Science is a way of building knowledge about the universe through tested iterative processes that construct new ideas and illuminate the world around us. 

Conservation ecology is the applied branch of ecology and evolutionary biology that allows us to understand the best practices of management for maintaining the biodiversity and integrity of natural resources.

Nature based education is an educational psychology approach to learning about the natural world through immersion in the natural world that has historically been the way human societies have educated their children.

Understanding past and present ecological practices and honoring unique funds of knowledge around our environment is of utmost value for culturally contextual educational design and natural resource management. 

Participatory design honors diversity and shows us how people who share a common cultural system organize and shape the physical and social world around them, and are in turn shaped by those ideas, behaviors, and physical environments.

Our body is our temple and our direct connection to how we experience the world. Nature has already written our optimal health plan. Let us honor our body through reverence of the elemental life forces that sustain us. 

Prioritizing elevating individual voices to allow sovereignty and challenge deficit views of marginalized communities. 

Creating assessment tools and evaluation protocols that measure impact and value through representing participants lived experience. 

Implementing program design that is appropriate for the learning content, context, and community.