2026 LEEF Conference Wakulla Wild

Join us for a hands-on workshop using local spring water samples to explore connections between climate, pollution, and community health for humans and wildlife. Participants will test water quality, collect and log data, and consider how to integrate civic action into classroom practice. All attendees will receive a copy of Local Waters, Global Impact to support place-based environmental education.

This workshop requires pre-registeration. Adding the workshop to your agenda in Sched is not the same as registering for the workshop!

To register, please email [email protected] before March 20.

Since first sharing our Wild About Wildflowers! curriculum at the 2018 LEEF conference, the Florida Wildflower Foundation has expanded and refreshed the guide to include new activities, updated resources and deeper connections to Florida standards. Designed for formal and nonformal educators alike, the curriculum introduces students to the beauty, ecology and importance of Florida’s native wildflowers and pollinators through hands-on, inquiry-based learning. This session will showcase highlights of the updated guide, including activities that explore wildflower habitats, pollinator relationships and real-world conservation actions students can take in their communities. Presenters will share strategies for incorporating these activities into a variety of learning settings and provide resources to help participants adapt them for their own students and audiences. Join us to discover how Florida’s wildflowers can spark curiosity, deepen ecological understanding, and empower the next generation of environmental stewards.

The AWE curriculum is developed around an anchoring phenomenon of harmful algal blooms. The short AWE unit begins with a watershed lesson, followed by a longer lesson on food webs/trophic levels/interconnectedness. The unit culminates in an investigation in which students use what they have learned to discover how nutrient loading can affect aquatic habitat quality and return to the anchoring phenomenon to figure out its causes. All lessons meet the call for ambitious science teaching practices and the national NGSS frameworks and standards and builds on required Florida NGSSS standards (Windschitl et al, 2018; NRC, 2012; NGSS 2013). The unit has been successfully pilot-tested through several iterations by many experienced teachers and revised based on their input. Participants will get to experience some of the activities and discuss the entire curriculum.

This workshop requires pre-registeration. Adding the workshop to your agenda in Sched is not the same as registering for the workshop!

To register, please email [email protected] before March 20.

This session highlights a University of Florida Extension project that integrates the Community Action Project for the Environment (CAPE) framework with youth from Scouting America, Girl Scouts of the USA, and other groups. Parents and troop leaders are equipped to guide youth through multi-month, community-based environmental action projects. Evaluation results demonstrate growth in youth scientific literacy, skills, and efficacy, illustrating how CAPE empowers meaningful, long-term environmental action.

Educators can't always take participants outside to look for birds... and sometimes when we do, the birds don't always cooperate! See how easy it is to teach the skill of using binoculars and the basics to identify birds. Not only is this a fun & easy way to introduce bird watching & identification, but it will also prepare them to look at details when you can go outside to look for birds. Join me on the Great LEEF (fake) Bird Count!

Note:Change in Presenter

Conservation Pathways is a nonprofit organization that serves high school and college students interested in pursuing careers in conservation. We work with students to develop field research, science communication, and professionalism skills. Through our science communication focus, we provide field trips, presentations, and other environmental education opportunities for communities in Florida’s Big Bend region. This presentation will introduce our model for inspiring the next generation of conservation leaders, share best management practices for internship programs, and engage participants in a discussion about creative ways to use citizen science and experiential learning as tools to foster students’ and the general public’s connection to local ecosystems. Our fellows will practice their communication skills by sharing their personal experiences as well.

This presentation, led by the WILD teen stewards, explores how programs like WILD promote inclusive leadership by engaging teens from diverse backgrounds in environmental education and action. Through immersion trips, community programming, and leadership engagement, WILD teens develop professional skills while deepening their connection to Florida’s natural systems, all as high school students. Presenting their stories illustrate how inclusive, youth-centered programming can transform environmental spaces into platforms for growth and leadership. This presentation highlights the importance of cultivating spaces where every teen can engage, lead, and make an impact in environmental education.

This lightning presentation highlights a project from the 2025 Civic-Environmental Education (CEE) Change Fellowship of the North American Association of Environmental Educators (NAAEE). The project aims to provide professional development workshops that integrate Traditional Ecological Knowledge into environmental education with the support of AI tools for environmental educators in Africa. Lessons learned from these international workshops will offer valuable insights into professional development for educators in Florida and beyond.

Broward County has a large, diverse group of residents and a limited number of natural areas for people to enjoy. Those that exist are small and not well known by residents. The North Natural Areas Naturalist group has created programing within natural areas, regional parks and libraires to educate the public on the importance of native nature while also promoting wellness, environmental education, and building community.