11:01 a.m., Jan. 19, 2011----The Delaware Association for Environmental Education (DAEE) will hold the second annual DAEE Conference, which is focused on “Environmental Education in a Changing Climate,” from 8 a.m.-4 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 26, at St. Thomas More Preparatory School in Magnolia, Del.

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Dennis Coker, chief of the Lenape Indian tribe of Delaware, will deliver the keynote address.

Lisa Tossey, marine outreach specialist in the University of Delaware's College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment, and Dorothy Abbott, renewable resources extension agent with UD Cooperative Extension, serve on the DAEE board of directors.

Other speakers include Ashley Peebles, Delaware Forest Service; Edna Stetzar, biologist for the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC), Division of Fish and Wildlife; Jennifer Holmes, Delaware National Estuarine Research Reserve; Tonyea Mead, Delaware Department of Education; Kristina Failing, who holds a doctorate in special education; Greg Breese, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; Dave Pragoff, Delaware Nature Society; Thianda Manzara, Healthy Food for Healthy Kids, Inc.; Kelly Valencik, Delaware Coastal Programs; and Dawn Webb, Delaware Council of Wildlife Rehabilitators and Educators.

The day is broken up into four 50-minute session periods with three concurrent sessions taking place during the allotted time. Session topics include:

• Environmental Education for Early Childhood (Project Learning Tree and Growing up WILD);
• Using Real-time Water Quality Data in the Classroom;
• STEM in Non-formal Education;
• Environmental Education for Children with Special Needs;
• Climate Change and Sea Level Rise;
• Outdoor Learning Areas: Case Studies;
• Healthy Foods and the Outdoors; and
• Educating with Wildlife

Additionally, there will be remarks from the Children in Nature Task Force, a group started in 2010 by the secretaries of the departments of Education and Natural Resources and Environmental Control to identify five study areas to consider connecting children and nature in both formal and informal settings within the state, during the lunch hour.

Advance registration for the conference is required, with registration ending at midnight, Friday, Feb. 11.

Tickets cost $25 and ticket buyers receive access to all sessions, breakfast refreshments, lunch, door prizes, exhibitor resources and a one-year membership to the DAEE.

DAEE was formed with the mission to promote environmental and outdoor education in the state and to facilitate positive community impacts on the conservation and sustainability of Delaware's resources.

Now an affiliate of the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE), DAEE is supported by Delaware Sea Grant, the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary, Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, Delaware Nature Society, Delaware Department of Agriculture, New Castle Conservation District, UD's College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment, and UD Cooperative Extension, and several other organizations.

For more information on DAEE, visit the website.