About Us

Who Authored This Toolkit?

In the fall of 2018, supported by funding from the S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation, NatureBridge convened a working group of 11 RELC organizations, known as the Residential Environmental Education Partnership on SEL (REEP). With facilitation by Learning for Action, the REEP group spent a year working through the question of how to most effectively incorporate SEL frameworks, research, and preferred practices into residential EE programming.

REEP Organizations

BEETLES (a project of Lawrence Hall of Science at UC Berkeley) – Emilie Lygren and Craig Strang

Canyonlands Field Institute – Karla VanderZanden and Kori Donley (now with Westminster Woods)

Conservancy for Cuyahoga Valley National Park – Amanda Schuster and Katie Wright

The Ecology School – Alexandra Grindle and Drew Dumsch

Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont – John DiDiego and Logan Rosenberg

Multnomah Education Service District Outdoor School – Andrea Hussey and Jennifer Basham

NatureBridge – Stephen Streufert, Kathleen O’Connor, and Estrella Risinger (now with AEOE)

NorthBay Education, Inc. – Dave Dahl and Kathy Chambliss (with support from Keith Williams and Richard Garber)

Sierra Nevada Journeys – Jen Kopnicky and Sean Hill (with support from Jennifer Robinson)

Teton Science Schools – Colby Mitchell and Kevin Krasnow

Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center – Shannon Walz and Danielle Hefferan

YMCA Camp Orkila – Christy Shiers and Haley Cruz Winchell (with support from Maureen Bowler)

A number of other valuable individuals and organizations consulted on this project. They include:

Learning for Action: Facilitators Steven LaFrance, Jessica Xiomara García, Monica Griffith
S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation: Senior Program Officer Alex Hooker and Associate Program Officer Alexis Llamas
Stanford University, Graduate School of Education and Woods Institute for the Environment Project leads: Dr. Nicole Ardoin, Dr. Mele Wheaton, and Emily Williams worked alongside the REEP group, conducting a year-long research study to better understand SEL in residential EE titled “Social-Emotional Learning & Residential Environmental Education: Analyzing the Connections and Measuring the Benefits”
Center for Diversity and the Environment: Gladys Ruíz, consultant
Moab Valley Multicultural Center

REEP Charter

When the REEP group first convened, we were guided through a process to establish a shared charter and a process for collective decision-making. You can access our group charter here. Establishing group guidelines or agreements is an important element of collaborative work, with the intention of clearly setting expectations and giving all team members an opportunity to contribute. To learn more about group agreements or to try establishing them with your team (of adults or students!), check out this resource from National Equity Project.