The Orlando Wetlands Festival will be on: Saturday, February 22, 2025, from 9 am—3 pm at the Orlando Wetlands, 25155 Wheeler Road, Christmas, FL 32709. Phone: 407-568-1706. orlando.gov/wetlands.

Since 2001, the Orlando Wetlands Festival has promoted community awareness of the Orlando Wetlands and the importance of Florida’s ecological and water resources. This year’s theme is “Water is Life”.

The Festival will include:

• Environmental themed exhibitors providing engaging educational content
• Demonstration trucks and equipment
• Air-conditioned guided bus tours of the Orlando Wetlands
• Guided birding hikes led by Orange Audubon Society
• Guided photography, Native Plant ID, and Aquatic Critter Crawl Hikes
• Live animals and animal presentations
• Free native plant give-away
• Bird-banding and mist-netting demonstrations
• Kids games and activities
• “Hay” rides
• Live music by Homer Stiles
• Food trucks
• Free door prizes!

 Admission is free and all ages are welcome, but please leave your pets at home—there are wild animals at the Orlando Wetlands. For more information, registration and event reminders, please visit: Webpage: orlando.gov/wetlandsfestival, search for us on Eventbrite or Email: wetlandsfestival@orlando.gov. 

Thank you to our generous sponsors: AECOM, Kiewit Corporation, US Submergent Technologies, Wharton-Smith Inc. Construction Group, Tetra-Tech Consulting and Engineering, VHB Engineering, Carollo Engineers, Wright-Pierce Environmental Engineering, Orange Audubon Society, City of Orlando. 

 Directions: Drive 40 minutes east of downtown Orlando on State Road 50 to Christmas, Florida. Go north (left) 2.3 miles on Ft. Christmas Road (County Road 420) and 1.5 miles east (right) on Wheeler Road.

24_OWF_Flyer_Letter.pdf

Environment Florida Research & Policy Center and their Student PIRG's are hosting their first ever Youth Ocean Summit in St. Petersburg Florida on March 1st. The summit is FREE to attend for college and upper high school students interested in learning about careers in ocean protection and conservation. It will be one day of sessions, panels and workshops about the latest threats, research and communication efforts for Florida's waterways. Please check out our speakers on the website linked above.

Do you love environmental education?  Want to work outdoors with kids in the Florida Everglades? Consider joining our team at Grassy Waters Preserve!

To apply, visit the City of West Palm Beach jobs list (Job # 25-098-009160): https://www.wpb.org/Departments/Human-Resources/Job-Opportunities

We are excited to share that the first-ever public meeting of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority Serving Institutions Advisory Council (HBCU-MSI AC) has been scheduled for Wednesday, November 20^th.  Given the historic nature of this public meeting, we want to make sure that it is as accessible as possible, thus members of the public will have the opportunity to attend in-person, in Washington D.C. and virtually on Wednesday, November 20^th from 10:00AM – 4:30PM EST. 

Please register to attend in person and virtually here. In-person seating is limited and not guaranteed so be sure to register as early as possible! Please note, each individual will need to register separately. 

Additional instructions for how to attend the meeting, virtually or in-person, will be shared closer to the meeting date. 

In addition to attendance, the HBCU-MSI AC is interested in receiving written or in- person comments. The public comment period will take place on Wednesday, November 20^th. Comments can be submitted:  

• Verbally– In-person and virtually on Wednesday, November 20^th at approx. 2:00PM EST. Those who wish to present their comments in person MUST register by Wednesday, November 13^th. 
• In writing by entering comments in the Docket EPA-HQ-OA-2024-0525 at www.regulations.gov or sending comments via email to HBCU-MSI.AC@epa.gov.  

Please share this invitation with anyone in your network who may be interested - we welcome everyone of all ages to join us in person and virtually!

We look forward to your participation in the upcoming HBCU-MSI meeting.  

Thank you.

