Meet Our Rising Star: Dylan Wilson

There is something special about watching someone find their place in environmental education. For Dylan Wilson, that journey has taken him deep underground, literally.

Dylan joined the Hidden River Cave team in 2022 and has spent the years since growing as an environmental educator, cave guide, and advocate for Kentucky’s unique karst landscape. His dedication to helping others connect with the environment has earned him this year’s Rising Star Award.

Although Dylan is still early in his career, he has already made a meaningful impact.

In 2024, Dylan became a certified Professional Environmental Educator through the Kentucky Environmental Education Council's PEEC program. In 2025, he reached more than 2,000 people through environmental education programs at Hidden River Cave. Through these programs, students, visitors, and educators have had the opportunity to learn about caves, groundwater, geology, and the incredible ecosystems found beneath the surface.

For Dylan, environmental education is about more than simply sharing information. It is about helping people become curious about the places around them.

That approach is especially important at Hidden River Cave, where the landscape offers countless opportunities to spark that curiosity. Kentucky’s karst environment can be easy to overlook from the surface, but underground, the connections between geology, water, wildlife, and people become much easier to see. Dylan has a talent for making those connections understandable and memorable.

His work has also grown beyond the programs he leads for visitors. As demand for environmental education continues to increase, Dylan is helping prepare other Hidden River Cave staff members to bring these programs to even more people. He is also continuing to develop new programs and strengthen the experiences already offered.

Dylan has become part of the larger environmental education community as well. He contributes

to the American Cave Conservation Association’s seasonal publication, sharing ideas and perspectives about cave conservation and environmental education. His work reflects an important question for anyone who cares about the future of these special places: How do we inspire people to protect something they may never have had the chance to experience?

His journey with Hidden River Cave began just a few years ago, but his work has already reached thousands of people and continues to grow. As he takes on new programs, helps train other educators, and finds new ways to share the importance of caves and karst, we are excited to see where his path leads.

Congratulations to Dylan Wilson, our 2026 Rising Star Award recipient! KAEE is proud to celebrate the energy, creativity, and commitment he brings to environmental education, and we can't wait to honor him at the 2026 KAEE Conference in Lexington, Kentucky. The 2026 Excellence in Environmental Education Awards will be presented during the awards dinner on Thursday, November 12, at the Embassy Suites by Hilton Lexington/UK Coldstream.