Leon Walls

Leon is Assistant Professor of Elementary Science Education at the University of Vermont.  Along with teaching future elementary teachers “how” to teach science to young children, Leon's overall goal is to also transform science education. This includes making sustainability education a standard component of his students’ science education.

Jim McCracken

Jim is a place-based educational consultant who works in several Vermont elementary schools. He also serves as a content specialist for the Upper Valley Linkages for Environmental Literacy professional development grant program.  Jim has a strong interest in school gardens, watersheds and sustainability education.

Jen Cirillo

Jen coordinates Shelburne Farms' professional development programs and directs the Sustainable Schools Project.  She works with schools to use the lens of sustainability and place-based education to create opportunities for youth to build a sense of self-efficacy.  Jen collaborates with educators, nonprofits, governmental agencies, funders, and international partners to create more sustainable communities both locally and abroad.

As a consultant for community-based education and conservation projects, Corrie engages communities in the celebration and protection of the place and resources they value. She hopes to build awareness and empower communities towards positive action. In her current work with the Staying Connected Initiative, Corrie works in Vermont's Northern Green Mountains to engage the communities in a protection of the region's wildlife habitat connectivity.

As Director of Four Winds Nature Institute, Lisa works with a wonderful staff of naturalist-educators, scores of classroom teachers, and more than 1,700 community volunteers to bring children out of the classroom to learn, explore, observe and wonder. She is passionate about community-based education that connects people with people and with place, and she loves her work -- watching individuals look at the world around them with new eyes.  Lisa is currently chair of Vermont SWEEP and the New England EE Alliance.

Deborah Benjamin

Debbie's relationship with Environmental Education as a student and as an educator has evolved over many years from grade school experiences with a visionary teacher in outdoor settings in Massachusetts to the present in Vermont. As Staff Naturalist for the Hazen's Notch Association in Montgomery for the past 18 years, she has had wonderful moments teaching young people and adults about the rich and varied northern Green Mountains. Debbie's involvement with the Vermont Botanical and Bird Club since 1986 (and as President since 2005) has taken her to all corners of Vermont where professional and amateur botanists, birders and ecologists meet at an annual conference to share their knowledge in the field.