FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 11, 2010
Diversity in nature panel part of annual Grassroots Gathering
The Appalachian Mountain Club’s (AMC) Director of Education, Pam Hess, moderated an August 11 panel on diversity in nature at the fourth annual Children & Nature Network (C&NN) Grassroots Gathering, August 11-13 in Princeton, New Jersey. This year’s theme, “Leading to Change: An Exploration of Collaborative Leadership,” is designed to advance the scale, pace, and success of the international movement to reconnect children and nature by providing practical tools, firsthand experience and transferable methods.
The panel moderated by Hess, “Leading to Diversity,” reflected the focus of C&NN’s Natural Leaders and their emphasis on diversity in nature. Participants offered personal perspectives and experiences in successfully engaging a wide range of people and communities in connecting with the natural world.
Hess additionally facilitated an interactive break-out session on the role collaborative leadership plays in building and enlarging community within the movement, particularly as it relates to ethnic and cultural diversity. Presenters gave a brief overview of their programs to reach urban youth, including challenges and ideas for expansion, which led to group discussion.
For information about C&NN, visit www.childrenandnature.org.
The AMC’s Youth Opportunities Program (YOP) for urban and at-risk youth has supported cultural diversity in the outdoors for over 40 years. Diversity was also a key focus at the recent Outdoor Nation Youth Summit, where Hess helped facilitate youth-led discussions about better connecting youth with the outdoors. The AMC is an Outdoor Nation coalition partner.
Pam Hess holds a Master of Science degree in Natural Resources in Environmental Education from the University of Wisconsin‐Stevens Point and a Bachelor of Science degree in Wildlife Biology from the University of Vermont. Her areas of expertise include urban youth programs, engaging youth and families in the outdoors, outdoor education and skills for grades K‐12 and No Child Left Inside federal legislation, and state and local environmental education initiatives in the Northeast.
Each year, the AMC serves nearly 40,000 young people through lodge- and hut-based family programs, school programs, guided teen adventures, and programs for at-risk youth. In addition, many AMC chapters offer local, close-to-home programs for families in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. For more information about AMC’s education programs, visit www.outdoors.org/recreation.
Founded in 1876, the Appalachian Mountain Club is America’s oldest conservation and recreation organization. With more than 100,000 members, advocates, and supporters in the Northeast and beyond, the nonprofit AMC promotes the protection, enjoyment, and understanding of the mountains, forests, waters, and trails of the Appalachian region. The AMC supports natural resource conservation while encouraging responsible recreation, based on the philosophy that successful, long-term conservation depends upon first-hand enjoyment of the natural environment.
