Environmental Educator Certification Program

2026-2027 Participant Lookbook

Please create a slide introducing yourself to the other EECP participants and program mentors.

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Include:

• Your name (and pronunciation, if helpful)
• Your pronouns (i.e. they/them, she/her, he/him)
• A current photo
• EE work setting/experience (current and past, if applicable)
• Location
• Anything else you want us to know about you (optional)

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Estrella’s is included below. Feel free to get creative!

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** Note that you can edit these slides directly (but please don’t change the formatting of anyone else’s slide). Alternatively, you can create a new slide in Canva or Powerpoint and share that with Estrella.

Estrella (Eh-stray-yuh) Risinger (Rising-er)

she/her, LinkedIn

• Executive Director, AEOE
• CAELI EE Provider Co-Lead
• NAAEE Affiliate Network Co-Chair
• Former National Education Manager, NatureBridge
• Former Outdoor Educator & Co-Director, Camp Chrysalis
• Former 2nd & 3rd Gr Teacher, Aurora School

I also love hiking, reading, and camping with my family

Ohlone Land

Araceli (Ah-Rah-Cell-E) Hernandez | she/they�📍Fernandeno Tataviam Land | San Fernando Valley

• Program Manager, Nature for All
• Focus is on conservancy and environmental justice
• Program Coordinator, Latino Outdoors | Los Angeles
• Focus is on visibility and accessibility for latinos in the outdoors
• Masters in Urban Studies & Planning
• EE work setting/experience:
• CA Naturalist Instructor- 6 years
• Outings Trip Leader - 8 years
• Recently received my CA Native Landscape Certification
• Like hiking, camping, crafting, snorkeling, and birding

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Ashley Sanchez (She/Her) - Linkedin

Currently living in Southern California, Originally from Minnesota.

Recent Graduate from ASU with B.S. in Conservation Biology and Ecology and Sustainability with certifications in GIS.

EE Experience:

• Study Abroad in Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands
• California Wolf Center Internship
• Girl Scouts of San Gorgonio Environmental Education Instructor
• Summer Camp Instructor at Pathfinder Ranch

Passionate about the world around me and eager to share it with others through a wide variety of activities and inclusion.

Previously working as a lifeguard and swim instructor/coach.

Bahar Pahlevani (She/Her)

• Currently a Senior Project Coordinator in Education and Community Engagement at The Energy Coalition and a Volunteer Docent at Arroyos & Foothills Conservancy

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• Background in wildlife health and conservation

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• Based in Los Angeles

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• I love to make art, visit museums, rock climb, kayak, travel, and dance!

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www.linkedin.com/in/bahar-pahlevani-10419320a

Beller Pelayo

They / Them

• Sequoia National Park, CA
• Naturalist at Sequoia Parks Conservancy
• Former OE leader at CSUMB

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Hobbies include photography, being outside/active, and eating good food!

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www.linkedin.com/in/beller-pelayo-10b407294

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Yuba City High School & Cosumnes River College

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B.S. Ecology & Evolutionary Biology

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M.S. Chemistry

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GCSE EnvironMentors Chapter Lead

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Conservation Science Internship Coordinator

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Benjamin Haney (He/Him) - Science Instructor

Artemis I Moon Tree Planting

Brenton Cooper (He/Him)

Hails from Fresno, CA

Lives in Los Angeles, CA

- Formerly a Summer Camp Counselor at River Camp in Fresno, run by the San Joaquin River Parkway & Conservation Trust

-An Aftercare Teacher at Everlasting Elementary (based in LA)

-Currently an Environmental Educator at Hawks Kids & the RCD of the Santa Monica Mountains, leading kids on field trips, summer camps, and after school program through Los Angeles’s various beautiful biomes

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Brooke Kasl-Godley (she/her)

• Oakland (recent college grad, BA in Environmental Science & Psychology from Scripps College in LA)
• Current 1st Grade Teacher at independent school in Oakland
• Seasonal lead instructor for ZooCamp at the Oakland Zoo
• Former Education Manager at the Roberts Environmental Center →curriculum development, program evaluation, bridging K-12 ed and outdoor ed, climate education pedagogy & research

Cecilia Felix (she/her)

• Currently 5th grade teacher in Atascadero, CA
• Former Outdoor Educator at 2 outdoor schools- Cuyamaca Outdoor School (Descanso, CA) and SCICON (Springville, CA)
• Raptor Center and Museum
• Geology/Biology
• Adventuring in every way!
• Instagram: ccfelynx

Daniela “Dani” Martinez (they/them)

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My current role is that of an Outdoor Environmental Education Fellow at a public elementary school. I am also a gardener, Certified California Naturalist and CA Native Plant Landscaper from Southeast LA currently using my skills to enrich the education and gardens of TK-5^th graders in Northeast Los Angeles.

Elena Lengardt | she/her

📍 San Francisco, California

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* Founder & educator at Taiga Forest School, a Russian immersion nature-based preschool in Golden Gate Park

* Former artist, now working in early childhood & outdoor education

* Immigrant from Russia

* Passionate about creating a community for immigrant families who, like me, are learning how to navigate parenting and education in the U.S.

* Mom of a 2-year-old

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Instagram: @taiga.school.sf

Website: taiga-school.com

Erika Bessler

she/her

• Based in South SF Bay
• Interpretive Associate for the San Francisco Bay Wildlife Society (friends group to USFWS at Don Edwards SF Bay National Wildlife Refuge.
• Former Interpretive Specialist Intern at San Mateo County Parks
• Former day camp manager at UC Davis! Go Ags!