Rhonda Wright

Office of Public Engagement and Environmental Education

Office of the Administrator

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

The Mississippi Environmental Education Alliance (MEEA), in partnership with the Southeastern Environmental Education Alliance (SEEA), will be hosting their first regional conference, May 6-8, 2025! We invite you to participate in their “Call for Proposals,” which is open now.  You may submit your proposal via their website at https://www.meeainms.org/conference or follow this link,  Call for Proposals.  Deadline for proposals is Nov. 22, 2024.

Please forward the information to others in your network.  Thank you for considering being part of this exciting event! 

Do you enjoy working with students of all ages? Are you looking for a job that allows you to be outdoors and share knowledge about the environment around you? Are you a self-motivated, hard- working individual with a positive attitude? Do you want to work in the field of environmental education? Then St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge is looking for you to be a part of our education team, to assist with environmental education, outreach, interpretation, special event planning and much more. Click here to learn more about the 2025 Spring Environmental Education Internship at St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge.

Pursue your passion with Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens while you earn your master’s online from Miami University through the Advanced Inquiry Program (AIP). Created for working professionals, the AIP is a one-of-a-kind master’s program that immerses students in collaborative inquiry and action as they champion change. Through web-based coursework from Miami and face-to-face experiential learning and field study at Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens, you will connect with classmates, Miami University faculty, zoo experts, and community leaders locally, nationally, and globally.

The AIP is designed for students from a range of backgrounds and career stages. With professional and academic mentoring and self-designed Master Plans, students adapt their degree path to fit their interests in fields such as community-engaged conservation, inquiry-driven education, environmental justice, learning across K-12 and informal settings, animal care and welfare, green business innovation, climate change, urban ecology, human-nature relationships, environmental restoration, and public engagement in science.

Applications are now being accepted until February 15. Courses begin in May 2025. For more information, applicants may contact the AIP Coordinator at Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens, Jamie Lankenau, at lankenauj@jacksonvillezoo.org or 904-757-4463 ext. 107. http://AIP.MiamiOH.edu

In addition to our master's degree programs, Project Dragonfly's core online and AIP web+ graduate courses may be taken on a stand-alone basis for professional development and lifelong learning. https://miamioh.edu/cas/graduate-studies/project-dragonfly/professional-development-courses/index.html

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Interested in a global classroom? Miami’s Project Dragonfly also offers global field courses, which can count toward the AIP master’s degree. Earth Expeditions graduate courses occur online and at global field sites in 15 countries throughout Africa, Asia, Australia, and the Americas. http://EarthExpeditions.MiamiOH.edu

Project Dragonfly reaches millions of people each year through inquiry-driven learning media, public exhibits, and graduate programs worldwide. Project Dragonfly is based in the biology department at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Established as a state university in 1809, Miami is one of the eight original Public Ivies and has a distinguished record of excellence in research and teaching in science and science education.

YEA and Broward County are offering some particularly intensive and interesting field courses coming up in September about wildlife monitoring and habitat evaluation as part of the Florida Master Naturalist Program. These are both in-person classes. The lectures will be given weeknights at Tree Tops Park, and the intensive field training at Kristin Jacobs Natural Area at Hillsboro Pineland.   Click here for more information.

Calling all PreK - 2nd grade educators! Join us August 3, 2024 from 8:30 AM - 4:30 PM  for an Early Childhood Educator Workshop as we build literacy skills and environmental appreciation with our wildlife-based workshop. Educator materials from Project WET, Wild and Learning Tree are included.

Location: Brevard Zoo

Workshop Fee: $5

Scan the QR code on the flyer below to register. 

Early Child Educator Workshop Brevard Zoo.pdf

Join us at the LEEF Mini-Conference on Saturday, October 26, 2024 at The Environmental Learning Center in Vero Beach.   Currently we are seeking presenter proposals for this event -  we hope that you will utilize this opportunity to share the incredible work that you are doing in the world of environmental education.  Submit today!

Click here to learn more about this upcoming mini-conference.

Conference questions? Contact past.president@leef-florida.org