Episode 16: Using an app to connect to outdoor spaces

With Bridget Booth and Leah Higgins of the Michigan Alliance for Environmental and Outdoor Education (MAEOE) and the MiPINES app How can we connect people to outdoor spaces in their state or province? An app might not be the first thing that comes to mind, as so many are looking for ways to decrease screen time and increase green time. But maybe a bit of screen time on a carefully constructed app like MiPINES can ultimately get more people outdoors. How do these technologies impact experiential environmental educators like park naturalists? What are some of the keys to leveraging digital tools for outdoor learning? We discussed these topics and more… and got off on a tangent about the super-picky Kirtland’s Warblers in northern Michigan. Guests: Bridget Booth is an 8th-grade science teacher at Haslett Middle School and a certified environmental educator in Michigan. She got her start in education at Woldumar Nature Center in Lansing and has been taking students outdoors to learn ever since. She is currently the president of the Michigan Alliance for Environmental and Outdoor Education (MAEOE), whose mission is to support, inspire, and empower a diverse network of individuals with a passion for environmental and outdoor learning. Bridget lives with her husband and two sons in East Lansing and will spend her summer reading, playing in the northern woods, and swimming in the Great Lakes. Leah Higgins is beginning a career in environmental education after graduating Summa Cum Laude from Eastern Michigan University in 2019. After graduation, she worked as a volunteer intern for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR), and is now serving as the Education Programs Developer at the DNR RAM Center via Huron Pines AmeriCorps. Leah recognizes place-based education as a valuable component of any environmental ethic, noting that the environment is not a place “out there” but is instead the place where we all live.