2023 Session Descriptions

Madison Audubon* is continuously working towards providing inclusive nature education in Madison. The mainstream environmental movement has historically been led by and for white folks. Learn how our educators are beginning to shift that by centering diverse communities in the lessons we teach and in the community we build with the students. This session will also highlight lessons focused on diversity, equity, inclusion, and access that are available for free on our website like Bird Names for Birds, LGBTQIAP+ in Nature, and our Black Birder’s Week collection. (*new organizational name coming soon)

Presenter: Carolyn Byers, Madison Audubon

Carolyn Byers has been educating with Madison Audubon since 2014 and is currently the Education Director. She has a M.S. in Wildlife Ecology and loves to get kids excited about nature. Any lessons that combine science, art, nature, and kids is extra wonderful! Her current favorite bird is the Black-billed Cuckoo, followed by any and all sparrows. 

We will explore a variety of activities to do indoors or outdoors with children to augment their understanding of the natural world and create environmental stewardship and empathy for all living things. 

Presenter: Cheryl DeWelt, Environmental Education & Garden Manager, Madison Children's Museum

Cheryl DeWelt is the Environmental Education and Garden manager at Madison Children’s Museum. Cheryl works in both the education and exhibits departments at the museum.  She writes curriculum and develops educational programming that meets core standards in environmental education, gardening, climate education, animal science, STEM, sustainability, literacy, and art. She helps to design and fabricate museum exhibits, cares for the live animal collections, and oversees planting and maintenance of all of the museum's gardens and green spaces.  Cheryl has presented at local, state, and national conferences for the last 30 years about the importance of nature education and getting children outside. Cheryl is also an artist who works with metal, wood, fibers, and COB (straw, clay and sand). 

Deep learning happens when we can turn off our thoughts and engage completely in observation. This kind of focus is hard to attain - this is why meditation can be so difficult. Art is a perfect tool to cultivate focus, allowing us to quiet racing thoughts and judgement, calm anxiety, and ultimately motivate us to get outside our comfort zone. Using art to connect learners to nature has resulted in deep connection with the subject matter and bonding within groups that I have not experienced with other teaching methods. Whether we are learning science through illustration with nature journaling, weaving with cattails or creating ephemeral nature mandalas, groups exhibit curiosity, engagement, retention of information and gratitude that always astounds me. During this session I'll share some of those methods and experiences as well as invite others to contribute ideas - by the end we will have a nature art toolkit that sparks creativity and inspiration in students and teachers alike.

Presenter: Sonya Sankaran, Ecologist, Educator, Artist

Sonya Sankaran is an artist, ecologist, and educator connecting people to their environment. She is focused on the strong relationship between nature and health, seeking inclusive strategies and designs that reflect the communities they serve.

Her teaching methods highlight the power of observation, based on a belief that engaging our sensory systems to integrate information underpins successful conventional school and wellness practices. She uses art as a vehicle to teach science and conservation and to connect with nature.

Madison Audubon* is continuously working towards providing inclusive nature education in Madison. The mainstream environmental movement has historically been led by and for white folks. Learn how our educators are beginning to shift that by centering diverse communities in the lessons we teach and in the community we build with the students. This session will also highlight lessons focused on diversity, equity, inclusion, and access that are available for free on our website like Bird Names for Birds, LGBTQIAP+ in Nature, and our Black Birder’s Week collection. (*new organizational name coming soon)

Presenter: Carolyn Byers, Madison Audubon

Carolyn Byers has been educating with Madison Audubon since 2014 and is currently the Education Director. She has a M.S. in Wildlife Ecology and loves to get kids excited about nature. Any lessons that combine science, art, nature, and kids is extra wonderful! Her current favorite bird is the Black-billed Cuckoo, followed by any and all sparrows. 

Is it Friday? Nope- it's Fresh Air and Phenology Friday! In this session, you'll take away a variety of activities from biking to journaling to engage middle schoolers outside in learning about nature and phenology regardless of what subject you teach or the weather! 

