ee360 Partner
ee360+
ee360+ is North American Association for Environmental Education’s (NAAEE) innovative initiative to build a stronger, more inclusive EE field through educational excellence, organizational capacity building and collective impact. Through a cooperative agreement with US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), NAAEE and key partner organizations, including Antioch University New England, is leading an ambitious five-year initiative to support a diverse cadre of environmental education leaders to be better prepared to increase environmental literacy and well-being for everyone, everywhere. The team at Antioch University New England (AUNE) leverages its strengths in leadership development, group dynamics, facilitation, community-based education, collaborative inquiry, cultural responsiveness, teaching and learning, curriculum design, and evaluation to contribute to community engagement-focused aspects of ee360+. In particular, the team at AUNE is rolling out the Community Engagement: Guidelines for Excellence by facilitating workshops for environmental education leaders and practitioners across the country. Some key themes include equity, justice and belonging; capacity building and civic action; collaboration and long-term community investment. We also develop resources like educational manuals, toolkits, and curricular materials to accompany workshops and outreach efforts. These resources explore aspects of key themes more deeply, like inclusive community engagement, appreciative inquiry, community asset mapping, and culturally responsive, equitable evaluation.
AUNE’s ee360+ team is a cadre of individuals and organizations working in partnership to ensure quality deliverables and engagement throughout this multi-year programming. Key organizational partners include: SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry; Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve; and the extensive network of community engagement champions that we learn and work alongside through ee360+.
AUNE ee360+ team
Current Staff
Jean Kayira (she, her, hers), Antioch ee360+ team, Co-Project Director Jean is associate faculty at SUNY-ESF and research faculty at AUNE. Her areas of interest include sustainability education, Indigenous knowledge systems, and postcolonial theory; youth, place, and culture; decolonizing and Indigenous research methodologies; participatory forms of education and research; and cross-cultural education and research. She teaches courses such as Indigenous Research Methods and Program Evaluation. Jean is engaged in a variety of research projects, working with youth and teacher candidates on issues of community engagement, particularly examining Indigenous knowledge and sustainability, youth identity in relation to place and sustainability, and social and ecological justice pedagogies. Through her doctoral research, Jean explored the possibilities of Indigenous knowledge in furthering student learning in relation to culturally appropriate environmental sustainability. She has drawn on the sub-Saharan African concept of Ubuntu/uMunthu and postcolonial theory to enable a third space (Bhabha, 1994) centered on culturally appropriate Malawian ways of knowing, while at the same time, working in tandem with non-Indigenous knowledge and practice. In broad terms, this study sought to widen the space that meaningfully acknowledges both Indigenous and non-Indigenous knowledge and practice. To learn more about Jean’s work, visit her SUNY-ESF faculty webpage.
Libby McCann (she, her, hers), Antioch ee360+ team, Co-Project Director Libby serves as Antioch University New England’s Director of Environmental Education (EE) within the School of the Environment’s Environmental Studies & Sustainability Department. In addition to advising master’s and doctoral students, she teaches graduate courses on such topics as: environmental and sustainability education; program planning and design; qualitative research; inclusive education, program evaluation; urban EE; leadership development, civic ecology & community resilience; sustainable school and community-based food systems; and environmental communications in the digital age & climate change education. Libby collaborates with faculty and students through Community Garden Connections, a food justice initiative to build local capacity to grow food, address food insecurity, and enhance personal and communal health. Libby holds two degrees in the natural sciences, a doctorate in adult education, and has facilitated a variety of environmental education programs for youth and adults throughout her career. For more information, visit Libby’s Antioch faculty webpage.
Luciana Ranelli (she, her, hers), Antioch ee360+ Team, Project Co-Manager & Outreach Specialist Luciana Ranelli’s personal and professional life revolves around the theme of connections as she fosters relationships among people, sees connections between ideas, and invests in connection to place. The ee360+ project ties in her passions for communication, inclusion, outdoor experiences, and learning. Luciana’s Antioch University New England ee360+ team efforts focus on train-the-trainer workshops for the Community Engagement: Guidelines for Excellence and development of the Equity and Belonging expansion publication. Her AUNE Master of Science in Environmental Studies with an Environmental Education concentration set her up well for teaching, leadership, program management, and staff mentoring endeavors at Teton Science Schools and Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center. Luciana holds a BA in Biology and Secondary Education from the University of Minnesota, Morris. Luciana currently serves as Education Coordinator at Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve and you can learn more about Luciana here.
