Northwest Wildlife Preservation Society (NWPS) is proud to be selected to speak as a panelist at the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE) #NAAEE2017 Conference as one of the 30 Under 30: Young Leaders Making A Difference next week in Washington, DC. The 46th annual conference will be taking place October 17-21, 2017. See the full program ».
The NAAEE works to accelerate environmental literacy and civic engagement through the power of environmental education. As NAAEE says, “Environmental education (EE) provides the skills necessary for people of all ages to make intelligent, informed decisions about the environment and how they can take care of it. EE informs, inspires, and enlightens. It builds human capacity, influences attitudes, and can lead to action. Most importantly, it can help people make informed decisions about the environment that lead to lifelong stewardship and a more sustainable society.”
The EE 30 Under 30 program that Northwest Wildlife Preservation Society is participating in recognizes individuals in North America and internationally, 30 years of age or younger, who are game changers in their communities. We are so proud of our incredible 26 year old Wildlife Education Manager Connel Bradwell representing us at this monumental event. The young people invited to this conference are in leadership positions to make a difference for the planet. They are engaging their communities, building relationships, and using the power of education to create change. These individuals are also recognizing the importance of diversity, inclusion, and equity and applying those principles to their work.
Connel Bradwell, NWPS’s Wildlife Education Manager based on Vancouver Island, is a British conservationist living in Victoria, British Columbia. He provides NWPS’s free wildlife education programs and nature workshops to disadvantaged young people throughout the region, having reached over 35,000 people since he started with the society in 2012.
Connel graduated with a BSc in Wildlife Conservation from Nottingham Trent University. While at university he conducted research that looked into the impact boat distance has on orca surface behaviour. He started volunteering in conservation at age 12, and began at the Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust. He then volunteered with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RPSB) and now volunteers in bird and orca conservation programs in Canada.
Connel is a founding member of a new youth conservation organisation, Youth for Wildlife Conservation and was chosen as part of a youth delegation for outstanding youth conservation leaders at the 2016 CITES in South Africa.
Additionally he is a keen wildlife blogger, and has contributed to a number of websites including Wildlife Articles, Gay Star News, A Focus on Nature and the International Fund for Animal Welfare. His personal blog ‘Talk of the Wild‘ was highly commended by BBC Wildlife Magazine in their Wildlife Blogger of the Year awards in 2015 & 2016, and he has been featured in their magazine as ‘Blogger of the Month’, where he wrote about the temperate rainforests of Vancouver Island. In 2017 he won an Outstanding Youth Leadership award from the Canadian Network for Environmental Education and Communication and was included in Canada’s Top 25 Environmentalists Under 25 by The Starfish Canada.
NAAEE will be live-streaming the panel on Thursday, October 19 at 3pm EDT. Visit https://naaee.org/our-work/programs/ee-30-under-30 to learn more.
Learn more about Northwest Wildlife Preservation Society’s wildlife education programs at https://northwestwildlife.com/education-programs/