Environmental Education
Concentration in the Environmental Studies Major
If you’re passionate about the environment and enjoy connecting with people, this program is the perfect fit for you. It merges your love for the natural world with your desire to empower communities, equipping you to educate, advocate, and lead change. Learn to communicate and implement innovative environmental solutions with diverse audiences, from youth to adults. You’ll gain invaluable hands-on experience, connecting individuals to nature through impactful outdoor education.
Why Environmental Education at Warren Wilson?
- Building Connections: Cultivate meaningful connections by engaging community members in environmental education through direct programming in our stunning and biodiverse Southern Appalachian region. You’ll graduate with an extensive network of professionals in environmental and educational fields.
- Real-World Preparation: Our program places you in the heart of environmental education, with opportunities to lead initiatives in schools, nonprofits, and community groups.
- Our Unique Work Program: Transform your classroom knowledge into real-world practice, working on outdoor educational projects with diverse groups, including youth, families, and senior citizens.
- Campus Classroom: With our 1,100-acre campus as your outdoor laboratory, you’ll create place-based programming that connects community participants with the natural world.
Every student will complete community-engaged coursework, an internship, and original research as part of their major
A Sample of Our Partnerships
- WD Williams Elementary School
- Evergreen Community Charter School
- Community High School
- Asheville GreenWorks
- Forest Floor
- Riverlink
- WNC Nature Center
- Carolina Memorial Sanctuary
- Buncombe County Council on Aging
See how Environmental Education students put our education into action
Internship
Lena Garzarelli’s internship at Forest Floor allowed them to facilitate nature-based programming for youth in Western North Carolina, working on a team to create outdoor educational experiences that connected children with the environment.
Community Engaged Course
In our Environmental Education course, you will plan, facilitate, and evaluate hands-on outdoor programming with local schools and community groups. This will include designing field experiences to bring local youth and adults to campus, connecting people to places with environmental education programs.
Work
You can work on any crew as a student but many Environmental Education majors choose to be on crews such as:
- Garden
- Herb
- Farm
- Ecological Landscaping
- Cowpie Cafe
Study Abroad
How has climate science been perceived and used in understanding and responding to climate change? How have responses at different scales played out in the two countries? In this study abroad course, students compare the framings and responses to climate change in the United States and France, from grassroots movements to global policy. They also built connections with community organizers in Asheville and Paris, climate scientists in the US and France, and nongovernmental organizations at the front lines of climate migration.
Senior Capstone
Sophie Moeckel’s senior capstone, Fiddlehead Farm School, is the perfect synthesis of her passions for sustainable agriculture, traditional crafts, music, and environmental education. Rooted in her upbringing on a family farm and inspired by her time at Warren Wilson College, Sophie designed a two-week farm-based summer camp program for 9 to 14-year-olds. Guided by Waldorf-based philosophies, the program teaches skills like sustainable agriculture, local craft traditions, music, dance, and self-sufficiency.
Senior Capstone
Rosemary Thurber’s capstone program, Solidago Collective, is a catalyst for involving the rising generation of creative problem solvers in building the future they want to see. With emphasis on leadership, healing, and collaboration, she created a curriculum for teens to engage in fostering climate resilience, particularly in the agricultural sphere. Her inspiration for this program arose in the wake of severe flooding in her home state of Vermont in 2023.
Popular Courses
Environmental Stewardship in Community
Work with each other and with community partners to advance environmental protection, stewardship, and restoration efforts in the Swannanoa River Watershed. Class projects are designed with Warren Wilson’s commitment to equity, justice, and sustainability in mind.
Educational Psychology
This class teaches how development, cognition, and motivation can affect learning, and how to manage a classroom with those things in mind. You will put these theories into practice by observing and teaching at a local school that focuses on outdoor experiential education.
Community-based Environmental Education
Get teaching experience implementing education programs for local community organizations. You’ll also take training workshops with natural resource professionals. Counts toward North Carolina certification in Environmental Education.
Mallory McDuff, Ph.D.
Research Interests
- Involving faith communities in climate action
- Integrating local communities into environmental education
“The best part of the job is watching students graduate with a strong portfolio of experiences and find meaningful work connecting people to places.”
