Wednesday, May 6, 2026
Hosted by NWA Master Naturalists and Crystal Bridges Campus
Location: Heartland Whole Health Institute
850 Museum Way
Bentonville, AR 72712

Join the NWA Nature Network for the Spring Happy Hour.

• Connect with nature‑focused organizations, volunteers, educators, and civic partners in a relaxed, relationship‑building setting
• Enjoy free local food from Turnbuckle Farm (vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free options available) and a cash bar while engaging in lightly facilitated table conversations inspired by real‑world examples of integrating nature into a growing urban landscape
• Leave with new connections, fresh ideas, and greater awareness of partner organizations, volunteer opportunities, and shared challenges across the region
• Bring your organization’s news, events, and volunteer needs—flyers, info sheets, business cards, and other materials are encouraged. An information table will be available for sharing resources and making connections
• Optional pre‑event guided tour of the School of Medicine outdoor campus, highlighting the healing and teaching gardens, and green roof.  4:30 – 5:30, limited to 40 participants, starting at Campus Parking Plaza, 1005 Museum Way, Bentonville, AR 72712

Happy Hour registration is limited to the first 100 participants. To ensure space, food, and a high-quality networking experience, early registration is strongly encouraged.

Register Here

Free 60 minute virtual webinar.

This workshop will explore Julie’s accessibility framework to guide educators on how to assess and create inclusive nature experiences, as well as how to support disabled and neurodivergent learners. Audience members are encouraged to come with all of their accessibility and inclusion questions! Julie’s favourite part of presenting is providing support during Q&A.

All registrants will receive:

Access the recording, in case you can’t join us live
Access a Certificate of Attendance
Entry for some great prizes!

Offered in partnership with Take Me Outside. Please email accessibility@outdoorlearning.com to let us know if there are any accessibility barriers you face to being included or participating in this workshop, and we will do our best to accommodate you.

REGISTER HERE

Join the Arkansas Environmental Education Association in an interactive, virtual workshop on Environmental Education Materials: Guidelines for Excellence. 

Description: 

We invite classroom teachers, non-formal educators, curriculum developers, and program administrators to join us for an interactive, virtual workshop exploring the characteristics of high-quality environmental education materials. The guidebook Environmental Education Materials: Guidelines for Excellence comprises a set of recommendations for developing and selecting environmental education instructional materials. 

These guidelines

• aim to help producers of activity guides, lesson plans, and other instructional materials create high-quality products
• provide educators with a tool to evaluate the wide array of available environmental education materials.
• draw on our best thinking honed by scholars and practitioners across a variety of fields and settings, including formal and nonformal education, curriculum development, instructional design, early childhood education, and adult education

This is the first time for the Environmental Education Materials: Guidelines for Excellence workshop to be offered in Arkansas. It will be facilitated by Tara Poelzing, who recently served as the Virginia Association for Environmental Education’s Director of Professional Learning. With more than 25 years of experience in both formal and nonformal settings and across age groups, Tara adds this background to her extensive experience with the Guidelines for Excellence to build dynamic workshops that meet attendees’ needs. 

In September AEEA will host a workshop on Environmental Educator Knowledge and Skills. These two workshops can stand alone; however, attending both workshops will provide a deeper understanding of the Guidelines for Excellence in Environmental Education series.

Background:

The National Project for Excellence in Environmental Education, initiated by the North American Association for Environmental Education in 1993, developed a series of guidelines that set the standards for high-quality environmental education. Each of the publications was developed by a diverse team of professionals, and each has gone through a substantive review by thousands of professionals prior to its publication.

The guidelines deliver a set of balanced, scientifically accurate, and comprehensive environmental education programs and materials. Quality environmental education programs help develop an environmentally literate citizenry that can compete in our global economy; has the skills, knowledge, and inclinations to make well-informed choices; and exercises the rights and responsibilities of members of a community.

Date & Time: 

Monday, May 18, 4:30 – 6:30 pm
Wednesday, May 20, 4:30 – 6:30 pm

Professional Development:

Participants will be eligible for four hours of professional development.

Location: 

This workshop will be held over Zoom. After payment is received, login information will be sent with a confirmation. For participants who are unable to attend both sessions, we can record the main discussion of the workshop, however, this workshop will include breakout rooms for discussion that will not be recorded. Attending the workshop live is preferable. 

