Rhode Island Environmental Education Association - RIEEA

10/27/2026

🚨 Registration closes Thursday, October 29! Join us for the Island Youth Climate Conference 2026 on Saturday, November 7, at Williams Park Zoo & Carousel Village for a free day of hands-on climate and art activities, leadership building, and community action planning for teams of 3–6 youth (ages 14–18) and one adult mentor (21+). Food and transportation costs are covered, and teams can qualify for funding to bring their climate action ideas to life. Learn more and register: https://www.rieea.org/programs/youth-leadership/

10/26/2026

What becomes possible when young people have real power to shape what happens next? SJ Jennings will join us again at the Rhode Island Youth Climate Conference 2026 on November 7 for an interactive workshop – Beyond Youth Voice: Building Climate Leadership Through Youth–Adult Partnership.

Young people are already leading, but are adults and institutions creating the conditions for their leadership to matter? In this session designed for the teams’ adult mentors, participants will explore how power and decision-making shape youth–adult partnerships, discuss practical tools for sharing leadership, and identify meaningful ways to build more authentic and equitable partnerships with young people in climate and community work.

As an educator, facilitator, and community connector, SJ brings a decade of experience teaching in DC public schools and a passion for creating learning experiences where young people and adults shape change together. Through her work with Halcyon Education LLC, Earth Force, Farm Fresh Rhode Island, and the University of Rhode Island, she supports environmental education, community engagement, and youth-powered leadership.

Mentors - Come ready to reflect, connect, and discover how we can move beyond youth voice to share power and build a more just and sustainable future!

Registration ends THIS THURSDAY, 10/29. Learn more and register your team today: bit.ly/RI-YCC

10/26/2026

Congrats to Layla! Read more: https://wrwc.org/layla-farahbakhsh-2026-environmental-educator-of-the-year/

WRWC celebrates Layla Farahbakhsh, named Rhode Island's 2026 Environmental Educator of the Year by RIEEA, for their inspiring work.

10/26/2026

What if we celebrated the ancient neighbors we share this planet with? At the Rhode Island Youth Climate Conference 2026 on Nov. 7th, Eli Nixon (artist, community organizer, and environmental educator) will share a suitcase theater imagining a new holiday in honor of horseshoe crabs as an invitation to rethink our place in the more-than-human world. Participants will dream up their own new holidays celebrating extraordinary organisms, ancient rocks, clouds, waterways, and other wonders that existed long before humans. Through low-stakes drawing prompts, absurdist play, and collaborative world-building, we’ll explore how creativity and collective ritual can help us meet climate anxiety, rage, and grief while nurturing awe, connection, and community power.

Eli Nixon concocts low-tech public spectaculah. They are a settler-descended transqueer clown, a cardboard constructionist, and a maker of plays, puppets, pageants, parades, drawings, suitcase theaters, and primordial interventions in Modern Human time. Eli collaborates with artists, scientists, schools, mental health and recovery centers, libraries and the more-than-human world to expand imaginative capacity and build muscles for collective liberation. They are a Rhode Islander living on Pokanoket, Nipmuc, and Narragansett land.

Registration ends on Thursday, 1029! Learn more about Eli Nixon and the Rhode Island Youth Climate Conference 2026 on Nov. 7th: https://www.rieea.org/programs/youth-leadership/

Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management Roger Williams Park Zoo & Carousel Village

10/23/2026

How can we turn our passion for the planet into meaningful change? Ayana Melvan will join us at the Rhode Island Youth Climate Conference 2026 on Nov. 7th. Her presentation “The Cycle Ends with Us: Finding Your Place in an Intergenerational Environmental Justice Movement” will explore how youth-led advocacy, intergenerational collaboration, and lived experience are shaping the future of environmental and ocean justice.

As Executive Vice President of the Aquarium Conservation Partnership and President and CEO of Nature Based Solutions, LLC, Ayana brings more than a decade of experience advancing racial equity and driving cross-sector collaboration. Her work spans youth development, aquariums, and zoos, with a focus on addressing social, environmental, and ocean justice.

Learn more about Ayana Melvan and the 2026 RI Youth Climate Conference on Nov. 7th: https://www.rieea.org/programs/youth-leadership/

Sponsor shoutout: Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, Roger Williams Park Zoo & Carousel Village, Wakefield Rotary and Friends, Island AFL-CIO

10/22/2026

Proud to celebrate our 2026 Environmental Education Award winners at a ceremony last night at Save The Bay Center. We love our RI EE community!

10/22/2026

We had so much fun hosting our final workshop in our Education Through Cultivation workshop series designed to help you connect audiences of all ages with the living systems that sustain us. On October 15, we gathered outside for the Shuck & Learn workshop with Captain Jason Jarvis and Mary Parks of greencrab.org at The Venue at Wilcox Tavern in Charlestown, RI! 🦀

Warmed by the fire, we enjoyed green crab roe butter, chowder, and freshly shucked oysters and little neck clams while learning about the ecological impact of green crabs and the creative culinary efforts turning this invasive species into an opportunity.
The evening also highlighted greencrab.org’s Crab Class program, including in-classroom activities and ways for students to get involved in community science through data collection.

A great evening of environmental education, local seafood, hands-on learning, and good company. Thank you to everyone who joined us and to Jason, Mary, and Frank for facilitating 🔥🦪🌊 On a side note, we think we need to host more workshops at spaces like The Venue at Wilcox Tavern so we can enjoy a variety of beverages while learning! We look forward to next year’s workshop series based on the theme of our 2027 Summit (to be announced soon so stayed tuned)!

10/20/2026

RIEEA is thrilled to introduce the featured presenters for our Rhode Island Youth Climate Conference 2026 happening Saturday, November 7, at Roger Williams Park Zoo’s new Conservation Education Center! This free event is designed for RI youth ages 14–18 who are passionate, or even just curious, about climate change and environmental leadership. Registration closes Thursday, October 29.

FEATURED PRESENTERS:
🌊 Ayana Melvan, Executive Vice President of the Aquarium Conservation Partnership and CEO & President of Nature Based Solutions, LLC
🕰️ Eli Nixon, Artist and Community Organizer
🎥 Ocean State Media with Colleen Kenyon, Chief Community & Education Officer, and Gabby Sanchez, Community Engagement Specialist
👥 SJ Jennings, CEO & Founder, Halcyon Education LLC

This is a unique opportunity to grow leadership skills and take meaningful action. Please help us spread the word by sharing this event, talking to youth in your community, or bringing a team. Interested or have questions? Please reach out. We are happy to help!

LEARN MORE: https://www.rieea.org/programs/youth-leadership/

Please share widely!

10/20/2026

Sliding scale tickets are still available for tomorrow night's celebration! https://www.rieea.org/programs/environmental-education-awards/