The Wetlands Institute is pleased to announce the appointment of Brooke Knapick as the new Director of Educational Program Development. Brooke joins the Wetlands Institute staff in mid-January and brings a wealth of experience in both environmental and science education. The Wetlands Institute is re-launching its education program with strong emphasis on experiential and inquiry-based programming that engages children and adults in exploration and learning about the natural environment. Educational programs will be adding strong science-based programs, experimentation and data collection, and will introduce technology to environmental education programs.

BKnapick“Brooke is a wonderful addition to the Wetlands Institute team and has a very strong background in science and environmental science program development, implementation and delivery. Her programs are strongly focused on exploration and discovery and are really exciting” said Institute Executive Director Lenore Tedesco.

Under Tedesco’s leadership, the Wetlands Institute has launched a series of new initiatives designed to diversify the Wetland Institute’s conservation and research portfolio and make the education programs nationally competitive.

Brooke Knapick was most recently the Education Specialist at a Big Ten University Research and Outreach Center, where she designed and implemented an award-winning environmental science education outreach program for middle and high school students. The program utilized a mobile technology trailer containing interactive learning kiosks, research grade technology and wireless data collection and recording devices. Prior to her work at Indiana-Purdue University, Brooke was an environmental educator at Northern Illinois University and a naturalist intern at the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.