Presenter: Dawn Liska-Tollefson, MMSD Middle School Educator

Dawn Liska-Tollefson loves being curious and exploring outdoors with her children and students.  She finds their sense of wonder and awe rewarding to witness. She has been a middle school educator for 20+ years in MMSD and Wingra School. Currently a cross categorical teacher at Badger Rock Charter Middle School and Spring Harbor Middle School, she has also worked with middle school youth through MSCR and Goodman Community Center, led Family Science Night activities at Wingra Boats, and coordinated school based Family Science Nights.  She knows that despite some groans and complaints, adolescents value the time they have for outdoor learning.  

Presenter: Andy Gricevich, What Got Gathered

What Got Gathered’s most involved human is Andy Gricevich, local forager, nature connection mentor, musician and poet (among other things). WGG would be impossible without the ongoing collaboration between Andy and his partner Nora, and without the involvement of many family members, friends and countless fellow travelers on the paths of wild, local, and regenerative food, food systems and the cultivation of a world oriented toward real human desires and needs.

Join us for this educational and engaging session on how you can help make your local birding community more welcoming for all birders. Dexter Patterson will share tips and tricks that will allow you to start having more success and fun when you go birding and offer advice on making your birding events more inclusive and welcoming. Dexter firmly believes we need more equity and inclusion in the birding community across the board. That was their inspiration and spark to start the BIPOC Birding Club of Wisconsin. Their birding club is a community of People of Color and Allies working to combat access and inequality in the birding community in the State of Wisconsin. They hope to collaborate and encourage other birding organizations across the country to do the same. Birding is for everyone, even you!

Presenter: Dexter Patterson, Faculty Associate University of Wisconsin, Co-founder BIPOC Birding Club of Wisconsin

Dexter teaches Documentary Photography for the Sciences, Intro to Digital Video Production, and Information Radio. When he’s not working his day job, Dexter wanders the woods trying to spread some Bird Joy with the world in a slightly scientific way.

Taking students outside in a less restrained and structured space can sometimes feel like a big and risky jump for some teachers. A strong classroom community can be your best tool to get outside and make the most of your time while you're out there. In this workshop, learn some basic introduction community building activities, hands on science activity examples for all ages, and ways to reflect afterwards to enjoy your time outdoors and learn a bunch too!

Presenter: Brian Counselman, Science Teacher & Project Based Learning Coordinator, Malcolm Shabazz City High School

My name is Brian Counselman and I have been teaching in various different alternative high school settings since 2007. I currently work at Shabazz High School in Madison, WI as a science teacher and project based learning coordinator. I have always loved getting outside and am a firm believer that spending time outside is not just something nice, but something we truly need as humans to be happy and healthy. As a result I have spent my personal and professional life exploring different ways to engage students outdoors including hiking, gardening, reading, camping, cooking, snowshoeing, community building, paddling, observing, building, climbing, drawing, fishing, writing, and simply just being. I've found that getting outside of the four walls of the classroom in any capacity brings a different level of authenticity and engagement that you simply can't get sitting in a desk. One of my favorite quotes is by John Dewey stating, ""Education is the process of living, not preparation for future living."" I'm always in search of that next opportunity to allow students to 'do the doing' instead of simply saying you may use this some day if...

Trust the process and get outside.

"The Wheels of Time and Place" provides a simple but powerful approach for connecting students of all ages with nature and its cycles. In this session, we will introduce this tool and explore a variety of ways to use it, especially for phenology (the study of periodic events in nature and how these are influenced by seasonal changes and habitat). You can expect to come away with concrete ideas of your own on how students can refine their sense of place, at different scales of space and time, and in ways that creatively combine science, art, and imagination.

Presenter: Jim Lorman, Professor Emeritus, Edgewood College

Jim Lorman, PhD, taught ecology and integrative studies for over 30 years at Edgewood College, where he also led several K-16 science education initiatives. He has broad expertise in regenerative ecological and social systems, especially related to watersheds, community resilience, and participatory process. He is a co-founder of Friends of Lake Wingra and has served on many community groups and government-sponsored committees. Jim led the development of Edgewood's Sustainability Leadership Graduate Program and served as Program Director for five years prior to his retirement. Jim contributed in a minor way to the development of the "Wheels of Time and Place," along with the main author - his wife, Anne Forbes.