CLEARING: PNW Journal of Environmental Education in the Pacific Northwest

Inspiring Mindfulness in Students

editor — Fri, 04 Sep 2026 18:36:02 +0000

Photo courtesy of IslandWood Inspiring Mindfulness in Students by Stella Terry Graduate student at IslandWood Right before I opened the gate to the canopy tower I asked my group of eager 5th graders if any of them had done box breathing. I said: “Let’s try a breathing exercise to help us become calmer.” We […]

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Ear to the Ground: Colin Harris

editor — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 16:47:13 +0000

Colin Harris is the founder and executive director of Take Me Outside, and initiated the organization by running across Canada, going into 80 schools across the country and engaging 20,000 students in conversations around their time spent in front of screens compared to their time spent outside, being active and connecting to nature. Take Me […]

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Teaching Biodiversity Through Local Landscapes: Salmon, Storying, and Place-Based Learning

editor — Mon, 25 May 2026 21:40:34 +0000

Teaching Biodiversity Through Local Landscapes: Salmon, Storying, and Place-Based Learning Authors: Poh Tan PhD (UBC, Exp. Medicine), PhD (SFU, Education) Scientist, Researcher, Educator, Author, Entrepreneur Non-Regular Faculty, Research Associate, Institute for Environmental Learning; Founder and CEO, STEMedge Academy Jennifer Wong 3rd Year Student, Visual Arts, Emily Carr University of Art + Design; Certificate of Visual […]

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What is Good Environmental Education?

editor — Fri, 23 Jan 2026 18:47:33 +0000

What is Good Environmental Education? Our students need to be ready to invest in building positive futures for the communities to which they belong – household to global. by Peter Hayes (originally published in CLEARING Feb 17, 2016 he choice to become an educator brings with it a career-long sentence to the blessing and curse […]

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Healing Waters

editor — Tue, 20 Jan 2026 19:11:46 +0000

Healing Waters An Oregon educator breaks the logjam of environmental conflict by Matt Love The rain stops and my 7th and 8th grade combined English class hikes down Nestucca Spit, a finger of drifting dunes on the north Oregon Coast. We are there to stimulate our senses for a poetry writing exercise. It takes […]

The post Healing Waters first appeared on CLEARING: PNW Journal of Environmental Education in the Pacific Northwest.

From Alaska to Oregon: Students Experience the 2025 NAME Conference

editor — Mon, 29 Dec 2025 21:46:20 +0000

From Alaska to Oregon: Students Experience the 2025 NAME Conference reprinted from NW Compass, the newsletter of the Northwest Aquatic and Marine Educators (NAME) The Ketchikan National Ocean Sciences Bowl team, also known as the Saber-Toothed Salmon, is a competition based high school group that focuses on ocean related knowledge in Alaska and beyond. While […]

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Pairing Autoethnography with Biocultural Diversity in Botanical Gardens

editor — Mon, 29 Dec 2025 19:53:02 +0000

Dr. David Zandvliet, Ph.D., Simon Fraser University Professor and UNESCO Chair Chantal Martin Director, Education & Research Vancouver Botanical Gardens Association Poh Tan PhD (UBC, Exp. Medicine), PhD (SFU, Education) Scientist, Researcher, Educator, Author, Entrepreneur Research Associate, Institute for Environmental Learning Founder and CEO, STEMedge Academy Shaila Shams Doctoral Student, Faculty of Education Simon Fraser […]

The post Pairing Autoethnography with Biocultural Diversity in Botanical Gardens first appeared on CLEARING: PNW Journal of Environmental Education in the Pacific Northwest.

Digital Environmental Literacy: Student Generated Data and Inquiry

editor — Sun, 28 Dec 2025 22:05:49 +0000

How do we train educators to successfully interface technologies with the outdoor experiences that they provide their students? by R. Justin Hougham, Marc Nutter, Megan Gilbertson, Quinn Bukouricz University of Wisconsin – Extension Originally published January 2020 Technology in education (ed tech) is constantly changing and growing in impact in classrooms across the globe. While […]

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Fun With Soil Health: Engaging Communities in Agriculture Education

editor — Sun, 07 Dec 2025 00:42:22 +0000

It’s hard to imagine a more attention-getting activity for students of all ages than the Soil Your Undies Challenge. The name alone evokes questions, and the process is a memorable way for students to understand the multiple factors impacting soil health, as 21 K-12 educators learned at an Engaging Communities in Agriculture Education workshop in […]

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A linguistic “ecosystem”: Word study methods for outdoor education

editor — Thu, 06 Nov 2025 05:21:36 +0000

A linguistic “ecosystem”: Word study methods for outdoor education by Sam Rubin samrubin19@gmail.com Once the students had settled on the benches of the Pond Shelter on IslandWood’s campus, I unfolded my large butcher paper with the word “macroinvertebrate” written in large letters. “What does that say, macrinovirbatalalalate?” “Microscope?” “Macaroni and cheese!” A chorus […]

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