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages, K-12 from City College of New York. 

I teach at the intersection of art and nature.

I have been working for Pennsylvania 4-H since 2016. I currently am the 4-H Educator for Forest and Warren Counties. I graduated from Penn State DuBois in 2017 with an Associate in Wildlife Technology and Penn State University Park in 2019 with a Bachelor's in Agricultural Sciences with a minor in Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences. In 2023, I finished my Masters in Agriculture Extension and Education. I currently sit on the State Environmental Science Team for PA 4-H and am the coach for the PA 4-H Team that attends National 4-H WHEP.

AppaLatina from the mountains of NC. 

New to EE as a professional but have been a student of nature since I was young. 

I am a lifelong learner, teaching middle school to create active community members for our future. 

I am a Montessori Upper Elementary teacher at Sussex Montessori. I teach a plethora of different topics and concepts to my students, but my favorites are grammar, writing, reading, astronomy, and biology. 

Tim has been a lower and upper-elementary Montessori educator in the Washington, DC area since 2001. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing with a focus on Poetry and minors in Literature, Philosophy, and Religious Studies from Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida in 2000 and his Master of Arts, Education in Montessori Studies from St. Catherine University in St. Paul, Minnesota in 2017. He holds Elementary I & II Montessori credentials from the Institute for Advanced Montessori Studies in Silver Spring, MD. Tim has presented a number of workshops at national Montessori Conferences on a range of topics: including poetry, woodworking, ecology, peacemaking, and jazz. A published poet, he is also an avid maker, tinkerer, crafter, carpenter, and scientist. 

Nikita Iyer is an environmental educator and project officer at the Centre for Environment Education, focusing on biodiversity education, nature literacy and experiential curriculum development in India

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 married and have two sons and three grandchildren.  I have worked as a paraprofessional in ID self contained classrooms for 31 years.  I am in a program through Eau Claire Universitiy called "Transition to teaching."  My goal is to become a licensed teacher and teach my own classroom.  I love to read, cook, take walks, travel, shop, and spend time with my family and grandchildren.