Tuesday, September 19, 2006

PLI Program Awarded Grant to Link Environmental Education and Cultural Diversity

PLI’s Conservation Education and Interpretation Strategy has received a grant from Clark County to assist in strengthening the relationship between environmental educators and diverse audiences. The $3,500 grant will be used to provide a professional development diversity workshop for environmental educators in Las Vegas in January 2007.


The workshop is sponsored by the Environmental Education and Training Partnership (EETAP), a national leader in the delivery of environmental education training for education professionals. EETAP is funded by the Office of Environmental Education in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Part of the mission of EETAP is to ensure ethnically diverse and low-income communities actively take part in “education that advances student learning and environmental literacy.”


“We are honored to develop and present this workshop in Las Vegas,” said Allison Brody, program manager for the Conservation Education and Interpretation Strategy. “Research and our experiences indicate that environmental education can inject new energy into academics while increasing environmental literacy and stewardship. That is something that needs to be shared with as many audiences as possible.”


The workshop will explore multicultural issues and how they impact environmental education. It also will examine changes that educators should make to work more effectively with diverse audiences. The Las Vegas workshop will be offered to environmental educators involved with Partners for Education About the Environment, a consortium of educators and others working at public lands, nature centers, museums, aquaria, and other nature- and heritage-related places. For more information, contact Brody at 895-5097 or allison.brody@unlv.edu.

Wednesday, September 6, 2006

PLI Celebrates 2006 Harvest Fest at Red Rock Canyon

September 06, 2006


The Public Lands Institute (PLI) joined with dozens of local artists, educational programs, and agencies to celebrate the unofficial end of summer at the Harvest Fest on September 3, 2006. Hundreds of residents from the Las Vegas Valley and visitors from throughout the United States and Canada attended the annual event at the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area’s Visitor Center.


PLI promoted the Get Outdoors Nevada program at its booth by signing up volunteers for upcoming clean-up and trail restoration projects in Southern Nevada. In particular, visitors to the booth were informed of the events planned for National Public Lands Day September 23, 2006 at Red Rock Canyon and September 30 at Lake Mead National Recreation Area.







Each of the more than 60 individuals who signed up received a free water bottle lanyard, while each child visiting the booth received a free PLI eraser and a desert animals/plants coloring sheet designed by local artist Sharon K Schafer. It was also a chance to visit one-on-one with local school teachers about outdoor education opportunities provided by the institute and the federal land management agencies.


The Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area is managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Harvest Fest was organized by BLM, the Red Rock Canyon Interpretive Association, and Friends of Red Rock Canyon.