Cost:

AEEA members: $15
General public: $20

Attendees will receive a copy of Environmental Education Materials: Guidelines for Excellence.

Questions:

Contact Sophia Stephenson at director@arkansasee.org or 501.773.1107 for questions.

Registration:

Space is limited and pre-registration is required. 

To register and pay using a credit card, use this link.

To register and request an invoice before paying, use this link.

May 19 – July 21, 2026

This course is designed to provide educators with the background knowledge and skills necessary to ground future instruction in environmental education. This course will take approximately 10-12 hours to complete. 

Course Overview 

• Experience working in formal or nonformal education is not required but highly encouraged.

REQUIRED MATERIALS: 

• Access to reliable internet and a desktop computer or laptop.

Questions, contact Sophia Stephenson at director@arkansasee.org

COST:

AEEA members: $65
Nonmembers: $100

REGISTER HERE

May 19 – July 21, 2026

This course is designed to provide educators with the background knowledge and skills necessary to ground future instruction in environmental education. This course will take approximately 10-12 hours to complete. 

Course Overview 

• Experience working in formal or nonformal education is not required but highly encouraged.

REQUIRED MATERIALS: 

• Access to reliable internet and a desktop computer or laptop.

Questions, contact Sophia Stephenson at director@arkansasee.org

COST:

AEEA members: $65
Nonmembers: $100

REGISTER HERE

Monday, June 15 – Wednesday, June 17, 2026
Central Arkansas Water
5300 S. Shackleford Rd, Little Rock, AR 72204

Fee: $0 – sponsored by Central Arkansas Water
Qualifies for 18 hours of ADE-approved PD credit

Join Central Arkansas Water and UALR College of STEM for 3 days of professional learning about water! Days 1 and 2 will include traveling to different facilities. Day 3 will be a classroom day. Teachers will gain knowledge, tools and high-quality instructional materials to take back to their classrooms.

• Network with STEM educators from across the state
• Training led by Central Arkansas Water staff and Arkansas Department of Education Science Specialist
• Activities hosted at various sites each day for hands-on labs
• Features training led by CAW staff and ADE Science Specialists

Teachers will receive a Project WET (Water Education Today) guidebook, Water In Earth Systems. The guidebook contains 22 lessons for K-12 grades. It includes resource featuring engaging, hands-on activities designed to help students explore the interconnected systems of our planet. Covering key topics like the water cycle, weather, climate, geology, and ecosystems, this guide provides a foundation for understanding Earth’s dynamic processes. Each activity includes step-by-step instructions, academic correlations, and interactive experiences that foster critical thinking and problem-solving. As part of Project WET’s evolving curriculum, this guide will equip educators with essential tools to inspire the next generation of environmental stewards.

The workshop includes Project WET guidebook ($25 value), lunch, resources, and 18 hours of professional development.

For questions, contact
Jane Hurley, Jane.Hurley@carkw.com
Jami Eubanks, jeubanks1@ualr.edu

Registration link

Lunch will be provided.

June 17 – 18, 2026
10:00 am – 4:00 pm
Beaver Water District Office
301 N. Primrose Rd.
Lowell, AR 72745
Fee: $30 workshop only or $80 workshop plus lodging on 6/17
Qualifies for 12 hours of ADE-approved PD credit

This two-day professional development workshop is part of the 2026 Teacher Conservation Tour. This extensive educator workshop focuses on the environmental, ecological, and economic benefits of Arkansas’s forestlands and timber industries. The sessions and onsite tours provide educators with a lot of time in the woods, learning about the interaction between forests, the environment, and the economy. Participants tour forest product manufacturing facilities, view forest ecosystems, and harvesting and replanting operations all while learning valuable information about our forest communities. Participants also meet and learn from natural resource professionals and members of the forest products industry who are in the field conducting this work on a regular basis.

To Register: https://www.arkforests.org/events/EventDetails.aspx?id=2053801&group=     

Question: Contact Rob Beadel at rbeadel@arkforests.org.

