Nurturing natural curiosity through environmental education

World Environmental Education Day is this Friday, and it’s giving us an excuse to spotlight just a handful of the UArizona folks educating and inspiring kids and communities about the wonders of our natural world.

Embracing children’s boundless curiosity, the School Garden Workshop connects students in public schools with Tucson’s agricultural legacy by planting, maintaining, and engaging in school gardens. Meanwhile, the Bio/Diversity Project brings together Women in Science and Engineering, Saguaro National Park and the Friends of Saguaro National Park to help implement culturally-relevant and place-based K-12 environmental science and biodiversity curriculum.

Out in the community, AIR Annual Resilience Theme Grant winner Elise Gornish and her partners are teaching the public about the importance of soil health through public artwork, social media, zines, and presentations. Water Whys is working directly with broadcasters and print journalists to build easy-to-understand visual explanations of water-related scientific processes.

Finally, UArizona’s new ​​Western Environmental Science Technical Assistance Center for Environmental Justice (WEST EJ Center) gives organizations free hands-on help, training, resources, and support towards environmental or energy justice.