Education

Connecting people to nature through education

Many people feel a strong connection to the outdoors because someone—a teacher, family member, or friend—brought them outside and introduced them to the beauty of the natural world. Having that personal connection to nature is important for the health and well-being of people, communities, and our natural resources.

At the Natural Resources Foundation, we are committed to connecting people to nature, by investing in education programs that have a significant impact, and provide meaningful experiences for children and adults to connect to Wisconsin’s great outdoors.

Dollars to education

Children learning outdoors

Field Trip experiences

Our education strategy

Grantmaking

We offer critical funding opportunities to educators, schools, nature centers, and other education partners for efforts that engage youth and adults in hands-on, meaningful environmental education.

Exploration

Provide a direct connection to Wisconsin’s natural resources through our Field Trip program. We also offer international trips that bring Wisconsinites closer to conservation efforts around the world.

Engagement

We seek to engage the public in conservation efforts by supporting citizen-based monitoring, citizen-supported restoration projects, and other volunteer opportunities around the state.

Environmental Education Hero

Victoria Rydberg is the Environmental Education Consultant for the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI), co-founder of the Wisconsin Green Schools Network, and a member of the Foundation’s Environmental Education Advisory Council. Victoria plays a key role for environmental education in Wisconsin by supporting educators across the state, connecting them to resources, and building capacity for meaningful environmental education.

My goal for environmental education is to help people understand the big picture. You can’t separate humans and the environment – you need to look at them together through real-world, broad-based learning experiences. … Once I started using the environment to teach, I saw how engaged the kids were, and how learning all of a sudden became relevant and exciting.

Help us strengthen environmental education in Wisconsin.

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Impact in Action

Conservation Dogs Lend a Paw in Bumble Bee Surveys

Thanks to the incredible support from the Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin’s Wisconsin Pollinator Protection Fund, Midwest Conservation Dogs, Inc. has begun training professional detection dogs to locate bumble bee nests.

Conservation, Community, and Racial Justice

Recent events have shined a light on the deeply ingrained injustices that people of color continue to face, particularly the black community. The discrimination, violence, and oppression have left me and my colleagues at the Foundation deeply disturbed. We are angry. We are sad. We also stand in solidarity with all who are working to assure social and racial justice.

7 Ways to Celebrate Earth Day’s 50th Anniversary

While most Earth Day in-person and large events have been canceled, the celebration of the nation-wide event that began right here in Wisconsin continues.