People

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.

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

Brandi Stewart is a Space Science Outreach Coordinator for the Earth to Sky Interagency Partnership. Brandi grew up near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and moved out west to complete an M. Ed. in Environmental Education and Non-profit Leadership through the North Cascades Institute's residency program. Brandi brings a background in place-based engagement, training development, and program management, primarily through their work with the National Park Service. Prior to joining the Earth to Sky team in November 2024, Brandi worked for the National Park Service for almost 14 years, as an educator and interpreter at parks such as Mount Rainier, Devils Postpile, Death Valley, and Grand Canyon. 

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.

After a successful 30-year teaching career, Patty retired from the classroom and joined the Great Lakes Stewardship Initiative. In this new role, she brings her passion for teaching and place-based education to life by supporting educators in their own journeys. Patty is developing meaningful programs that empower teachers to deepen student learning through connection to place, community, and environmental stewardship.

My motto is strategic thinking for practical results! I like to start with the big picture, thinking about all the amazing ways that people in the field of EE are striving to make the world a better and more inclusive place for all our wonderful diversity. Then I seek to collaborate with people who bring many ways of knowing and lived experiences to developing strategies and pathways that lead to practical actions and results.

I am a Policy Officer in sustainable agriculture for the RSPB in Northern Ireland, the UK's largest wildlife conservation charity! I spend my time working with farmers and policymakers, trying to ensure our agriculture sector is working for nature, people, and climate. I am also an organiser at the UK Youth Climate Coalition, where I co-ordinate the Systems Change Working Group. This fantastic youth-led organisation aims to empower young people to take positive action for climate justice, within this space, my focus is on national-level advocacy and the intersectionality of climate justice. I recently graduated with a Master’s in Sustainable Development from Queen’s University Belfast. I also enjoy rowing and sailing on Lough Neagh and playing the fiddle.

Desert Research Institue is Nevada’s non-profit research institute, founded in 1959 to empower experts to focus on science that matters. We work with communities across the state –and the world– to address their most pressing scientific questions, while building bridges between scientists and policymakers to enact positive change.

My name is Kingsley & I work full time at MIT in the cybersecurity field. However at a very young age I used to pretend that I collected samples from the river in Ellsworth Maine. I've always been intrigued by nature and how things achieved symbiosis. 

I'm a climate change environmental educator. As a freelancer I'm is focused on climate change, public lands, interdisciplinary watershed studies, geography, and teaching and learning through my gig, Wild Rose Education. I design and facilitate educator professional development workshops, public lands courses, Arctic STEM programs, and a multi-state regional climate change educator cohort. I have created and facilitated numerous environmental education programs including the award winning Youth Water Leadership Program, and Project Learning Tree Canada's Climate Change and Forests curriculum. 

My expertise includes best practices in watershed and climate change education, adult learning and facilitation, and interpretation. I'm a past board president for Colorado Alliance for Environmental Education, am a member of the NAAEE Guidelines Trainers' Bureau, an Environmental Issues Forums deliberation moderator, Certified Interpretive Guide, Certified Interpretive Trainer, Colorado Certified Master Environmental Educator, Land Ethic Leader, Leave No Trace Level 2 Instructor, Climate Reality Leader, and Wilderness First Responder. Sarah is currently based in western Colorado Colorado.

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!