Natural resources education: funding, classes, and resources

Grants available to protect and plant trees 

Hennepin County is offering healthy tree canopy grants to schools, nonprofit organizations, and affordable housing properties to make positive changes in the tree canopy and engage residents in taking action to protect trees.

These grants aim to support efforts to educate the public on tree care and the importance of trees, combat threats to trees from invasive insects and disease, and promote the development of a more diverse and resilient tree canopy. Grants are available to plant trees, conduct tree-related education, remove ash trees, complete tree inventories, and hold Arbor Day celebrations.

Applications are due by 3 p.m. on Monday, October 28. See the healthy tree canopy grants flyer (PDF) to learn more.

For more information and to get help with grant projects, email trees@hennepin.us

Project Learning Tree let nature be your teacher training

Saturday, November 2 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Eastman Nature Center in Elm Creek Park Reserve, 13351 Elm Creek Road, Dayton, MN 55369

Learn fun, practical, hands-on lessons that use local trees, forests, and the natural world to teach K-8 students skills in science, math, language arts, and social studies.

Teachers who attend this workshop will get the Project Learning Tree K-8 Environmental Education Activity Guide, which contains 96 engaging lessons. Lessons can be done in your classroom, in your schoolyard, or in your school forest in all seasons.

The training will be led by Hennepin County Forester, Jen Kullgren. Cost is $10 for Hennepin County educator and $30 for all others. Teachers will earn 6 CEUs for attending the training. Lunch will be provided.

Register by Friday, October 18.

Fall tree steward classes

Hennepin County, in partnership with the University of Minnesota and host cities, is offering two tree steward classes this fall. Tree steward classes are a great opportunity to learn the basics of tree planting and care. Classes cover tree biology, tree planting, watering, pruning, and tree health through a combination of classroom instruction and hands-on, outdoor field experience.

Classes are scheduled for:

• Saturday, September 14 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the City of Champlin Parks & Public Works Building. Sign up now.
• Saturday, October 12 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at St. Anthony City Hall. Registration will open October 1. 

Classes are open to the public and no experience is needed. Classes cost $25.

Updated resource: 10 things you can do to protect Minnesota's lakes, rivers, and streams

We recently updated our popular 10 things you can to do to protect Minnesota’s lakes, rivers, and streams (PDF) brochure. Action items, such as salting sparingly, adopting a storm drain, and planting pollinators, present accessible opportunities to make an impact. Factsheets, pamphlets and handouts covering a wide variety of environmental topics are available to community groups, volunteers, cities, nonprofits and schools in Hennepin County at no charge. See what's available and place an order.

Hopkins High School takes 14^th place at Envirothon national competition

A team from Hopkins High School placed 14th at the national Envirothon competition in July in North Carolina. At an Envirothon competition, teams of students work collaboratively to demonstrate their knowledge of environmental science and natural resource management topics such as aquatics, forestry, soils, wildlife and current events. Learn more about how to start an Envirothon team and compete in the 2020 competitions.

Provide your students hands-on environmental education collecting water quality data with River Watch

River Watch is a hands-on environmental education program that gets youth into streams to collect aquatic organisms and assess water quality.

In the spring and fall, students and teachers venture into streams with waders securely fastened and dip nets in hand to collect aquatic macroinvertebrates, or bottom-dwelling, spineless organisms such as mayflies, stoneflies, snails and beetles. Macroinvertebrates are influenced by physical and chemical properties of streams, so monitoring these organisms helps assess water quality.

River Watch is an eye-opening experience for all participants, and the resulting data helps us understand the health of our streams. Learn more about getting involved.

Events, resources and training

Recap: BEETLES Introduction – Teaching Observational Skills

Educators and program managers from government agencies, nonprofits, schools, and other organizations gathered together on August 8 at the third Hennepin County environmental education network training of 2019.

The training was held at French Regional Park in Plymouth with presenters from Three Rivers Park District. Participants learned about strategies to incorporate inquiry and exploration into their teaching. They also got to try out these strategies in an outdoor setting!

Learn more: What is BEETLES? The BEETLES approach to teaching I notice, I wonder, it reminds me of: an activity Thank you to all who attended and to our fantastic presenters from Three Rivers Park District!

Professional development opportunities

Show Us Your Mussels Teacher Training

Saturday, September 21 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. or Friday, September 27 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Explore how native freshwater mussels improve water quality, and learn about the conservation work of the Minnesota Zoo and Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. This free training includes behind-the-scenes peaks and tours of the Minnesota Zoo’s native freshwater mussel program. Learn more and register.