I love hiking new trails with friends and/or my deaf pitbull, exploring indie bookstores, baking sweet treats, and swimming on my master's team!

Erika Bruno | she/they

Oakland, CA

• Program Coordinator - Bay Area Wilderness Training / Outdoors Empowered Network
• Approx. 10 years in outdoor industry → retail, outdoor instructor, non-profit
• EcoExperience, GirlVentures, Justice Outside
• Former assistant teacher
• International Relations, BA - Humboldt State University
• Human Rights & Educational Justice, MA - University of San Francisco
• Enjoys: hiking, rock climbing, swimming, music, reading, eating, domestic & international travel

Frieda Chase

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• She/her
• Early Childhood Educator
• Currently run the community garden at my school in addition to being a lead teacher
• Long Beach, CA
• My hobbies include crocheting, gardening, traveling, and spending time with my dogs and cats.

Irma Vazquez

she/her

Hawthorne, CA

(Los Angeles)

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• Mom of three college aged children: 21, 23, 25. Caregiver. Partner.

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• Veteran educator: 36th year as Dual Immersion/Bilingual Teacher - Spanish (Current: 3rd Grade Dual Immersion @ Inglewood Unified School District)

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• Founder:

My Escuelita: Spanish for Kids Educational Services

Teacher, Consultant, Curriculum and Instruction design

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• Host of My Escuelita Spanish Immersion Outdoor Camps in my home garden classroom (Summer, Fall, Winter, Spring)

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• Steward of my school garden (partnered with Enrich LA, Grades of Green)

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• Teacher mentor and workshop facilitator at CSUDH/LA College of Education (STEAM and Dual Immersion conferences.) Workshop facilitator: “Re-imagining green spaces in schools” and Science lessons that include dual self-care for students and teachers alike.

• Partnered with Healing Gardens as a host garden in Hawthorne, Ca.

LINKED IN

Jazmine Aguirre Medina

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• Manage and facilitate the Young Curators After- School Program, providing hands-on STEM learning experiences for middle school students across Los Angeles
• Teach Biology in partnership with New Village Girls Academy
• Former Environmental Educator at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, Arizona
• B.S in Environmental Geography from Cal Poly Pomona, Dance minor
• Outside of work, I enjoy hiking, bird watching, roadtrips and camping.
• I also really enjoy going out to dance salsa and bachata

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She/Her​

Community Engagement Coordinator at California Science Center

Vending at a local market in LA!

Tidepooling

My favorite place

My cat, Stella

Jessica Almos

• she/her
• Lake Forest, CA (Orange County)
• LinkedIn

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• Education and Engagement Fellow with Sustainability Service Corps, host site The Energy Coalition
• Interested in Indigenous pedagogy and land stewardship
• Big theatre kid (stage managing Hunchback of Notre Dame at Newport Theatre Arts Center right now!)

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LinkedIn link!

Kyrie Vesely

She/Her

Land Program Manager at Marine Science Institute

I have been an outdoor educator in Redwood City for 6 years, and the Land Program Manager for 2 years

I also love reading, tide pooling (or anything by the water), ttrpgs and other board games

Milly Itzhak (she/her) based in Claremont, CA 91711

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• Multidisciplinary writer, recent MFA from UC Riverside
• My writing explores how people develop meaningful relationships with the natural world and with each other
• Graduate Teaching Assistant for environmental sociology courses (ecology, climate change, environmental justice)
• Interested in shifting away from academia and working with community based groups and organizations
• Background working on organic farms in NorCal
• From the East Coast/NYC, former camera assistant for film and television
• When not at my desk, I enjoy exploring the outdoors

click to connect on IG @hunterandcodesigns

LinkedIn Profile

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YAYA Website

Richard Romero (He/Him)

• Based in Fresno CA
• Experience in Environmental Education
• Outdoor Educator for After school Program
• Outdoor Equity Program Coordinator for the Sierra Resource Conservation District
• Volunteer Coordinator for the California Native Plant Society
• I also work as a Field Biologist surveying for Protected Species, Nesting birds, and Rare Plants

Samar Salma

Sandra Reyes (she/her/ella)

Bilingual Environmental Educator at Canopy

Former High School Teacher

Based in San Francisco

I love to crochet, hike, bike and play trumpet!

Sara Gomez

• She/Her/Hers/Ella
• Special Education Teacher, Long Beach Unified School District
• Recreation Specialist, City of Signal Hill
• Long Beach, CA, ancestral land of Tongva/Gabrielino peoples

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I enjoy hiking, camping, running, reading, and spending time with my dogs, Max, Maya, and Mando.

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“In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." - John Muir

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LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sara-gomez-9626aaa4/

South Santa Clara County | Coyote Valley, California

Ancestral Lands of the Mutsun & Ohlone Peoples

Steward • Educator • Eco-Co-Creator

Sarah “Miller” Stilgenbauer

We believe environmental education helps restore relationship with:

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Ourselves

Eachother

Place of the more-than-human world

Environmental Education

• Community-based environmental educator, ecological steward & Farmer
• UCCE/UCANR Certified Master Composter & Climate Steward
• Native Plant Educator & Designer
• Former California Climate Action Corps Fellow
• K–12 Substitute Educator, SJUSD & GUSD
• Eco-co-creator — Coyote Valley Agroecology Coalition
• M.S./Ph.D. candidate in Regenerative Sustainable Design, 2027

PVPUSD Sustainability Link