Meet Leslie!

Hey Guys!
My name is Leslie Kobinsky, and I am the new intern for the Environmental Educators Capacity. EECAP is a program centered on utilizing the linkage between social issues and environmental education. A platform that aims to improve environmental quality and create healthier communities, especially for the diverse and underserved areas of Utah.

I am currently a senior at Westminster College, close to finishing a B.S. in Environmental Studies with a minor in Anthropology. I have a passion for Environmental Justice and recently returned from a semester abroad in Australia studying indigenous culture and rights. My free time is spent reading, exploring red rock country, volunteering, traveling, and snowboarding. My extracurriculars always involve great friends and good food!

Originally from Oregon, I moved to Utah 4 years ago and am excited to delve deeper into environmental justice issues in my local community. I strongly believe in USEE’s mission and I am prepared to start helping connect environmental education with environmental justice to work towards more inclusive and further reaching programs. 

Welcome Susan! USEE's newest intern.

Susan is the latest edition the the USEE staff, as our Program & Events Intern. Despite having been here only a few days, Susan is already contributing great ideas and getting excited about our upcoming Annual Bash. We are very happy to have Susan on our team, and anticipate great things to come from her. Welcome Susan!




Hi, my name is Susan Johnstone. I am an Environmental Studies and English major at the University of Utah, and I am exited to be involved with USEE as the new Program & Events Intern. I look forward to getting to know the teachers, students, and USEE community in general. I am a hiker, camper, reader, creative thinker, and baker of really good pies. After graduating in December, I plan to go on to a master’s degree program in teaching or writing, making and sharing connections about the natural world through literature.

Welcome Amanda! USEE's newest intern.

Amanda is a senior at the University of Utah working on her Communications degree. She isn’t your typical USEE staff member; a fast-paced city girl at heart, she is eager to learn more about all things “earthy”. Amanda hopes to gain more knowledge about outdoor recreation and activities, eating healthy, and everything that USEE has to offer. As a staff here at USEE we hope to gain insight from her perspective as someone not from the EE world. Amanda is spear-heading USEE's social media efforts; actively working on growing our Facebook page, as well as creating and maintaining a Twitter account (@UtahEnviroEd) and has already made great progress. Amanda has been working as a social media freelancer for a local political candidate as well as her employer. Between work, school and internships Amanda spends her free time reading or with friends and family.

Announcing USEE's New Executive Director

The Utah Society for Environmental Education Board of Directors is pleased to announce that Andree’ Walker Bravo has been hired as the new executive director. Andree’ served as USEE’s interim executive director and as associate director for two years. She holds Master's and Undergraduate degrees in watershed science and environmental studies, respectively, from Utah State University, and brings to the organization a wealth of knowledge and connections in environmental education. Andree’s passion for EE will help USEE become recognized as a statewide resource for environmental educators, K-12 teachers, higher education and the Utah community at large. Her efforts at the helm will help ensure economic, social and environmental sustainability in Utah.

Andree' and Olivia

Newest USEE Intern

My name is Seth Crossley. Born and raised in Utah County, the first time I ever moved away was after I was married. Since I have lived in Logan and St. George and currently in Salt Lake City, I have an appreciation for the entire state of Utah. We are privileged to experience the variety of alpine mountains, desert scenery, lakes, rivers, and red rock country. I am currently a Junior doing a double major in Environmental Studies and Political Science. When not vigorously studying, I spend my time with my wife, Jessica and dog, Jack. My wife and I try and take an annual trip to Hawaii as we are trying to explore all of the islands one by one. Most recently we went to Kauai, the Garden Isle to explore the Na Pali Coast where we were able to swim with dolphins and turtles along with explore the many caves and beautiful beaches. I am extremely excited to be interning for USEE and cannot wait to see where the opportunities lead. Educating the local population and especially the youth on environmental issues is vital to the future of our beautiful state. How and what we do now will forever affect our future generations.

Welcom New USEE Intern

Marta is our newest USEE intern who will be working with us for Spring Semester. She is from the University of Utah and is rock star! She has jumped into this internship with both feet and is doing a phenomenal job getting to know our programs and adding some great insights into the projects she is working on. We are very happy to have her. Welcome Marta!

My name is Marta Nielsen. I am a junior at the University of Utah, studying both Environmental Studies and Urban Planning. I moved to Salt Lake City with my family when I was only five, and have had sagebrush in blood ever since. In my spare time you might find me hiking in Millcreek Canyon, knitting a hat, cooking (read: eating) something delicious, with my nose buried in a good book, or perusing a local thrift store. I also enjoy traveling, and after seeing and falling in love with Germany last October, I am now trying to find a way to go back to Europe. I am very excited to be working with USEE. I love their mission of teaching people how to think, not what to think. I feel that when people are given the skills to think critically, and accurate information, they generally make the right decisions. This is why education, and especially environmental education is so vital, and why USEE is fulfilling such an important role in our state. This is what gets me excited to be working for USEE!

