As a part of our Network of Conservation Educators and Practitioners (NCEP) program, the CBC organizes Conservation Teaching and Learning Events to promote opportunities for professional development. Using an action-oriented, participatory approach to conservation education, these events bring together teams of conservation educators to exchange teaching strategies, train in evidence-based pedagogical approaches, and practice new techniques.
Upcoming Events
NCEP Lunch & Learn: Conservation Museomics
Attention educators! Join us on Monday, April 13, at noon for a virtual brown bag lunch. Meet the author of an open-access teaching resource on using museum specimens to answer conservation research questions!
Museomics is an innovative field which involves the use of museum specimens to monitor biodiversity or examine the evolution and genetic diversity of species over time. The authors will provide a quick overview of these educational materials and will be there to answer your questions on how you could teach this in your classroom or implement it in your research!
Want to learn more? Register now to learn how to access this resource and use it in your college classroom. Register here
Recent Events
NCEP Community Exchange: Climate Change and the Voice from the Classroom
In April 2026 NCEP hosted a community Exchange event in collaboration with the Society for Conservation Biology North America’s Education Committee based on the perspective article “Climate Change and the Voice from the Classroom”. During the event Luiz Caldeira Brant de Tolentino-Neto used the article as a springboard to connect educators and practitioners navigating similar issues and topics in their classrooms to help them reflect on students’ perspectives around climate change education. This event was an opportunity for educators of all kinds to exchange strategies about incorporating student voices in the classroom, share their challenges, and find support in community.
NCEP Lunch & Learn: Random Acts of Kindness
In February 2026, NCEP hosted a virtual brown bag lunch with the author of Random Acts of Kindness. This perspective article was published in Lessons in Conservation Volume 14 and is intended to help college students process their complex feelings around topics such as climate change. Asking students to take small positive actions gives them agency to make a difference in the world around them, even when things feel hopeless.
If you are interested in accessing the recording of this Lunch & Learn, please contact the NCEP team at [email protected].
NCEP Lunch & Learn: Using a Field Journal to Enhance Observation Skills
NCEP's December Lunch & Learn centered on the module Using a Field Journal to Enhance Observation Skills. This exercise is designed to give students the opportunity to practice and refine their observation skills by keeping a field journal.
If you are interested in accessing the recording of this Lunch & Learn, please contact the NCEP team at [email protected].
NCEP's November 2025 Lunch & Learn centered on the module Assess Land Cover Using Remote Sensing. This exercise is designed to introduce students to remote sensing technologies through a case study-based activity where they identify and map potential deforestation hotspots in a forest reserve in Ghana.
If you are interested in accessing the recording of this Lunch & Learn, please contact the NCEP team at [email protected].
If you are interested in accessing the recording of this Lunch & Learn, please contact the NCEP team at [email protected].
NCEP's Fall 2024 Lunch & learn focused on the new module Managing Marine Seascapes Through Community-based Conservation. The authors showcased their exercises on the ecological, cultural, economic, and social significance of fisheries management strategies.
If you are interested in accessing the recording of this Lunch & Learn, please contact the NCEP team at [email protected].
In March 2024, the NCEP team hosted a virtual brownbag with the authors of the NCEP module Species Distribution Modeling for Conservation Educators and Practicioners. The authors showcased new exercises and other resources on species distribution models—touching on history and theory, data and algorithms including machine learning, and applications to conservation.
If you are interested in accessing the recording of this Lunch & Learn, please contact the NCEP team at [email protected].
In June 2023, the NCEP team hosted a group of post-secondary conservation educators for an interactive, online Conservation Teaching and Learning Studio tailored to early-career professionals. Focusing on the basics of active teaching, participants engaged with the principles of evidence-based teaching and connected with a community of practice. The sessions were infused with practical examples applicable to both online and in-person settings. The Studio provided space for educators to learn from each other and discuss opportunities—and challenges—with implementing evidence-based practices.
NCEP's 2022 interactive online Studio focused on the nuts and bolts of active teaching. Conservation educators engaged with the principles of evidence-based teaching and connected with a community of practice. The sessions were infused with practical examples applicable to both online and in-person teaching settings. This Studio session provided resources and space for educators to learn from each other and discuss opportunities—and challenges—with implementing evidence-based practices.
Over the course of four weeks in July 2021, 29 educators from 11 countries joined us virtually for our 8th annual Studio. Participants explored evidence-based tools and approaches of relevance to their teaching practice, applied these tools to the collaborative creation of active learning experiences, and connected to a community of practice to exchange experiences, resources, and lessons learned after a year of teaching virtually.
In July 2020, we held our 7th annual Studio in an online format. Through interactive online meetings and assignments over the course of four weeks, participants learned about effective teaching tools and approaches from facilitators and peers, discussed challenges, and practiced applying these techniques in their own lessons and curricula in both in-person and online scenarios.
In June 2019, 18 educators and practitioners from the US and abroad convened at AMNH to work on integrating scientific and active teaching techniques into their own teaching practice, from designing a class session to planning an entire course. Individually and in groups, participants also evaluated how these techniques align with course objectives, goals, and intended outcomes, and considered multiple assessment strategies. Participants were able to learn from their peers and actively train on how small changes in teaching and course design that can have big results in student learning.
NCEP studio at the American Museum of Natural History, June 2018.
The evidence is clear: for over three decades, research has shown that active teaching enhances students’ development of the knowledge, skills, and attitudes they need to be effective scientists and professionals. For the 2018 Conservation Teaching and Learning Studio, 22 educators from the US, South America, and Southeast Asia gathered to train in and share strategies for integrating evidence-based active teaching techniques in the classroom, discuss and work through challenges to teaching actively, and practice applying these techniques in their own lessons and curricula.
Scientific literacy and the ability to evaluate competing claims based on the available evidence is a critical skill in all students, regardless of major. In June 2017, 16 university educators convened at AMNH to train in scientific and evidence-based teaching practices that promote the development of critical thinking skills, as well as aligning assessment techniques to desired student learning outcomes. Studio participants learned about effective tools and approaches from peers and investigators leading NSF-funded research on education, and practiced applying these techniques working in teams and on topics relevant to their own teaching.
Twenty-four educators from the United States, Latin America, and Southeast Asia gathered at AMNH in June 2016 to practice designing assessment approaches that develop and evaluate student professional skills, learn how to apply a variety of active and scientific teaching techniques in their own classrooms, and connect to a community of practice to exchange experiences and lessons learned in evidence-based teaching.
Held at AMNH in July 2015, this studio convened 13 conservation educators and practitioners from 3 countries (USA, Canada, and Jamaica) to develop case study-based exercises. Participants were introduced to and practiced applying active teaching tools and techniques in the context of their own conservation teaching topics. The studio also focused on providing professional development on evidence-based approaches to teaching science, with an emphasis on civic engagement and developing critical thinking skills in students.
