DEQ Secretary Recognizes Liani Yirka, Education Program Coordinator at Sarah P. Duke Gardens

NC Department of Environmental Quality Secretary Elizabeth Biser visited Sarah P. Duke Gardens in Durham to award Liani Yirka with her North Carolina Environmental Education Certificate. 

Yirka is the education program coordinator for the gardens and in that role, she coordinates and provides outdoor nonformal environmental education programs and engagement opportunities for learners of all ages and abilities.  

Yirka is passionate about educational opportunities that are inclusive, comfortable, and welcoming to all abilities, languages, socio-economic status, and identities. She creates educational programs using universal design principles with this goal in mind. 

Secretary Biser and staff from the DEQ Office of Environmental Education and Public Affairs enjoyed a tour of the native plant garden that overlooks a piedmont prairie habitat, a space that Liani often uses for teaching programs. They were also joined by Liani’s supervisor Kavanah Anderson, director of learning at the gardens.

Liani notes that at first, many visitors do not realize the significance of the biodiversity found in the native plant garden and prairie habitat because it doesn’t look like a traditional landscaped garden. For that reason, the space provides an opportunity to educate both children and adults about native plant populations and the indigenous people who care for them. 

Liani said that her favorite part of earning her certification was learning from, and with, other educators. “I deeply respect and admire others who have dedicated their career to advancing this field and to supporting both learners and other educators as they learn about the natural world. It has also been a real treat to visit environmental education centers across the state,” she says. She also notes how much she enjoyed learning from the playful pedagogy workshops offered through the NC Zoo. “Linda Kinney is a treasure to the NC Environmental Education community, and I have enjoyed embracing the child in me and learning with this perspective,” says Yirka.

Liani says the program changed her approach to teaching. “I now have the skills and joys of creating programs that are student-led, observation based, where I do not need to know all the facts because we can explore "what does it remind you of," and "what do you notice?" as a way of reaching and learning together. I have gained these skills and techniques through my participation in the environmental education certification program,” she says. 

In addition to many hours of professional development, the certification program requires a community partnership project. For her project, Liani collaborated with the Durham School of the Arts to provide monthly art-and-science connection programs for Occupational Course of Study students with Autism. “Each month students would connect to the natural world they encounter during other visits to Duke Gardens through an art project that increases their fine motor skills, listening and comprehension skills, ability to follow precise direction, and create artwork that they can showcase both at Duke Gardens during a public festival, and at school. The capstone of this 5-month project was a short video/photo montage shared with the Durham School of the Arts community that showcases the students’ projects at Duke Gardens, including a culminating mural that will be displayed in the Duke Gardens classroom for years to come,” says Yirka. 

“Liani is an example of the type of outstanding educator that we are fortunate to have in North Carolina. I’m honored to recognize her work in the field to make environmental education more inclusive for all North Carolinians,” says Secretary Biser.” 

Yirka plans to continue to advocate and work towards an environmental education community of practice that embraces intersectional identities and supports marginalized communities. I want environmental education to be inclusive to BIPOC communities, embrace environmental justice issues, and teach and learn with identities that are not the dominant narrative. I see so much progress on this front in our field and will continue to incorporate this into my own practice.”