Annie Jonas, Ed.D.
Research Interests
- Civic Identity Development
- Experiential Education
Learning and the Brain
“Warren Wilson is exemplary at delivering experiential education. Our educational model provides a clear bridge between theory and practice offering our students an extraordinary education and skills for a lifetime.”
Amy L. Knisley, Ph.D.
Research Interests
- Community-based engagement with hazardous waste remediation
- Environmental justice, particularly issues impacting people of color in eastern NC
- The law of water rights, especially in the context of Rocky Mountain west
“Teaching and learning at Warren Wilson is not for the faint of heart! And some days I wake up tired. But the strong-hearted, active-minded students and educators, busy together in this beautiful valley and beyond, send me home energized every day.”
Liesl Peterson Erb, Ph.D.
Research Interests
- Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
- Conservation biology
- Wildlife ecology
“I am more guide than teacher; I love guiding intelligent, passionate students as they help change the world not just after they graduate, but as part of their educational experience.”
Eric Griffin, Ph.D
Research Interests
- Forest Ecology
- Plant-microbe interactions
- Community ecology
“Warren Wilson has some of the most accessible experiential learning opportunities of any college campus in the country. It is one of the primary reasons why I wanted to be here as a faculty member, particularly when the forest is a stone’s throw away from the classroom! ”
Liz Benavides, Ph.D.
Research Interests
- Animal Science/Animal Physiology
- Plant-based anthelmintics (de-wormers)
- Animal Endocrinology
“At Warren Wilson, I have most enjoyed learning from my students as much as I am teaching them. Their wealth of experiences has not only been valuable in my lessons, but I have learned so much from them as well!”
“Throughout my time as a student at Wilson, and even preceding that, I was always interested in intersectionality in the environmental field. I am so grateful to have a position where I can combine my passion for being a lifelong learner with creating pathways for underrepresented people in green spaces to dip their toe in. My position allows me to do connect and educate by doing everything from tabling events and drop in programming, to organizing white water rafting trips and horseback riding.”
Lakyla Hodges
(she/her)
Inclusive Environmental Educator, Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy
Major, Minor, Concentration, Crews
- Environmental Studies Major with a Concentration in Environmental Education
- Crew: Bonner Crew
“Something I loved about being a student at Warren Wilson was the endless opportunity to explore my interests through any number of avenues. In my current position I get to be creative, talk to people about topics I’m passionate about, and dive into lots of botanically-related topics, just because I’m curious (or somebody else is). The opportunities and values I had and developed throughout my time at Warren Wilson have definitely influenced what I look for in shaping my life and career.“
Hannah Gibbons
(they/them)
Marketing and Communications Manager, Sow True Seed
Major, Minor, Concentration, Crews
- Environmental Studies Major
- Concentration in Environmental Education
- Crews: Garden and Herb
“The Environmental Science courses I enrolled in at Warren Wilson, especially Environmental Education classes I took from Mallory McDuff, have truly prepared me for various positions and roles I’ve worked in throughout my environmental education career. From learning how to create legitimate lesson plans, in-person EE program activities with local elementary schools, and science courses, I can confidently say I was prepared for employment as an Environmental Educator.”
Joshua Perkins
(he/him)
Outreach Education Coordinator, The North Carolina Arboretum
Major, Minor, Concentration, Crews
- Environmental Science Major
- Concentration in Environmental Education
- Crews: Public Safety, R.A. (Resident Assistant), Athletics Crew
“The experiential education opportunities I had at Wilson gave me the skill sets I needed to find my dream job. My capstone project, writing the program plan for an environmental, play-based summer camp, gave me hands-on experiences that inform the work I do everyday. Not only did my Wilson experience give me practical skills, but it also shaped the way that I show up on a team and in communities.”
Hannah Herman
(she/they)
Camp Outdoor Program Manager, Eagle’s Nest Foundation
Major, Minor, Concentration, Crews
- Outdoor Leadership and Environmental Studies Double Major
- Concentration in Environmental Education
- Crews: Verner and Wellness
Where Our Environmental Education Graduates Go
- Land Conservancies
- Cooperative Extension
- Conservation Nonprofits
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services
- University of Florida
- Bard College
