SCB North America’s Education Committee

SCBNA’s Education Committee serves educators, students, and members interested in advancing conservation science and practice through the development of education resources and professional development opportunities. Learn more about the Education Committee’s recent projects below!

SCBNA’s FIRST-EVER Conservation Education Forum (August 5-6, 2025)!

Thank you to all who were able to attend our event!

**For those unable to attend: session recordings – and resources – can be found on our event page.**

The Education Committee of the Society for Conservation Biology North America (SCBNA) developed a new event, the Conservation Education Forum, to increase opportunities for conservation educators in diverse settings to share their work with one another through an online forum. Our primary goal was to connect educators seeking to share and gain pedagogical support for fostering outstanding conservation education practices, and provide space for new connections. In our design of the forum, we encouraged participation from presenters and attendees across K-12, higher education, professional training, and informal education settings, and worked to create a format that invited sharing and interaction without being burdensome to organize either for the committee or for presenters. The Forum spanned two half days on August 5 & 6, 2025. Each day featured a combination of 5-min preview talks followed by 1-hour workshops (along with a keynote activity). Recordings for our introductory activities, 5-min presentations, and 1-hour workshops can be found on our event site (see above link) along with additional resources.

If you have any questions about the Forum, please reach out to SCBNA’s Director of Operations & Programs – Bernie Traversari – at bernie.traversari@scbnorthamerica.org.

SCBNA Educational Resources

NACCB Engagement

NACCB 2024

  • Over 30 presentations within symposia, contributed sessions as 15 min talks, speed talks and posters, summarized in an accessible day-to-day guide on Education related sessions for participants
  • Interactive Session: Celebrating Diversity in Conservation Teaching: A sharing session with the SCBNA Education Committee
  • Symposium: Biodiversity Conservation Pedagogy: teaching and learning to address the biodiversity crisis
  • Workshop: Building Emotional Resilience among Conservation Students: Making space for the affective domain.
  • Student / Chapters Mixer (organized by NACCB Student Affairs committee)
  • Financial Support: Registration waivers and travel awards provided to students and educators
  • Student Presentation Awards (co-hosted with NACCB Student Affairs Committee)
    Congratulations to the 2024 winners!
    Best 15 Minute Talk: Christopher Dennison & Jonathan Chu
    Best Speed Talk: Vanessa Hum
    Best Poster: Nikol Damato
  • Interactive Session: Conservation Literacy as Interwoven Literacies: A Sharing and Learning Session
  • Networking Session: Behind the Screen: Exchanging Fresh Ideas for Teaching Conservation Biology Online
  • Group Mentoring Lunch (organized by NACCB Student Affairs committee)
  • Speed Networking w/ the SCB Social Sciences Working Group
  • Student / Chapters Mixer (organized by NACCB Student Affairs committee)
  • Financial Support: Registration waivers and travel awards provided to students and educators
  • Student Presentation Awards (co-hosted with NACCB Student Affairs Committee)
    Congratulations to the 2022 winners!
    Best Full Length Talk / Best Full Length Talk with Application: Melissa Cronin / Christopher Jadallah
    Best Speed Talk / Best Speed Talk with Application: Greta Schmidt/ Lia Chalifour
    Best Poster: Jeremy Adkin
  • Interactive Session: Confronting eco-grief and eco-anxiety in the conservation classroom
  • Interactive Session: Crossing Academic Boundaries: Active Learning Strategies for Teaching Conservation
  • Group Mentoring Lunch (organized by NACCB Student Affairs committee)
  • Speed Networking w/ the SCB Social Sciences Working Group
  • #BlackBirdersWeek Mentor Panel (organized by NACCB Student Affairs committee)
  • Financial Support: Registration waivers for virtual conference provided to students and educators
  • Student Presentation Awards (co-hosted with NACCB Student Affairs Committee)
    Congratulations to the 2020 winners!
    Best Full Length Talk / Best Full Length Talk with Application: Alexandra Decandia / Stacey NerkowskiBest Speed Talk / Best Speed Talk with Application: Lauren Kim / Alex Nicol-Harper

    Best Poster / Best Poster with Conservation Application: Claire Teitelbaum / Ashwin Sivakumar

  • Workshop: Civic Engagement and Conservation Apps in the College Classroom
  • Interactive Session: Experiential Conservation Education Discussion: Connecting the classroom to the wild (even if you can’t leave the room)
  • Interactive Session: Case Studies for Teaching and Learning in Conservation: What Have We Learned and Where Can We Go Next?
  • Event: Student-Professional Speed Networking (jointly-hosted with SCB’s Social Science Working Group & SCBNA’s Student Affairs Committee)
  • Event: Conservation Careers Panel
  • Financial Support: Student Travel Awards, 30 student supported (co-hosted with SCBNA’s Student Affairs Committee)
  • Professional Development: Mentor Match (Meet-up & Matching) (co-hosted with SCBNA’s Student Affairs Committee)
  • Professional Development: Student Presentation Awards (co-hosted with SCBNA’s Student Affairs Committee)
    Congratulations to the 2018 winners!

    Best Full Length Talk / Best Full Length Talk with Application: Kasmira Cokerill, Dalai Hanna

    Best Speed Talk / Best Speed Talk with Application: Megan Jones / Courtney Larson

    Best Poster / Best Poster with Conservation Application: Sebastian Thurs / Hanna Rosner-Katz

Ongoing Initiatives:

  • Increasing opportunities for students and educators at NACCB.
  • Strengthening the professional “pipeline” for students who want to work as conservation biologists.
  • Facilitating student travel, presentation awards, & other student activities at the congress.
  • Harnessing the combined energies of the North American chapters to work collaboratively on conservation challenges.
  • Developing – and running – SCBNA’s (new) Conservation Education Forum & Conservation Education Workshop Series.
  • Developing educational materials to support SCBNA’s Allyship Program & Video Series.

If you are interested in rolling up your sleeves and joining us in the work on any of these topics, please write to Stephanie Clements (education@scbnorthamerica.org). New members of the committee are always welcome!

Upcoming Events!

Conservation Education Workshops (2025/26)

CLICK HERE for more information and to register for each workshop.

Education News

Committee Members:

  • Stephanie Clements, Centers for Public Science Learning, Museum of Science, SCBNA Vice President for Education, Chair
  • Martha Groom, School of Interdisciplinary Arts & Science, University of Washington Bothell
  • Erin Betley, Center for Biodiversity Conservation, American Museum of Natural History
  • Marjorie Wonham, Friday Harbor Laboratories and School of Aquatic & Fishery Sciences, University of Washington
  • Jessica Pratt, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Irvine
  • Zahra Nanji, University of Manitoba
  • Aruni Vimukthi, Environmental & Plant Biology Department, Ohio University