Welcome to our new Outreach Coordinator!

Charice Bourdeaux is USEE's newest staff member! She will be with us for the next 10 months or so as the Outreach Coordinator VISTA. Charice started earlier this week and so far is doing a fantastic job getting the Green Bag program off the ground. We are extremely excited to have her here at USEE!

Hello everyone! My name is Charice Bourdeaux and I am the new Outreach Coordinator for USEE. I will be working through AmeriCorps as a Utah Conservation Corp volunteer. I am a senior at the University of Utah majoring in Environmental Education and I will be graduating this spring. What I am most excited about working for USEE is the opportunity to connect with the public and help Utahans enhance their knowledge of environmental concepts through workshops, community discussions, and events. This will be a great learning experience and I am excited to gain many new skills while working here. So here are some quick favorites of mine just to let you know a little bit more about me, ready…. Food: fruit snacks, place: Uintah Mountains and activities: backpacking, running, reading.

Our Newest USEE Member

A big WELCOME to our newest USEE member, Olivia Gisella Bravo!


Little Olive was born on October 3 at 10:18 am.
She weighed six pounds, six ounces and was 19" long!


If we're lucky, Little Olive might be making a guest appearance at
USEE's 20th Annutal Environmental Education Conference.
Don't miss out on this special event: Register Today!


Congratulations Andree' and Joe! We can't wait to meet Olive!

Welcome New USEE Interns!

We have hired 3 new interns for the Fall semester to help out with some of the many things we do here at USEE. One is from the Environmental Studies program at the University of Utah, one is from the Communications department at Westminster College, and one is from the Communications department at the University of Utah. Two of the interns have been here for a couple of weeks, and one started just this past week. It's been great having them so far and we looking forward to working more with them over the next several weeks. Instead of me going on about them, let's have them introduce themselves:

Danny Trujillo:

My name is Danny and I am the new environmental education intern here at the Utah Society for Environmental Education! I am a senior at the University of Utah and am majoring in Environmental Studies. I am very excited to be working here at USEE and to have the opportunity to learn as much as I can while I am here. The staff here are awesome and I am excited to be working with them.

Ernesto Negrete:

Hi! My name is Ernesto Negrete. I was born in Utah, but I grew up in the hot sun of Phoenixm Arizone during my early years and have been in the cold winters of Salt Lake City for the present. I am a senior at Westminster College majoring in Communications. I enjoy wriging, so while at USEE I am looking foward to learning to write newsletters and other documents to help USEE reach and teach other educators and the general public about the environment. I feel USEE is a good opportunity for me to learn about the environment and how a non-profit organization functions. With the guidance of the great staff here I am sure I will learn a lot!

Katie Maguire:

Hi everyone! My name's Katie Maguire and I am the new conference intern here at USEE. I am a 22-year-old student at the University of Utah and I will finishe my double major in Journalism and Anthropology in December. I am planning on attending law school with an emphasis in environmental law. I am also interested in the world of non-profit organizations, so interning at USEE will be a good fit for me! I recently got back from spending four months in Spain improving my Spanish, and I was able to see Rome and Portugal as well! I have far too many interests and hobbies for one person, but you can usually find me doing homework, arts & crafts, playing with my dog, Sombra, or waiting for the waiting for the Where the Wild Things Are movie to come out.

Please Welcome USEE's New Interns!

USEE hired 4 new interns about a month ago to help out with some of the many things we do here at USEE. Two are from the Environmental Studies program at the University of Utah and two are Graphic Design students from Westminster College. Instead of listening to me go on about them, let's have them introduce themselves:

Alaina Caudillo:

My name is Alaina Caudillo, I am originally from California, though I now consider myself a local, having lived here in Salt Lake City for over six years. I enjoy spending time in the Wasatch range, hiking and snowboarding in the winter. I teach a few yoga classes each week around the valley, and am excited to have the opportunity to work with the nice people here at USEE as an intern this summer. I am currently attending the University of Utah working toward my Bachelor's Degree in Environmental Studies. Over the course of this internship with USEE, I hope to learn more about Environmental Education and how it can assist educators and ordinary citizens to be informed in their decisions concerning our environment. Healthy Children, Healthy Planet is a community discussion group over the course of seven weeks, that I will be facilitating addressing concerns parents face while raising children in our consumer driven culture. If you would like to join this discussion, please contact me at alaina@usee.org.