Terrestrial Project WILD and TAO Workshop

Saturday, September 28 from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Bell Museum in St. Paul

Learn through hands-on activities and receive TAO, a trail camera curriculum, and Project WILD to enhance your classroom lessons. Best for teachers of grades 3 through 9. Cost is $45. Learn more and register.

Minnesota Naturalists' Association conference 

The 2019 Minnesota Naturalists’ Association conference will be held November 15 - 17 at the Audubon Center of the North Woods in Sandstone. Conference registration will open in mid-September. Presentation proposals are being accepted until August 26. Learn more and submit presentation proposals.

Registration open for Midwest Environmental Education Conference (MEEC)

Access nature: promoting inclusion and diversity in environmental education

October 3 to 5 at the Science Museum of Minnesota

The Midwest Environmental Education Conference (MEEC) is a professional development collaboration between four states—Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. The environmental education associations in these states invite all to join together for local field studies, educational sessions, training, and workshops focused on environmental, cultural, and historical interpretation and education. MEEC is held every two years, and the 2019 conference is being organized by the Minnesota Association for Environmental Education.

The 2019 conference will explore barriers that prevent educators and learners from accessing natural areas and having valuable learning experiences in the outdoors. Workshops and sessions will focus on ways to promote access to natural spaces for everyone, regardless of physical ability, race, gender identity, age, geography, access to transportation, or socioeconomic status.

See the conference website for more information and register here.

Grants awarded and funding opportunities

Hennepin County environmental education grants awarded

We recently awarded grants to 16 organizations to engage their audiences learning about the environment and taking action to be environmental stewards. Starting in September, these organizations will engage more than 10,500 adults and youth throughout Hennepin County

The six environmental action grant recipients will engage adult audiences to save energy, reduce their environmental footprint, improve recycling, prevent waste, use sustainable transportation options, plan green events, and more.

The 10 youth environmental education grant recipients will engage audiences in learning about natural ecosystems, improving recycling, discovering the role of pollinators in our gardens and food systems, exploring traditional and indigenous connections to the environment, taking action on climate change, and more.

Read about the grant projects awarded.

CERTs energy grants: now open

The Minnesota Clean Energy Resource Teams (CERTs) are now accepting grant applications for renewable energy projects requiring technical assistance services (i.e., labor costs only, such as for a consultant, design professional, installer, or student labor). The projects need to encourage the implementation of community-based energy efficiency and renewable energy projects in Minnesota CERT regions. The Clean Energy Resource Teams — or CERTs — are a statewide partnership with a shared mission to connect individuals and their communities to the resources they need to identify and implement community-based clean energy projects. Proposals must be submitted electronically to rfp@cleanenergyresourceteams.org no later than 4 p.m. on Friday, October 11.  Learn more and apply.

Pisces Foundation grants

The Pisces Foundation is awarding grants to nonprofit organizations and their collaborators that seek to build the capacity, cultural relevance, and professional development of the environmental education field. The grants will range from $5,000 up to $150,000 for a 12-month period.

These grants are not designed to fund environmental education programs or organizations to directly serve students, children, families, or individuals. Instead, they are seeking to fund impact at the infrastructure level to strengthen the environmental education field as a whole, within the following areas:

• Enable an organization to be more effective (up to $15,000);
• Organize network members or stakeholders toward a collective initiative (up to $50,000)
• Activate an initiative that is already enabled and organized.

Learn more about applying and dates for upcoming informational webinars.

Environmental education grant project highlights

The following organizations received a Hennepin County environmental education grant and are busy engaging their audiences in taking action to protect the environment.

Cleveland Neighborhood Association: Clean City Youth

The Cleveland Neighborhood Association in north Minneapolis is engaging youth ages of 12 and 19 in protecting the environment through their Clean City Youth project.

The Clean City Youth initiative is focusing on conserving energy, preventing waste, and protecting water. Throughout the summer, youth attended field trips to learn about waste and water issues, participated in neighborhood and storm drain clean ups, and dropped education materials at neighbors’ doors. They also held a series of public outreach activities that engaged youth, families, and residents in reducing waste and adopting a no litter lifestyle.

Metro Blooms: Sustainable land care engagement and field training

Metro Blooms is engaging residents of the Autumn Ridge apartments in Brooklyn Park to protect water. Residents participated in a series of community meetings to provide input on the design and installation of native landscaping on their shared property. Residents were trained to install and maintain the native landscape so it continues to improve water quality and create habitat for pollinators and other wildlife. Metro Blooms is hoping to connect participants to green infrastructure careers by providing continued education, internship, and job opportunities.

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