Dylan Joyce

What do you do? 

I am a seasonal environmental educator at Haw River State Park. We work predominately with school groups from grades 1-12, teaching classes about local wildlife, wetland ecology, bat ecology, soils, animal adaptations among others. Throughout the whole year we work with around 4000 students.

What was your favorite part of earning your certification? 

My favorite part of working on this certification was definitely the variety of educational workshops I attended. Visiting different locations throughout the state to attend workshops and learning about a variety of different environmental processes was a great experience.

What certification experience stands out for you? 

All of my teaching experiences are the most memorable because I have gotten to see children get excited about nature and the outdoors and feel that I have hopefully made a difference in how they view the environment around them.

What was your community partnership project and how did it affect the community? 

My project was adding educational signage to the 9 holes of the disc golf course at Haw River State Park as well as installing tee pads for the holes. The course is designed to educate users of all ages about the local ecosystem through recreation as well and teach users about the sport of disc golf. This was a collaboration with myself, Kids in Parks and a Boy Scout. My project has engaged the community by providing a new recreational experience at the local state park and hopefully will gain more attention and more usage. There are many local communities that can benefit from access to a new recreational and educational activity for families and all ages.