Spring EE Higher Education Network Summit held at Kentucky State University in May

The Kentucky Association for Environmental Education (KAEE) held its biannual environmental education Higher Education Network (eeHEN) Summit event on Thursday, May 23 at Kentucky State University. 

The eeHEN began as a KAEE initiative to re-establish and grow a network of higher education staff and faculty engaged in environmental education and adjacent fields from Kentucky’s colleges and universities. Twice a year, the network holds a summit to provide members the opportunity to convene, collaborate, and partner together at the local level and across the state. 

The summit was attended by representatives from numerous higher education institutions and environmental education organizations across the state, including Bellarmine University, Berea College, Bluegrass Community and Technical College, Campbellsville University, Eastern Kentucky University, Kentucky State University, The Living Arts & Science Center, University of Kentucky, and Western Kentucky University.

During the summit, participants learned about programs from KAEE, the Kentucky Environmental Education Council (KEEC), and discussed their own environmental education programs at each of their respective organizations.

In the afternoon, Tracy Knowles from Bluegrass Community & Technical College System and co-chair of the eeHEN discussed the goals and initiatives of the eeHen network. She discussed the work the network is doing to create a database of environmentally related programs offered in Kentucky institutions. She also informed the network about upcoming opportunities that include a shared resources folder and a collaborative grant calendar.

Participants also spent time discussing KAEE’s Green Careers Initiative. KAEE received a $526,500 Urban and Community Forestry Grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service to focus on Green Careers. Part of the grant is the development of a Green Careers website for middle, high school, and college students to learn about different paths to green careers. 

The network brainstormed ideas for the upcoming development of the Green Careers website. They considered what students might be looking for, how the website could be useful to those exploring green careers, and what type of content to include.

KAEE would like to thank the representatives of Kentucky State University—including Louis Ross from the Environmental Education and Research Center and Jody Thompson from the Forestry and Natural Resources Department—for their partnership in hosting the event. They’d also like to thank the members of the eeHEN Action Team. 

Meg Gravil Eastern Kentucky University Co-chair	Tracy Knowles Bluegrass Community & Technical College System Co-chair
Sherri Brown University of Louisville	Cody Nygard Bellarmine University
Ashley Osborne University of Kentucky, 4-H Extension	Louis Ross Kentucky State University
Kim Vigil Murray State University	Kelly Watson Eastern Kentucky University
Melinda Wilder Professor Emeritus, Eastern Kentucky University	Terry Wilson Professor Emeritus Western Kentucky University

If you’d like to be part of the eeHEN network, you can learn more and sign up on our website. 

The next summit will be held in conjunction with the KAEE Annual Conference in Morehead, KY on November 13th. Registration for the conference opens in July.