NCMNS Teacher Education unit receives 2020 Exceptional Environmental Education Program Award
For immediate release ‐ September 18, 2020
Contact: Jon Pishney, 919.707.8083. Images available upon request
Megan Chesser Davis (left) and Melissa Dowland. Photo: Mike Dunn.
(Raleigh) — NC Museum of Natural Sciences’ Teacher Education Coordinator Melissa Dowland and Teacher Education Specialist Megan Chesser Davis received the 2020 Exceptional Environmental Education Program Award today. The award was presented by the Environmental Educators of North Carolina (EENC), the state’s professional organization for environmental educators, for the pair’s online professional development series, launched at the end of March in response to COVID-19.
According to the EENC website, the “Exceptional Environmental Education Program Award recognizes a program, education center, organization, partnership or educational system that exemplifies excellence in environmental education. The program reaches far beyond the usual magnitude and degree of scope and scale to create: a sustainable commitment to environmental education, a more environmentally literate public, a stronger profession for environmental educators, and otherwise supporting EENC’s mission and objectives.”
When confronted with the challenges that COVID-19 placed on their normal way of working with educators, Dowland and Davis quickly came up with a plan to provide high quality, impactful resources that can be used by educators and students to explore the natural world, whether they are together in a classroom or only able to connect virtually.
Christy Flint, Interim Head of Schools and Lifelong Education, said, “I am so pleased that Megan and Melissa are being recognized by EENC for their efforts to keep people interested and engaged in exploring the natural world during these challenging times.”
Many of the videos and activities developed and produced by Dowland and Davis have also been made available to the general public on the Museum’s “Exploring Your Nature Neighborhood” web page.