Educator Spotlight - Emily Behr

Emily Behr, a youth education program manager at the NC Botanical Garden, recently completed her NC Environmental Education Certification. Emily says the program allowed her to change careers. “I lead a team designing and delivering nature-based education programs for kids, from summer camps to preschool programs to school field trips. Outside of work, I co-lead a native pollinator garden restoration project at the Haw River State Natural Area, and I am on the board of Directors for EENC (Environmental Educators of North Carolina) and Friends of the Lower Haw State Natural Area. I am also a part of the NC Master Naturalist program.”

Emily says her favorite part of earning her certification was the opportunity to reflect on her role as an educator and to network. “I appreciated having a structured framework to reflect on my own growth as an educator, rather than just accumulating experience without stepping back to think through it and grow. I also really appreciated the chance to connect with other environmental educators across the state."

When asked about an experience in the program that stands out for her, she says it was the Methods of Teaching Environmental Education Workshop at Grandfather Mountain. “It helped affirm that this was the career path I wanted to pursue. I met great people and learned so much. It felt so aligned and really ignited a passion in me to follow this work and certification.”

For her community partnership project, Emily led a native pollinator garden restoration at the Haw River State Natural Area’s 15-501 access point in  partnership with the Friends of the Lower Haw River State Natural Area and NC Master Naturalists volunteers. “The project restored degraded habitat into a functioning pollinator corridor while giving volunteers hands-on ecological restoration experience — turning an overrun green space into an active site for community stewardship and environmental learning. It is a work in progress that is going to take years to complete, but one that I feel proud to be a part of. It will be an asset to the community a we integrate interpretive signage, beautiful native landscape and hands-on experiences.”

Emily says the program changed her approach to teaching. “The certification pushed me to be more intentional about outcomes first — starting with what knowledge, connection to nature or conservation mindset I want a program to build and designing backward from there. It also made me more deliberate about building in reflection and evaluation, both for my own programs and for the staff I supervise. Lastly, I learned how important unstructured moments are. They allow kids to be scientists themselves, embracing curiosity, wonder and play.”

She also says the program changed the way she views environmental issues. “I feel empowered. The certification process reinforced that environmental education is about building relationships between people and place that make conservation feel personal and applicable. It shifted how I think about impact: I feel that I now have tools to not only make an impact in my personal life, but also to encourage the next generation of environmental stewards.”