While we all enjoy what we do at the Conservation Council, our team is united in agreement that our in-house ecologist, Dr. Nadine Ives, has the coolest job.
Dr. Ives spends most of her days outside, helping children connect with the natural world by teaching them all about the plants, animals, and habitats that are found on or near their school grounds. When she isn’t teaching students, she’s often showing teachers creative ways to teach their classes outside.
For more than a decade, the Conservation Council’s Learning Outside project, led by Dr. Ives, works to help teachers get their classes outside for curriculum-linked learning that incorporates all the benefits of being outside along with learning about New Brunswick species and habitats.
Learning outdoors supports physical, mental and social development, as well as being associated with improved academic outcomes and greater job satisfaction for teachers.
Furthermore, developing a strong sense of connection to place and appreciation of nature is the foundation of a lifelong sense of stewardship and an environmental ethic.
Time in nature helps counter stress, anxiety and depression. Outdoor learning really is all the ‘wins’ – wins for our children and youth, wins for our teachers, wins for the environment!
Over the years we’ve developed all kinds of activities and materials covering topics including seasonal happenings in nature, food webs, adaptations to winter, pollinators, seeds and seed dispersal, life cycles, weather, New Brunswick habitats and species, and more – all while incorporating science, literacy, French language, math, and art.
As we all continue to emerge from two difficult years due to the pandemic, we are super excited to let teachers know about our successful program on Atlantic salmon and our growing number of activities incorporating learning about nature as foundational to understanding the current and future impacts of climate change, as well as our whole bank of activities and educational materials.
For more information on what Learning Outside has to offer, contact nadine@conservationcouncil.ca.