Laura Downey, Executive Director of Kansas Association for Conservation and Environmental Education (KACEE), talks about the amazing beauty of Kansas, the site of the 2008 NAAEE Conference. Kansas isn’t just the fabled Land of Oz…according to Downey, it’s also the "Land of Ahhhs!"

Western history is deeply intertwined with Wichita's early days and makes an intriguing context for the 2008 NAAEE Annual Conference. In fact, the Chisholm Trail ran through the exact location where the conference will be held! In the early years, tens of thousands of Texas longhorns bound for the railhead at Abilene forded the Arkansas River just south of the Douglas Avenue bridge and ambled down the new cattle town's main street before continuing on north.

Image: The Chisholm Trail marker is located on the west bank of the Arkansas River, right across from the location of the conference.

For more about the NAAEE Annual Conference, visit:

Presentation proposals will be accepted until March 31; students may submit poster proposals until May 31.

The 2008 NAAEE Research Symposium will take place on October 14-15, 2008, before the NAAEE conference begins, and will provide a forum to engage in discussion around the theme "EE Research: To What End?" Several new presentation formats have been added to facilitate discussion of research ideas. Four hours of professional development workshops will be included for graduate students, in addition to the annual graduate student breakfast.

Deadline: Quarterly
The National Geographic All Roads Seed Grant Program funds film projects by and about indigenous and underrepresented minority-culture filmmakers. The program seeks filmmakers who bring their lives and communities to light through first-person storytelling. Grants range up to a maximum of $10,000 each.

Nomination Deadline: March 1, 2008
Nominate an outstanding elementary school teacher (grades K-6) for the 2008 Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science (PAEMST). The National Science Foundation (NSF) administers the awards program on behalf of the White House and awards $10,000 to winners.

Deadline: March 14, 2008
The Rachel Carson Scholar program recognizes and honors high school juniors and seniors with a strong academic background, who are taking active roles in environmental stewardship in their community. The program is open to high school juniors and seniors throughout the state of Maryland as well as in Loudoun County, Virginia. Applications are evaluated on applicant involvement in environmental community-based activities, quality of a written essay, academic standing, and letters of recommendation.

February 29 – March 2, 2008 ~ Blanding, Utah
This is the premier place-based conference focusing on the Colorado Plateau and is geared to all educators working with grades K-8. This year’s theme is "Celebrating the Colorado Plateau: Tracing Our Connections." A variety of workshops (over 25 to choose from) will be presented giving teachers a wide variety of ideas for lessons they can incorporate into their classroom immediately following the conference.

This 32-credit master’s degree program brings educators from schools, museums, nature centers, and alternative teaching settings together in learning communities to develop and deepen their capacity to integrate ecological concepts into the curriculum. The program includes two field-study summers and three distance learning school-year semesters. For more information visit the Web site or contact info@lesley.edu

Deadline: May 1, 2008
Facing the Change seeks stories, essays, and poetry expressing grassroots, personal responses to global warming. Instead of the usual scientific talk, this planned anthology will explore what everyday people from all walks of life and all ages are feeling, thinking, and doing in response to the crisis. Educators are encouraged both to submit their own work and to invite their students to do so, as well.

The Canadian Journal of Environmental Education is a refereed journal seeking to further the study and practice of environmental education. Information on the Call for Book Reviews, Volume 13, including the updated book list and reviewer requirements are listed on the Web site.

February 15-18, 2008
The Great Backyard Bird Count is an annual four-day event that engages bird watchers of all ages in counting birds to create a real-time snapshot of where the birds are across the continent. Anyone can participate, from beginning bird watchers to experts. It takes as little as 15 minutes. It’s free, fun, and easy—and it helps the birds.

The ECOresearch Network is an online community dedicated to new media applications that advocate sustainability and the protection of natural ecosystems. New US Election 2008 Web Monitor provides candidates' statistics, a running poll, interactive charts, and a Media Watch portal.

The EcoTipping Points Web site features approximately 100 environmental success stories collected from around the world by a team of scientists and journalists. The stories display a diversity of detail but have something important in common: a ‘lever’ referred to as an ‘EcoTipping Point’ — that is, a community-based process switching environmental decline to a course of restoration and sustainability. Building upon insights from the science of human ecology, the EcoTipping Points Web site offers lessons from the stories, while explaining how EcoTipping Points work and what it takes to create them.

The EcoTipping Points Project is seeking teachers interested in incorporating this powerful approach for dealing with environmental problems into their school activities. EcoTipping Points Project staff will work with teachers to help them do it. Interested teachers should contact Gerry Marten at gerry@ecotippingpoints.org.

Currently used by instructors from over 100 institutions, Environmental Science Interactive is a set of 14 online laboratories used to complement a traditional lecture course, turning it into a lecture plus lab course. Teachers have unlimited free access to all the labs and "classified" teaching materials, including answers to exercises which students are not allowed to see.

This article by Samantha Cleaver in Scholastic magazine features the Green Woods Charter School in Philadelphia and quotes Brian Day, NAAEE’s Executive Director, along with numerous other proponents of the "No Child Left Inside" initiative.

NAAEE member, William C. Gladish, shares another breathtaking trip -- this time to Chugach National Forest, Denali National Park, Kenai Fjords National Park, Prince William Sound, Tongrass National Forest, and more. Enjoy the show!

Download the free Green Careers Resource Guide - designed to assist career development professionals, but also of use to self-directed students, career explorers, job seekers, and career changers. This downloadable 40+ page document was originally developed by Jim Cassio for attendees of the 2007 International Career Development Conference, and in response to positive feedback, Cassio has made it publicly available.

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This email bulletin is provided by NAAEE , with funding from the Environmental Education and Training Partnership (EETAP). Read the latest EETAP Bulletin >> . EETAP is funded by U.S. EPA's Office of Environmental Education. The NAAEE promotes excellence in EE and serves environmental educators for the purpose of achieving environmental literacy in order for present and future generations to benefit from a safe and healthy environment and a better quality of life. Read the latest EETAP Bulletin >>

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