Welcome to the KAEE Web site!

KAEE is one of the country’s oldest associations supporting environmental education. KAEE represents teachers, government, industry, parents, students — people who know that education is essential for making wise decisions concerning the environment.

KAEE’s mission is to create a sustainable environment through education.  To accomplish that goal, we offer several workshops and an outstanding conference each year to educators throughout the state.  We also offer members our quarterly newsletter, monthly email digest, getaway days, and information posted here on our site, on Facebook, and on Twitter.

To become a member and receive discounts on subscriptions to Green Teacher magazine, go here.

To help sponsor our vital work, including the 2009 conference, click on the Sponsor banner at the top of the page. Many thanks to KAEE’s sponsors, members and contributors! 

To learn more about KAEE, contact us at info@kaee.org. 

The Kentucky Department for Energy Development and Independence (DEDI), Louisville Gas and Electric Company (LG&E) and Kentucky Utilities Company (KU) and the Kentucky NEED Project are partnering in support of the Change the World, Start with ENERGY STAR® campaign, a joint effort between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy.  The Change the World, Start with ENERGY STAR® campaign encourages all Americans to take small, individual steps that make a big difference in reducing carbon dioxide emissions and greenhouse gasses. 
 
Grant Amount:  Mini-grants in the amount of $150.00 are being offered to student groups (schools and civic groups) who wish to facilitate activities in their schools and communities. An additional $150 is available if you are a K-8 school that receives electric utility service by LG&E or KU, totaling a $300 mini-grant opportunity for selected schools.  A limited number of grants will be awarded, subject to the availability of funds.  Not all applications may be funded.
 
Application Deadline:  Extended to March 5.
 
Download the application on the NEED Web site in PDF or Word format.
 
Assistance:  Kentucky NEED has regional coordinators available to assist all schools across the Commonwealth.  If you would like to contact them for assistance, contact Karen Reagor kreagor@need.org.
 
If you have questions or would like additional information, please contact Pam Proctor at pproctor@need.org.

Part of the KAEE GATOR (Get Away To Our Rivers) Days Series
10:00am-4:00pm Central
April 17th, 2010
Lake Malone State Park (between Bowling Green and Madisonville)

Join the Kentucky Association for Environmental Education for a day of kayaking on Lake Malone. Follow this beautiful lake past limestone cliffs and fern-lined coves. Black vultures nest on the cliffs above. Waterfalls drop to the lake below. Great Blue Herons and Belted Kingfishers fly ahead of you as you make your way along the shoreline.

Bring your own kayak or rent a kayak, paddle, and life vest from us. Improve your kayaking skills, learn more about the natural history of Kentucky, and make some new paddling buddies! Your guide on the river will be Sonya Wood Mahler, a life member and board member of KAEE. Sonya is an aquatic education specialist for Kentucky Department of Fish & Wildlife Resources and has led over twenty kayak trips.

The registration fee of $10.00 covers guide service, insurance, snacks, drinks, and a paddling resource packet. Bring a picnic lunch. Minimum age for this trip is 12. Single kayak rental: add $40.00. Meet at 10:00am at The Country Store, 5340 State Route 973, between Dunmar and Rosewood, just west of Lake Malone State Park, store: 270-657-2278.

Deadline for registration is Friday, April 9th. Send your name, e-mail address, and cell phone number with a check made payable to KAEE to: Jennifer Adler, Treasurer, 1448 Cypress Street, Paris KY 40361. For more information about GATOR Days, contact Sonya Wood Mahler at sonyawoodmahler@yahoo.com or 270-584-4742.

Terrific Trout Trek
Saturday, May 15th, 2010
9:30am – 4:00pm CST

Enjoy a behind the scenes tour of Wolf Creek National Fish Hatchery, including the new Visitor/Environmental Education Center, followed by a homemade picnic luncheon with the hatchery manager and some hands on work with our trout production team. Learn all about the day of a hatchery worker by feeding some hungry trout, learning how to sample count, stocking hatchery creek and more. Cap off your day with some fantastic, hands-on trout fishing along the Cumberland River from 1:00pm CST – 4:00pm CST.

Instruction will be provided by members of the Louisville based chapter of Trout Unlimited. Please come prepared with chest waders and your Kentucky fishing license with trout permit. All fly fishing gear provided.

Wolf Creek National Fish Hatchery
50 Kendall Road   Jamestown, KY 42629

Register and pay online here, register online and pay by check here, or print and send this form with a check made payable to KAEE to:
Jen Adler, Treasurer   1448 Cypress Street  Paris, KY 40361

The cost is $30.00 per KAEE member and $45.00 per KAEE non-member registrant.

