About
Explore Ecology Environmental Education Program includes in-class lessons, field trips, watershed education, and growing organic food in school gardens. The program also offers beach cleanups, monthly beach cleanups, and coordinates Coastal Cleanup Day for Santa Barbara County. Participants can also take part in community events connected to environmental education and nature-based learning.
Explore Ecology is an environmental education nonprofit that educates over 30,000 children a year, and also reports educating over 38,000 children in classrooms, on field trips, and in school gardens throughout Santa Barbara County. Its programs include the Art From Scrap Creative Reuse Store, Environmental Education, Watershed Resource Center, School Gardens, and the EE Makerspace. Programs combine art and ecology, and Art From Scrap keeps thousands of pounds of clean, reusable material out of the Santa Barbara County landfill each year while providing low-cost supplies for schools, art, theatre, and other creative community projects. The EE Makerspace is a community workshop for artists of all ages with upcycled materials, work stations, tools, and classes, and the Watershed Resource Center is a community education center. Monthly beach cleanups and Coastal Cleanup Day for Santa Barbara County attract volunteers of all ages and thousands of volunteers annually at over 30 sites.
Staff backgrounds include environmental studies, environmental science, social justice, animal science, teaching, Montessori certification, instructional design, and hydrology, with degrees from institutions such as the University of California at Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara City College, Cal Poly, UCSB, and the University of Rochester, and a master’s degree in Hydrology earned in Amsterdam. The program’s mission statement is “Empowering environmental education and nature-based learning.” The Explore Ecology Awards recognize teachers, school staff, and students in Santa Barbara County who promote environmental stewardship through education and action, initiate positive change, and inspire their peers and colleagues.
Last updated July 1, 2026.
Explore Ecology is an environmental education nonprofit that educates over 30,000 children a year, and also reports educating over 38,000 children in classrooms, on field trips, and in school gardens throughout Santa Barbara County. Its programs include the Art From Scrap Creative Reuse Store, Environmental Education, Watershed Resource Center, School Gardens, and the EE Makerspace. Programs combine art and ecology, and Art From Scrap keeps thousands of pounds of clean, reusable material out of the Santa Barbara County landfill each year while providing low-cost supplies for schools, art, theatre, and other creative community projects. The EE Makerspace is a community workshop for artists of all ages with upcycled materials, work stations, tools, and classes, and the Watershed Resource Center is a community education center. Monthly beach cleanups and Coastal Cleanup Day for Santa Barbara County attract volunteers of all ages and thousands of volunteers annually at over 30 sites.
Staff backgrounds include environmental studies, environmental science, social justice, animal science, teaching, Montessori certification, instructional design, and hydrology, with degrees from institutions such as the University of California at Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara City College, Cal Poly, UCSB, and the University of Rochester, and a master’s degree in Hydrology earned in Amsterdam. The program’s mission statement is “Empowering environmental education and nature-based learning.” The Explore Ecology Awards recognize teachers, school staff, and students in Santa Barbara County who promote environmental stewardship through education and action, initiate positive change, and inspire their peers and colleagues.
Last updated July 1, 2026.
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