2023 Exhibitors
Connect with community partners and discover helpful resources!
Aldo Leopold Nature Center
Through outdoor, interactive programs, ALNC is leading the way to engage, educate, and empower children and their families for a healthy, happy, and sustainable future.
Located in Monona, we work to engage, educate, and empower students through programming and services designed primarily for school-age children, ages 2-14. We reach these students, and others, through their teachers and families, our community partners, donors, and volunteers, through School Field Trips, Summer Camps, Wonder Bugs, Homeschool Programs, After-School Programs, Vacation Day Programs, Scout Programs, Public Programs, Adult & Teacher Programs and Aldo Leopold Nature Preschool. We know that when we are inclusive in how we engage and educate, we help students to know that nature is for everyone and is a safe place to learn and explore.
Contact: Cara Erickson, Marketing & Communications Manager
Nonprofit designing outdoor solar and agrivoltaic spaces and providing grants to schools.
We have one mission: to help Wisconsin nonprofits get solar for their organizations. We do this primarily through two programs. Solar for Good and Solar on Schools promote solar by supplying solar panels directly to projects, reducing their installation costs. CSF is also expanding the impact of our work by developing an outreach program using the principles established by the Array It Forward movement in Wisconsin.
Contact: Elise Couillard, Treasurer
Dineo’s journey is a testament to Diversity awarded, Equity, and Inclusion, both through her beginning into nature and her work in removing barriers to getting outside. Dineo was recently nominated as Wisconsin’s 48 most influential black leaders in 2021. As a South African native, Dineo spent time outdoors and loved nature. Dineo writes diverse children’s books that encourage kids from all cultures and backgrounds to enjoy the outdoors. She writes these books in her voice based on her own lived experiences, but in a voice that children understand. Being an author of diverse children’s outdoor books gives her a unique way of looking at the outdoors through a child’s eyes, but with the life experience and knowledge to help break down barriers that kids may see in getting outside.
Dineo will have her books available for purchase.
Green & Healthy Schools Wisconsin
Green & Healthy Schools connects, cultivates, and celebrates schools working toward three goals aligned with U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools.
Green & Healthy Schools Wisconsin is a movement of schools, community partners, and state agencies working together to catalyze a culture of sustainability and wellness in all Wisconsin schools. Led by the Wisconsin Departments of Public Instruction and Natural Resources, partners work together to realize their shared goals.
Contact: Beca Borkowski, Green & Healthy Schools Wisconsin Program Coordinator
Ice Age Trail Alliance
The Ice Age Trail Alliance strives to connect youth with the Ice Age Trail because we believe strongly in sharing nature with tomorrow’s leaders through hands-on experiences.
The Ice Age National Scenic Trail is an educational trail by nature. Its multitude of biomes, created by the receding glaciers, are natural classrooms all throughout Wisconsin. The Ice Age Trail sparks wonder and awe as it takes students past world-renowned glacial features and provides a lifetime of learning.
Contact: Amy Lord, Outreach and Education Manager
International Crane Foundation
The International Crane Foundation works worldwide to conserve cranes and the ecosystems, watersheds and flyways on which they depend.
Over nearly 50 years, the International Crane Foundation has developed unique collaborations and led effective community-based conservation programs, important research projects and innovative captive breeding and reintroduction efforts. These endeavors have inspired international cooperation, helped improve livelihoods for people around the world and lead to the protection of millions of acres of wetlands and grasslands on the five continents where cranes live.
Today, the International Crane Foundation’s impact reaches across the globe. We have offices and staff in China, Uganda, Kenya, Zambia and South Africa, as well as Texas, and work through strong partnerships with local organizations, governments, universities, businesses and others in these regions. Our more than 125 staff and associates work with a network of hundreds of specialists in over 50 countries on five continents.
Our nearly 300-acre global headquarters in Baraboo, Wisc. hosts a captive flock of approximately 100 cranes, including the only complete collection of all 15 species in the world. Our site, which features live crane exhibits, guided and self-guided tours, a research library, a welcome center and four miles of nature trails, is visited by more than 25,000 people annually.
Contact: Stephanie Schmidt, Whooping Crane Outreach Coordinator
KEEP - WI K-12 Energy Education Program
KEEP works with educators to increase and improve energy education in Wisconsin schools.
KEEP - Wisconsin's K-12 Energy Education Program - was created to promote energy education in Wisconsin schools with a vision of communities making informed energy decisions now and for a sustainable future. With support from investor-owned utilities, including Madison Gas & Electric, KEEP leverages teacher education to improve and increase energy literacy in Wisconsin's K-12 schools as a means of contributing to statewide energy savings. KEEP provides professional development, place-based lessons & activities, kits & resources, and capacity building partnerships. Visit KEEPprogram.org to learn more.
Contact: Heather Phelps, Energy Educator
LEAF K-12 Forestry Education
LEAF connects educators with training and resources for forestry education and outdoor learning.