Questions? Contact Amanda G. Patrick, Environmental Education/Outreach Specialist at 270-343-3797 or Amanda_Patrick@fws.gov

For Parents of 7-13 Year-olds

Things have changed since we were kids. We could all use a hand helping our kids eat better and move more.
Come learn practical tools that really work in a fun and friendly atmosphere.

We Can! is FREE and offers:

• Cooking demos for quick snacks and meals that kids will eat
• A chance to talk to other parents
• A Parents Handbook
• Creative ideas for getting your family active and loving it!

Mondays, 6:00 – 7:00 pm CST
January 4 – 25, 2010
Russell County UK Cooperative Extension Service Office

Sponsored by:
Russell County UK Cooperative Extension Service Office
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Wolf Creek National Fish Hatchery

To register for the We Can Series, contact Julie Beckmann at the Russell County UK Cooperative Extension Service: 270.866.4477

Looking for a fun adventure for you and your family?
If so, then check out the following…

Join in each month as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Wolf Creek National Fish Hatchery, in partnership with the Russell County Public Library, offers a FUN family oriented activity designed to help get you and your family outdoors and connected with nature! Monthly gatherings will be held on the third Tuesday of each month, meeting
locations will rotate between two locations (making it easier for families to attend) and there is NO cost for families and friends to be a part of the fun! A schedule of when, where and what theme is below, and refreshments will be provided. Pre-registration is also NOT required.

Activities will be geared towards kiddos ages 5 and up although any and all children are welcome. Additionally, it is requested that all children in attendance be accompanied by an adult. Families come in all forms too, so it may be friends, nieces and nephews with aunts and uncles, grandparents and grandchildren, etc. We simply welcome any and all families and friends who wish to be a part!

For more information, please contact Environmental Education/Outreach Specialist Amanda Patrick @ 270.343.3797 or via email: Amanda_Patrick@fws.gov

WHAT:  Biologist-in-Training (BiT) Workshop Event!

Based on an aquatic theme, the Wolf Creek NFH is excited to be launching a new endeavor known as the Biologist in Training (BiT) program. The program centers on a booklet that includes 5 activities geared towards teaching kids to use their observation skills while in the outdoors. Completion of the booklet activities is also flexible as the activities can be completed at the hatchery, at home, etc. For teachers looking to incorporate the program into their classroom needs, BiT also includes supplemental curriculum binders full of additional activities that support the booklet’s 5 main activities. These activities also serve to meet Kentucky’s educational curriculum guidelines. Home school groups, Scouters, 4-H leaders and more will also find the activity binders helpful and useful when completing the BiT booklets.

For the first time ever, Wolf Creek will be hosting a facilitator training for the BiT Program, thus enabling educators, whether formal or non formal, the chance to utilize BiT with children. So if you or someone you know would like to learn more about BiT, be sure and register below! It’s sure to be a fun-filled day of hands on learning and is suitable for a wide audience, including teachers, 4-H leaders, Boy/Girl Scout leaders, etc.

WHEN: Friday, February 19th, 2010   9:00am – 3:30pm CST

WHERE: Wolf Creek National Fish Hatchery  Visitor/Environmental Education Center
50 Kendall Road  Jamestown, Kentucky 42629

COST: $35 (This includes a t-shirt, lunch, facilitator CD and a classroom set of BiT booklets)

CONTACT: Amanda Patrick, EE/Outreach Specialist 270-343-3797 or via email: Amanda_Patrick@fws.gov

REGISTRATION: Please complete this form and mail it along with your registration payment to the address shown. Checks should be made payable to “Friends of Wolf Creek NFH.”

Registration deadline is Tuesday, February 9th, 2010.

Wolf Creek National Fish Hatchery will be leading a one day conference, geared specifically toward those working in the healthcare field, to discuss the movement and importance of reconnecting children with nature, particularly in regards to health benefits. Topics will include current trends in the health of Kentucky’s children, environmental health disparities, ways to partner to enhance children’s health in your practice and community, especially in regards to the outdoors along with opportunities for questions and answers, tools and ideas to take back to your
community and use, etc.

During the forum, the hatchery will serve as host for the following speakers:

• Margaret Riggs, PhD, Epidemiologist with the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention
• Amanda Patrick, Environmental Education/Outreach Specialist, Wolf Creek NFH
• Tracy Aaron, Director of Health Education, Lake Cumberland District Health Department
• Jenny Howard, Environmental Education Specialist, Division for Water, Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection
• Roberta Burnes, Environmental Education Specialist, Division for Air Quality, Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection
• Dr. Christine Weyman, Medical Director, Lake Cumberland District Health Department
• Jane Eller, Executive Director, Kentucky Environmental Education Council

As the event is specifically geared towards physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses, health education professionals, etc, any and all professionals in the healthcare field are encouraged to attend!

