Washington, D.C.—Five educators who excel at using environmental education to spur students’ enthusiasm to learn were named the 2009 National Outstanding Educators of the Year by Project Learning Tree®, the environmental education program of the American Forest Foundation.

The five recipients are from California—Patricia Dunlap of the California Regional Environmental Education Community Network in Sonora; Maine—Olivia Griset, 10-12^th grade science teacher in Lisbon Falls; South Carolina—Denise Trufan, an elementary school science lab facilitator in Indian Land; Texas—Beatrice Long, 8^th grade science teacher in Houston; and Wyoming—Lucy Diggins-Wold with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department in Green River.

“These outstanding educators show the many ways that environmental education can be used with children and adults,” said Kathy McGlauflin, Director of Project Learning Tree and Senior Vice President of Education at the American Forest Foundation. “At all grade levels, inside and outside the classroom, environmental education opens up new ways to learn.”

Patricia Dunlap grew up in Los Angeles but her love of the outdoors brought her to Tuolumne County in northern California. Her passion is to connect youth with the natural forest community. As a regional coordinator for the California Regional Environmental Education Community, Dunlap organizes teacher workshops, including a weeklong Forestry Institute for Teachers. She also uses PLT with students at Curtis Creek and Twain Harte Elementary Schools. She initiated the Tuolumne County Forestry Youth Partnership, in which high school students shadow U.S. Forest Service employees for six weeks in the summer.

Olivia Griset teaches biology, oceanography, and other courses to students in grades 10 thorough 12 at Lisbon High School in Lisbon Falls, Maine. She developed a field ecology class in which students learn and conduct research outdoors. She began her environmental education career at the Utah State College of Natural Resources Environmental Education Laboratory. Soon after moving to Maine in 2003, she went back to school to become a public school teacher. She has worked with local community members, Maine PLT, and the Maine Forest Service to create a secondary-level unit on forestry based on an activity found in PLT’s Forest Ecology module and has been instrumental in introducing fellow teachers to the PLT curriculum.

Denise Trufan is the science lab facilitator for grades K through 5 at Indian Land Elementary School in Indian Land, South Carolina. She is preparing to organize the entire faculty (85 teachers) at Indian Land to receive PLT training and become a “South Carolina PLT Environmental School.” A recycling program she launched saves the school thousands of dollars, and kids are actively involved. Her after-school club, called Ecowarriors, does research, puts on plays, and gardens. Trufan lives in Charlotte, NC, and is active in environmental education in both states.

Beatrice Long teaches seventh and eighth graders at Seabrook Intermediate School and volunteers with the Environmental Institute of Houston. Her students are often either investigating outside or doing hands-on science work inside the classroom. As an adjunct professor at the University of Houston-Clear Lake, she instructs current and future teachers in science methods courses that incorporate PLT concepts and activities. She is also an active volunteer with the Texas Association for Environmental Education and the Texas Envirothon.

Lucy Diggins-Wold, Information and Education Specialist with the Wyoming Game & Fish Department in Green River, WY, develops school, youth camp, and teacher programs in southwest Wyoming. She is known throughout her part of the state for her weekly radio spots on the environment. She has helped organize PLT workshops and other activities for more than 25 years, noting that “PLT activities are fun with a purpose.”  Earlier in her career, she worked as a park ranger and naturalist in Idaho.

Project Learning Tree® (PLT) is the environmental education program of the American Forest Foundation. PLT provides educators with comprehensive environmental education curriculum resources that can be integrated into lesson plans for all grades and subject areas. PLT teaches students “how to think, not what to think” about complex environmental issues, and helps students learn the skills they need to make sound choices about the environment.

Developed in 1976, PLT has an international network of more than 500,000 trained educators using PLT materials that cover the total environment.  The American Forest Foundation, a nonprofit organization, works for healthy forests, quality environmental education, and informed decision-making about our communities and our world.