Brittany Marsden:

My name is Brittany Marsden. I'm a new graphic design/marketing intern for the Utah Society for Environmental Education. I am a senior at Westminster College and I'm majoring in communication with an emphasis in graphic and web design. I am excited for the opportunity I have to be an intern here at USEE. While at USEE I hope to be able to enhance my design skills, as well as be able to provide my best service to USEE. This will be a great change to learn how to explain the design process and to justify design decisions. The team here at USEE is great and I'm looking forward to working with them this summer!



Mat Wennergren:

Mat Wennergren is a graphic design intern at USEE. He is a senior at Westminster College and will be graduating this December with a degree in communications. Mat also owns and operates "The Studio" a guitar teaching studio in sugarhouse.


T.J. Adamson:

My name is T.J. Adamson, a new environmental education intern here at the Utah Society of Environmental Education! I am a senior at the University of Utah majoring in environmental studies and communications. Working with USEE I hope to gain experience in the field and learn more about environmental education in the state of Utah. Hopefully during my time here I will be able to make a positive impact and improve environmental education. The past couple weeks working with USEE has been a great networking opportunity and I am looking forward to meeting more contacts over the summer. At the end of June I will be leading a discussion group on Voluntary Simplicity. If you are interested in joining or have any questions for me please feel free to contact me anytime at tj@usee.org.

About Nancy:

I am a long time supporter and activist for environmental education and stewardship! An avid enthusiast of outdoor recreation, I moved to Salt Lake City from Maine, in 1981 mostly for the skiing, but my passion for adventure and the outdoors also led me to pursue rock climbing in Indian Creek, American Fork, Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons, and mountain biking in Moab. Missing the ocean and the sailing—from the coast of Maine, down to the Caribbean, the 80’s in Utah also brought me windsurfing from Deer Creek to Rush Lake (yes, it was filled then in those high water years!) In search of the wind we also ventured to the Hood River Gorge, Coyote Point in San Francisco Bay, and the Baja. Traveling throughout Utah and other regions in the west, whether in pursuit of a new crag, a new adventure mountain biking, or a day out in the Wasatch Mountains skiing with friends, I learned to appreciate the beauty of the open spaces our western region has to offer.

Along with my passion for the outdoors and nature is my passion for knowledge and being engaged with higher education. I am currently a master’s candidate at the University of Utah researching climate, drought and fire in the west, and I am very interested in how this new scientific knowledge can offer better ways for us to respond to the problems and opportunities created by a varying and changing climate. Although we don’t know for sure how climate change will affect our regional water resources, it is clear from the last several years of drought, that water resources are already stressed, independent of, and any additional stress from, climate change or increased variability will only intensify the competition for water resources.

As Education & Outreach Coordinator for the Utah Society for Environmental Education I lead the Community Discussions Program working within the community, city government and higher education, using resources and tools to explore ways of bringing environmental education and sustainability into the lives of people. I can’t think of a better way for me to integrate my love for nature and the outdoors with my passion for communicating my knowledge about climate as it relates to our community and the critical issues we face in regard to our environment.

Sustainability emphasizes relationships and I am deeply motivated by my connection to all these places that have touched my life and hope to impart a deeper understanding of climate, our environment, and sustainability. Striving to build new partnerships within the community, higher education, and organizations is meaningful and the creative part of my job that I love!

When not at my desk I can be found working on my thesis, in my garden, cooking for friends (basically everything and anything to do about food), or somewhere engaged in outdoor sports.

Here are some pictures from the cactus on my front porch:

I believe one of the marvels of the world is when my cactus blooms! This amazing cactus blooms one flower once a year for 8 hours. Usually in mid August the flower begins to bud. The process takes from 7-10 days and then one late evening it opens—Long after sunset when the evening begins to cool (usually around 10:00PM). While most of the world sleeps this marvelous flower in all its glory blooms and by 6:00AM the show is over and the bloom closes. I await camera in hand to capture this stunning appearance—until next year!

Welcome to Green Fork!

Green Fork is the newest extension of the Utah Society for Environmental Education (USEE) where the staff can address environmental education issues directly with the public. USEE's vision is to cultivate ecological knowledge to build environmental consciousness that ensures economic, social, and environmental sustainability for Utah. USEE is non-profit organization dedicated to a non-advocacy standpoint that has clear, set goals to provide leadership to formal teachers, non-formal educators, and the community at large.

What is Green Fork? We at USEE wanted to connect with the community on a different level than we do through our newsletters and emails. We wanted to provide a space for the public to connect with each other, too. Green Fork is that space. It is a place to ask questions, provide thoughts, contribute your efforts, and mainly to learn from each other.

Who is Green Fork for? Well, anybody! The primary purpose of Green Fork is to connect with the people of Utah, to spread the word about environmental education (EE), to discuss EE-related issues, and to expand environmental literacy within the state of Utah, but anyone is welcome to contribute. So if you have an interest in the environment, education, or environmental education, or if you have a desire to learn more about these things, then please get involved!

