Idaho Environmental Education Conference at ISU March 6-7

On March 6-7 the Idaho Environmental Education Association (IdEEA) will present its annual conference at the Rendezvous Complex at Idaho State University.  

Gathering under the theme “Environmental Service: Bring learning to life,” the conference will focus on how educators can make service activities more educative, while also exploring a range of other environmental education issues, opportunities and accomplishments. The conference will feature displays by educational resource providers, presentations of exemplary environmental education programs, a showcase of K-12 student work and educational field trips in the area.

The professional development focus titled “What You Don’t Know about Service Learning” is sponsored by the Idaho National Laboratory. This session will be presented by Jerry T. Pharr, Jr. of Austin, Texas.  Pharr has spent nearly 15 years as an inspiring trainer, astute commentator and persuasive lobbyist for the advancement of youth civic engagement. He recently served as vice president of Earth Force, one of the nation’s leading environmental service-learning organizations. This session will explore how service-learning, when implemented properly, is the perfect tool to achieve many of the environmental, social and civic outcomes that are so fundamental to environmental education.

Additional sessions will be presented by teachers who are implementing environmental service-learning in their classrooms and representatives from the Idaho Children and Nature Network, ISU’s G-K 12 Project, Solar 4R Schools, BSU’s Service Learning Program and more. A poster session will highlight additional Environmental Education projects and resources.

On Friday, March 6, at 7 p.m., wildlife photographers and storytellers, Diana and Buck Wilde, will present a multimedia event titled “A Walk on the Wild Side” in the Planetarium at the Rendezvous Complex. This event is open to the public, with a suggested donation of $5. Discover what the Wildes learned by negotiating face-to-face encounters with grizzly bears while living on the Alaskan Peninsula, and see grizzly bear behavior illuminated with their intimate photography.

Saturday afternoon will feature field trips with options for visiting the Pocatello Community Charter School, restoring habitat on the Portneuf River with Horizon Alternative School, helping Idaho Fish and Game with habitat improvements and tracking pygmy rabbits at the Idaho National Laboratory. Trips include a sack lunch and require a $25 fee.

Conference sponsors include Idaho State University, Teton Science Schools, The Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, Idaho Power, Idaho Water Resource Research Institute, Monsanto Company and the Greater Pocatello Convention and Visitors’ Bureau.

Scholarships and continuing education credit are available. Pre-registration fee is $85 for IdEEA members, $110 for non-members, and $35 for full-time students, through Feb. 20. After Feb. 20, registration fees will be $100 for IdEEA members, $125 for non-members and $30 for full-time students. Register online at www.idahoee.org.

For more information, contact the Idaho Environmental Education Association at (208) 232-5674 or e-mail amy@idahoee.org.