Susy Mateos (she/her/ella) Antioch ee360+ Team, Project Co-Manager & Outreach Specialist A graduate of Antioch’s MS in Environmental Studies with an EE specialty, Susy Mateos is currently a doctoral student at North Carolina State University in the Forestry and Environmental Resources Department. She joined the ee360 group in May 2020, working virtually from southern California. Susy has experience with community science bird monitoring in the Santa Monica Mountains in California, extensive EE experience among youth, and bird conservation work in Costa Rica. She has extensive experience in community engagement, avian research, natural history museum curation, and coordination among varied projects and partners. For her doctoral work, she is engaged with a rural Costa Rican community, learning about their connections to the natural environment. Using political ecology, ethnoecology, and ecological place attachment as theoretical frameworks, her narrative inquiry study seeks to understand the intricate socio-ecological dynamics (power relations, resource distribution and environmental justice) within the community (Nicaraguan refugees, their Costa Rican-born adult children, and native Costa Ricans) in Costa Rica. Susy loves to engage with adult learners and is passionate about cultivating social justice.
Past Staff
Jordan Cummings, Antioch ee360 Team Jordan Cummings is from the San Francisco Bay Area in California. Formerly a classroom teacher for eight years, she taught Kindergarten, 1st grade, and 2nd grade. Jordan received her Masters of Science in Environmental Studies/Environmental Education at Antioch University New England, where she blended her two passions: education and the environment. She believes environmental education is essential at any age and is thrilled to be able to work and learn with this team. Jordan now serves as K-12 school district-wide EE specialist in Northfield, MA.
Cynthia Espinosa Marrero, Antioch ee360 team, Education Consultant Cynthia Espinosa Marrero is a food systems scholar and activist, helping diverse communities grow and learn more about food and environmental systems. Her passion was seeded with her family and neighbors in Yabucoa, P.R. where she grew up. With over 10 years of experience in the food systems, Cynthia is now focusing her work as a Senior Manager in the Health and Racial Equity at Heath Resources in Action (Boston, MA). Inspired by her ancestral roots, especially her *abuela* (grandmother), Cynthia has also facilitated trainings and curriculum development for environmental educators, organizations and institutions in the topics of diversity, inclusion, community engagement and permaculture (DICP). Her use of permaculture is unique as she uses the principles, ethics and activities in her program design efforts. As a volunteer support and Environmental Educator with Latino Outdoors <http://latinooutdoors.org/> and within her own community, she follows her humanistic educator goal of giving opportunities to underrepresented groups to find their inner power, voice, and skills to build a socially just food and environmental system. She has a BA Degree in Sustainable Food Management from UMass Amherst and a Master of Science in Environmental Studies focusing in Environmental Education from Antioch University New England.
Anna Mooney, Antioch ee360 team, Doctoral Student Anna Mooney serves as the Director of Environmental Education at YMCA Camp Thunderbird in Lake Wylie, South Carolina. In her environmental educator efforts, Anna has worked with hundreds of teachers to craft field trips that meet the academic and social needs of students. Inspired by the teachers’ enthusiasm and passion for fair and just education for all, Anna is currently studying culturally relevant environmental education in pursuit of her doctorate in Environmental Studies at Antioch University New England. She also holds a Master of the Arts in Psychology from Hunter College, a graduate certificate in Animal Behavior and Conservation from Hunter College, and a Bachelor of Science in Biopsychology from Wagner College.
Anna Parker, Antioch ee360 Team, Outreach Coordinator Anna Parker completed her Master of Science in Environmental Studies with an EE concentration at AUNE in 2021 and now serves as Communication Specialist in Maine Coast Heritage Trust’s Engagement Department. Anna is passionate about building connections between people and place and strengthening connections within her own community. Anna studied anthropology during her undergraduate studies at the University of Colorado. While there, Anna became eager to learn from different cultures and perspectives. Consequently, Anna joined the ee360 team with almost six years of experience as an environmental educator, including 3 years in Palau running community engagement programs for the Palau International Coral Reef Center. Living and working in Palau ignited Anna’s passion for environmental justice and taught her the role that traditional knowledge plays in local conservation efforts. Anna’s curiosity and ambitions are driven by the human dimensions of conservation and understanding how she can listen to and amplify diverse perspectives in her work.