How can I get involved? Do you have something to say, an experience to share, or an idea to contribute that might relate to something we are writing about? Please share it in our comments section after each post. If you would like know more about a certain topic or have a specific question about something we haven't covered, please ask us! The USEE staff is comprised of people with very diverse backgrounds and our collective knowledge is extensive. If we don't know, or can't find, the answers to your questions, then we can certainly locate the resources to get you started in the right direction.

What types of things will be posted? Once we start to develop an article base, we will begin to categorize posts into groups with labels such as: EE Policies & Issues, Community Experience, Staff Efforts & Goals, Environmental Literacy, and a Teacher's Corner to name a few.

Are there opportunities to connect with my community face-to-face? Of course! Green Fork is also a springboard for our Community Discussion Courses where you can get together with your friends, family, coworkers, and neighbors to discuss issues such as food, energy, sustainability, voluntary simplicity, and many more. The USEE staff just completed the newest Community Discussion Course, Menu for the Future. There will be much more information about the Community Discussion Courses coming soon to a Green Fork post near you!

We hope you are as excited about Green Fork as we are. Stay tuned to join in on our journey of on-going environmental literacy, and remember to please relax, sit down, enjoy, and connect.

About Andree'

My name is Andree’ Walker Bravo and I am the Associate Director here at USEE. I’ve been here just about a year now, and love it. Previously, I worked at Utah State University Water Quality Extension as the Watershed Education Program Coordinator. I am a California girl at heart, but have been in Utah for 11 years, completing an undergrad and master’s degree at Utah State University, and various other things during that time. I’ve tried to leave Utah a couple of times, but have found that the amazing landscape and abundant outdoor opportunities here suck you back like a vortex. I’ve been in Salt Lake for a couple of years and have really enjoyed the “city life.” It is quite different than Logan, which I still miss as well.

I am recently married, bringing my new household to my husband (Joe) and I, my stepkids (Gracie and Johnny), my Black Lab (Bronco), and my 3 young chickens (Honey Glazed, Teriyaki, and BBQ). We are also new homeowners. So, you could probably guess that my hobbies are learning to be a mom, trying hard to grow a good garden (the first time in my life I’ve been able to have a garden for more than one year in a row), landscaping (read: pulling weeds), and trying to keep my chickens from eating the tomatoes. I love learning and trying new things. I’m the youngest of four in my family, and the only girl, so I’ve always been a bit stubborn, and not afraid to get dirty.







My goal with the Green Fork posts is to bring new information to you, whether you are a teacher, a parent, an interested citizen, whatever. I’d like to be able to share the new things I learn and make them easy to apply to our own lives if we wish. Happy Reading!

About Me: Nicole

First of all, I would like to say hello! to all of our new readers out there. With the launch of Green Fork, I am so eager to be able to reach out to the community in a way that we never have been able to before. Yes, you have heard it is an exciting time for environmental education. There are stimulating things happening on every front from the No Child Left Inside Coalition to talk in our own Salt Lake City newspapers. But these conversations will have to wait for another day. As much as I would like to talk about all of the amazing things that are coming together for environmental education, I must instead tell you a bit about myself first.

My name is Nicole Thomas and I am the Programs Assistant at USEE. I have been working here for a little over half a year and I love it! I was also working as a Youth Education Specialist at Red Butte Garden, but I now am dedicating my full time and attention to USEE. I was born in Salt Lake City, and have lived here for most of my life. My parents divorced when I was young and afterward my dad spent most of my life moving around to different parts of the country in pursuit of better career opportunities. Summers and Christmases were spent in Minnesota, Colorado, Indiana, and Tennessee. I also spent a fantastic five months in Alaska out on my own. Through these experiences I have developed a unique palate of landscapes, but after all is said and done, I keep coming back to the Utah backdrop.

My love affair with the outdoors started from an early age. I remember camping with my family in the Northern Wasatch Mountains when I was three or four, asking my mom, "why can't we bring the TV and plug it into a tree?" I soon vanquished this wild notion as I realized the joy to be had in the simplicity of the pine-forests and aspen groves. Since then I have explored many different types of outdoor enjoyment from hiking to rock climbing to cross-country skiing. My other interests and hobbies include playing my guitar, reading, and riding my bikes.

I attribute my attraction to environmental education to my early years spent in the vast wilderness of Utah and Colorado. This interest is ever expanding as I learn more and more about the troubles of our society and the solutions provided by getting kids outside. My continued involvement with USEE fosters my growing curiosity in matters of environmental education and I look forward to going on this journey of environmental literacy with you!