2023 Conference

Registration includes full access to conference sessions, activities and meals for day(s) registered. Lodging is located on-campus at Eagle Bluff ELC and includes dorm-suite style rooms with bunkbeds, anticipated 4 per room. We will try to honor any roommate requests noted on the registration form.

Tent camping option includes a walk-in camping area with no electricity or water located in a grassy area in close proximity to campus. Will have access to a shared dorm room with bathroom facilities and a shower. There will also be an alternative option available on state forest land next to the Root River. This site has a pit toilet and is a 15-minute hike or 4-minute drive (with limited parking) from campus. Tents only.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 27:

2:00pm: Registration opens

2:30pm - 5:00pm: Birdwatching and Networking at Root River Trail

4:00pm - 5:00pm: Optional Tour of A Sustainable All-Electric, Solar Home

5:30pm - 6:30pm: Dinner

6:30pm - 7:00pm: Welcome & Announcements with MAEE ED and Eagle Bluff ED

7:00pm - 9:00pm: Choose-Your-Own-Adventure Stations
(with options including Starlab, rock climbing, night hike, owl pellets, air rifles, nature art activity, mouse taxidermy…)

8:00pm - 9:00pm: HappEE Hour

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 28:

7:30am: Registration opens

7:45am - 8:45am: Breakfast

9:00am - 10:30am: SESSION 1 (90-minute workshop)

• Session 1A: Connecting Students to Place: Gidibendaagozim in akiing/Gidinawedaamin aki
• Session 1B: Voyageurs National Park Mobile Classroom - Place-Based Across Space
• Session 1C: Early Childhood Environmental Education in Minnesota
• Session 1D: Strategies to Obtain and Maintain Grants and Partnerships
• Session 1E: Tree Tops High Ropes Course

10:30am - 11:00pm: BREAK

11:00am - 11:45pm: SESSION 2 (45-minute breakout)

• Session 2A: Connect-the-Drops: Engaging Youth & Faith Communities in Environmental Action
• Session 2B: Step into the Future: MN GreenStep Schools New EE Best Practices and Resources
• Session 2C: Eagle Bluff’s Nature Preschool: A Head Start Partnership
• Session 2D: EE Administrators Forum
• Session 2E: Shelter Building for Educators

12:00pm - 1:00pm: Lunch

1:15pm - 2:45pm: Networking Hikes by EE Subfield

3:00 - 4:30pm: SESSION 3 (90-minute workshop)

• Session 3A: Environmental Justice & Nature Immersion: Joining Higher Ed, K-12, YMCA and Three Rivers
• Session 3B: Culture and the Ecological Crisis: Soul Work in Settler Colonialism
• Session 3C:  Bringing Environmental STEM into an Elementary School
• Session 3D: Liberating Structures - Facilitation for Change
• Session 3E: Geology of the Driftless Area

4:45 - 5:30pm: EE + Science Resource Share-a-Thon

5:30pm - 6:30pm: Dinner

6:30pm - 7:30pm: Keynote Speaker: Lynnea Atlas-Ingebretson

7:30pm - 8:30pm: HappEE Hour, Silent Auction, and Trivia with Prizes

8:30pm - 10:00pm: Storytelling, Swag Swap, and S’mores by the Campfire
OR Workshop: Investigating Dark Skies as an Environmental Issue

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 29:

7:45am - 8:45am: Breakfast

9:00am - 9:45am: SESSION 4 (45-minute breakout)

• Session 4A: Engaging Students in Stewardship & Community Science Activities in your Local Watershed
• Session 4B: Climate Education Story Data from MAEE at the Minnesota State Fair
• Session 4C: The Journey of Creating a Nature Play Space
• Session 4D: NGSS and What It Means for Environmental Science
• Session 4E: Fall Bird Watching

10:00am - 10:45am: SESSION 5 (45-minute breakout)

• Session 5A: NAAEE Guidelines for Excellence: Community Engagement
• Session 5B: NAAEE Guidelines for Excellence: EE Programs
• Session 5C: NAAEE Guidelines for Excellence: K-12 EE
• Session 5D: NAAEE Guidelines for Excellence: Early Childhood EE

11:00am - 11:45pm: Keynote Closing with Lynnea Atlas-Ingebretson

12:00pm - 1:00pm: Lunch