Guest post! This NC Certified Environmental Educator Spotlight about Christi Tosatto was written by Morgan Davis, the 2024 NC Dept of Environmental Quality mentee from the Lady Cardinal Mentorship Program through the NC Department of Administration. Thanks Morgan!
Christi Tosatto, a volunteer docent with the National Park Service, credits the NC Environmental Education Certification for her position at Saguaro National Park near Tucson Arizona. Tosatto and her husband spent several years traveling full-time throughout North America. They return each spring to go back to North Carolina where she volunteered at Pisgah Center for Wildlife Education as an educator for three years until it closed in 2022. Tosatto, a registered pharmacist, says the Environmental Education Certification helped her start this post-retirement career.
Tosatto’s favorite part about earning her certificate was meeting many different educators that shared her passion for the environment. She especially enjoyed the collaboration between formal and informal educators. She also enjoyed her Certified Interpretive Guide training. She said, “My Certified Interpretive Guide training was my hands-down favorite. Stephanie Berggrun is an inspiring gifted instructor, bringing to life the history and art of interpretation. The philosophy and methods I learned in her class will always be a critical part of any of my own future teaching experiences''.
When Tosatto was asked about an experience that stood out for her, she said it was the workshop with the NC Forest Service. “I was fortunate enough to spend an entire fun-filled week away at “camp” at their Investigating Your Environment workshop at Crossnore, learning so many new concepts and skills with a fantastic group of instructors and fellow educators. Teaching Methods up at Grandfather Mountain was another favorite, hours of quality interactive instruction in a truly magical setting.”
For Tosatto’s community partnership, she worked with the owner of the Red Gates campground to make their camp more welcoming to wildlife, provide EE programs for their guests, and certify the park as a Monarch Waystation and Certified Wildlife Habitat.
Tosatto thinks that being in the EE Certification program led to a different approach to teaching. She says that, “Coming into the program I was already conservation-minded. Program content and the perspectives of instructors and educators helped me further appreciate the delicate balance between strict conservation and recreational utilization. When citizens have positive experiences interacting with their natural environment, perhaps hiking, fishing, or hunting, they are more likely to respect and advocate for it.”