This two-day professional development workshop is part of the 2026 Teacher Conservation Tour. This extensive educator workshop focuses on the environmental, ecological, and economic benefits of Arkansas’s forestlands and timber industries. The sessions and onsite tours provide educators with a lot of time in the woods, learning about the interaction between forests, the environment, and the economy. Participants tour forest product manufacturing facilities, view forest ecosystems, and harvesting and replanting operations all while learning valuable information about our forest communities. Participants also meet and learn from natural resource professionals and members of the forest products industry who are in the field conducting this work on a regular basis.

June 25, 2026
10:00 am – 4:00 pm
Lake Dardanelle State park Visitor’s Center
100 State Park Dr
Russellville, AR 72802
Fee: $30 workshop only or $80 workshop plus lodging on 6/17
Qualifies for 6 hours of ADE-approved PD credit

To Register: https://www.arkforests.org/events/EventDetails.aspx?id=2053811&group=     

Question: Contact Rob Beadel at rbeadel@arkforests.org.

May 19 – July 21, 2026

This course is designed to provide educators with the background knowledge and skills necessary to ground future instruction in environmental education. This course will take approximately 10-12 hours to complete. 

Course Overview 

• Experience working in formal or nonformal education is not required but highly encouraged.

REQUIRED MATERIALS: 

• Access to reliable internet and a desktop computer or laptop.

Questions, contact Sophia Stephenson at director@arkansasee.org

COST:

AEEA members: $65
Nonmembers: $100

REGISTER HERE

Have you ever wondered how paper plates and bowls are made? Join us for this unique PD to get a behind-the-scenes tour of the manufacturing process and learn more about the science and careers related to the power of paper.

Arkansas is a national leader in forestry, with the pulp and paper industry playing a key role in the state’s economy. This one-day professional development workshop equips classroom teachers and career coaches with hands-on, NGSS-aligned activities from Project Learning Tree’s Explore Your Environment K–8 guide, focused on forestry, sustainability, and natural resource careers. 

July 17, 2026
9:30 am – 3:30 pm
AGFC’s Janet Huckabee Arkansas River Valley Nature Center
8300 Wells Lake Road
Fort Smith, AR 72916
Lunch will be provided

Participants will also take part in an exclusive tour of Georgia-Pacific’s Dixie Plant, gaining realworld insight into the forest products industry to bring back to their students. Designed for educators, counselors, and youth program leaders, this workshop supports learning in classrooms, career readiness programs, and community settings. This PD qualifies for 6 hours of ADE-approved credit.

Register online through the ESCWorks Events Calendar at: https://www.escweb.net/ar_esc/catalog/session.aspx?session_id=578459   

Question: Contact Amber Cobb at amber.cobb@wscstarfish.com .

Tuesday, July 28, 2026
9:00 am – 3:30 pm
AGFC’s Fred Berry Crooked Creek Nature Center
851 Conservation Lane, Yellville, AR 72687

Fee: $30 payable at the workshop via cash or credit card
Qualifies for 6 hours of ADE-approved PD credit

Join Project Learning Tree and Project WET for a fun, interactive and educational professional development workshop focusing on Arkansas’s Woods and Water resources. Attendees will participate in hands-on activities focusing on our forests, lakes, rivers and streams. This unique workshop will feature two internationally recognized interdisciplinary curricula – Project WET and Project Learning Tree. Participants will receive two activity guides filled with hands-on activities — all correlated to state and national education frameworks. Both curricula align with the High Quality Instructional Materials (HQIM) frameworks for outstanding supplemental materials.

Project WET provides the essential knowledge and skills needed to understand and teach about one of our planet’s most
vital resources—water. Our “Foundations of Water Education” guide is meticulously designed for educators, environmental
enthusiasts, and professionals seeking to deepen their understanding of water systems and promote sustainable practices.
This guide covers a wide range of topics including water cycles, conservation techniques, water quality management, and the
social and economic impacts of water usage.

Project Learning Tree helps students learn about our natural and created environment, and understand their roles and
responsibilities within it. PLT teaches about trees, forests, wildlife, water, recycling, climate science, and green careers.
PLT’s interdisciplinary curricula supports the Arkansas Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s Outdoor
Education Initiative.

To Register: email Rob Beadel at rbeadel@arkforests.org.
Please include the name and location of the workshop you are signing up for.

Participants are asked to please bring lunch as lunch and food options are limited in the area.

Questions: Contact Heather Pitman at heather.pitman@agfc.ar.gov.