WHEN: Thurs, February 25th, 2010   8:30am –11:30am CST

LOCATION: Wolf Creek National Fish Hatchery
**The meeting will take place in the hatchery’s  Visitor/Environmental Education Center auditorium

Questions and/or Comments: For further details, please contact Environmental Education/Outreach Specialist Amanda G. Patrick at 270-343-3797 or via email at: Amanda_Patrick@fws.gov

**PLEASE RSVP your plans for attendance to Amanda by Friday, January 22nd, 2010.

The Appalachian Forest School  presents: Forests of the Far South – March 10-17, 2010

A week long natural history course exploring Florida’s Panhandle & the Red Hills of Alabama with leading naturalist, ecologist, & herpetologist — Dr. Bruce Means, Author of Priceless Florida, and Stalking the Plumed Serpent & Director of the Coastal Plains Institute and Land Conservancy

See course description and details: www.highlandssanctuary.org/WE/AFS.htm 

• Witness the North American continent’s first spring wildflowers 
• Visit rare remnants of old-growth longleaf pine forests harboring red-cockaded woodpeckers, brown-head nuthatches, indigo snakes and gopher tortoises  
• Canoe down crystal-clear spring-fed rivers 
• See the last of the vanishing Torreya Pines 
• Walk through wet meadows of carnivorous pitcher plants in bloom  
• Study Florida’s epiphytes and explore hillside seepage bogs 
• Don your headlight and search for Alabama endemic Red Hill salamanders at night  
• Visit old growth dwarf cypress stands and tupelo swamps

As part of its non-profit offerings, The Appalachian Forest School is sponsoring a week-long field exploration of the exceptionally rich and diverse ecosystems of Northern Florida and southern Alabama, where the leading edge of America’s Eastern Temperate Forest dances with the evergreen pines and subtropical hardwoods of the deep South. 

Leading the trip will be Dr. Bruce Means — the man who literally wrote the book on Florida’s rich plant & animal communities called Priceless Florida.  Sixteen years in the making, this is the book that set a new standard for richly illustrated, thoroughly scientific yet readable by the layman, regional natural history guides. On this trip, Bruce will guide participants into a Florida far off the usual tourist paths. His lifetime dedication to preserving Florida’s natural heritage enables him to access destinations which are normally closed to the public or are restricted, giving registrants the opportunity to experience both the romance as well as the natural science of Panhandle’s “Old Florida,” where there remains some of the largest tracts of forest east of the Mississippi.

What is the Appalachian Forest School? The non-profit Appalachian Forest School sponsors natural history courses which focus on the global significance of America’s Eastern Temperate Forest, a biome which covers the eastern third of the North American continent. While it is not difficult to find introductory natural history workshops for beginners, or indoor technical seminars for specialized experts; The Appalachian Forest School fills an important niche for citizens who wish to benefit from in-depth education without sacrificing the relevance of breadth. Courses are designed for professionals of all fields: conservationists pursuing continuing education, teachers, and committed parents. Program content is outdoor-focused, holistic, tangible, and cross-disciplinary. Course text is the out-of-doors. Required equipment are our five senses, sharpened with an inquiring, curious mind.

Other 2010 Appalachian Forest School Courses include these week long courses: Forests of the Far North, the Natural History of  the Boreal Forest of Ely, Minnesota; and Eastern Forest Tree Recognition & Natural History, a course teaching participants 45 species of trees. See www.highlandssanctuary.org/WE/AFS.htm    

The non-profit Appalachian Forest School publishes upcoming course descriptions approximately four to six times a year. To subscribe or unsubscribe write Crystal at services@arcofappalachia.org

Kentucky State University’s Land Grant Summer Programs are sponsored through funding provided by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).  The youth development initiative, Creating Opportunities for Leadership, Transformation and Scholarship (COLTS) is offered to young people, ages 10-18, with the aim of contributing to the production of the next generation of scientists, entrepreneurs, health professionals, and leaders who will work to solve worldwide problems and make the future brighter for all.
 
All COLTS programs…

• Provide hands-on learning opportunities
• Engage professionals from a wide range of careers who work directly with the students
• Are scholarship-based but free to the student participants

Applications for COLTS programs are generally available in February of each year.  The application packets are received by the respective program director, but are reviewed by a panel of professionals in a combination of related disciplines and Land Grant administration.  Applicant selection will be made based on:

• Academic achievement
• Letters of recommendation
• Essay or Letter of Interest

Students chosen to participate in the programs will be notified no later than May 1, 2010.

For more information on COLTS programming, please contact the Educational Outreach Department of the Land Grant Program: 502.597.6172 or colts@kysu.edu