LEAF envisions inspired and informed citizens actively engaged in sustaining healthy forests and communities. We are a partnership program between the WI Center for Environmental Education at UW-Stevens Point and the WI DNR - Division of Forestry. We are dedicated to providing teachers with training and resources for forestry education, including outdoor learning and outdoor classrooms, K-12 curriculum, loanable resource kits, and the School Forest program.
Contact: Jonathan Ismail, Outreach Specialist
Madison Audubon
Come explore FREE Lesson Lending Kits offered by Madison Audubon.
Madison Audubon* provides free nature-based education to kids in Madison. We partner mostly with schools or community centers serving a majority of kids of color or kids from low-income families. Our Lesson Lending kits are free for any and all educators to borrow and SO much fun! You can borrow: Binoculars and Bird Guides for Kids, Mammal Scat, Bird and Mammal Track ID, Bird Beak Buffet, Hunger Cranes (Game), Habitat Scramble (Game), Mammal Skulls, Mammal Furs, and Migration Obstacle Course. (*new organizational name coming soon)
Contact: Carolyn Byers, Education Director
Madison Schools and Community Recreation (MSCR)
Providing Environmental Education field trips to MMSD students and community groups.
MSCR enhances the quality of life for individuals in the Madison Metropolitan School District and for the community by providing recreation and enrichment opportunities year-round that are accessible to all.
In 1926 MSCR began by a group of forward-thinking individuals who represented a vibrant, growing community of active people. Fortunately Madison, and MSCR in particular, still retains that sense of community. A place where you belong and where you can come to learn, practice and play with your fellow citizens.
MSCR is still a group of forward thinking individuals, who represent a community concerned about health, fitness and the overall well-being of its citizens. Madison has changed a lot, but some things remain the same.
Contact: Hannah Dresang, Environmental Education Coordinator
Mystery to Me
Mystery to Me is a locally owned bookstore who will be selling books that teachers may use for outdoor education.
Contact: Hilary
PBS Wisconsin
PBS Wisconsin Education offers curiosity-powered, standards-aligned classroom media resources and professional development events for educators.
PBS Wisconsin Education understands that learning happens everywhere and the world is our classroom by offering free media and professional development opportunities for all educators. These multimedia collections are created with and for educators and learners. PBS resources are standards aligned and Wisconsin focused; including video games, interactive content, educator guides and family engagement ideas. PBS amplifies educator expertise, along with best practices in education by nurturing learning in Wisconsin's classrooms, virtual environments and neighborhoods.
Contact: Jami Hoekstra Collins, Education Engagement Specialist
Rooted
Serving Lake View Elementary and Elvehjem Elementary with garden care and garden and nutrition education.
We will have information to share about farm field trips to Rooted farms, including the Goodman Youth Farm and the Troy Kids Garden.
Contact: Catherine Masters, AmeriCorps Farm to School Specialist
Upham Woods
Upham Woods Outdoor Learning Center provides educational opportunities to youth, youth leaders, and adults through programs focused on environmental and leadership education.
Operating since 1941, Upham Woods is a model residential outdoor learning center, managed by the University of Wisconsin – Madison Division of Extension. The center sits on a prime location on the Wisconsin River, two miles north of the Wisconsin Dells, offering an excellent “river classroom” to study both the natural and cultural history of Wisconsin. The center rests on 318 total acres of forested land, including a 210-acre island called “Blackhawk Island.” The facility consists of 14 buildings including a fully equipped nature center and a raptor enclosure housing educational birds of prey. The center supplies lodging for 200 people, meals, and outdoor education year-round for youth and youth leaders, including environmental lesson plans, summer camp programming, leadership workshops and other conferences.
Contact: Rachael Lewandowski Sarette, Accessibility Coordinator
Wisconsin Association for Environmental Education
The Wisconsin Association for Environmental Education (WAEE)\ nurtures individuals and organizations working towards sustainable, resilient communities.
The Wisconsin Association for Environmental Education is a member-based, professional community of individuals and organizations with diverse backgrounds that promotes responsible environmental action, elevates voices for environmental justice, and celebrates excellence in environmental education. Three pillars frame our work: Advocacy, Networking, and Recognition.
Contact: Beca Borkowski, Green & Healthy Schools Wisconsin Program Coordinator
What Got Gathered
What Got Gathered makes delicious, nourishing wild-gathered and wild-fermented foods, available at farmers’ markets and for home delivery in the greater Madison area! Hot sauces, kimchi and other vegetable ferments, wildflower & fruit jellies, jams and vinegars, elderberry syrup and more–we’re excited to share what we’ve made with you. Please be in touch if you’d like to find out what’s available now!
We also offer guided Wild Food Wanders throughout the season. Check the calendar for upcoming dates (private walks are also a possibility). Come learn about the amazing food growing all around us!
Contact: Andy Gricevich