Keynote Speaker: Dr. Carolyn Finney, writer, performer and cultural geographer

Dr. Carolyn Finney is deeply interested in issues related to identity, difference, creativity, and resilience. In particular, she expresses how issues of difference impact participation in decision-making processes designed to address environmental issues. The aim of her work is to develop greater cultural competency within environmental organizations and institutions, challenge media outlets in their representation of difference, and increase awareness of how privilege shapes who gets to speak to environmental issues and determine policy and action. Her first book, Black Faces, White Spaces: Reimagining the Relationship of African Americans to the Great Outdoors was released in 2014 (UNC Press).

Featured Speaker: Betty Siegel, Director of VSA and Accessibility at the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts

Accessibility: Creating Equity, Access and Inclusion

Betty Siegel is a driving force in accessible arts across America. Ms. Siegel has specialized in arts and disability issues for over 30 years starting at Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. and oversees national and international disability, arts and education programs including the VSA Network of organizations engaging in disability arts and education and the LEAD (Leadership Exchange in Arts and Disability) network of cultural arts administrators addressing access to cultural experiences. She is a respected expert and speaker on topics related to disability rights, compliance with disability laws and regulations, the arts and disability, and to accessibility to cultural programs and venues for individuals of all ages with disabilities.

Assessing Stronger Academic Engagement seen in informal STEM programs for Underrepresented Minorities

Jo Dee Duncan, Ph. D, St. Philip's College Science Center, Dr. Carmen Nava-Fischer and Ravi Martinez, Southwest Research Institute (SwRI)

Tales of Texas Teen Science Cafés

Sarah Miller, Emily Clark, Sherry DeHay, Katie Dion, Westyn Garber, Courtney Jonescu, Mayborn Museum Complex

Pond or Paper: How to Test Water Quality - At The Pond Or In The Classroom!

Keira Quam, Texas Parks & Wildlife Department

Capturing the Impact of Informals Using Science Capital

Dr. Brooke Miller and Emily Weerts, 4-H CAPITAL

It’s a World of STEM: A walkSTEM® Network Panel Presentation

Mary Cary Peterson, Jonathan Edquid, talkSTEM with members of the walkSTEM Network including Dustin Miller and Lori Delacruz, Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Gardens, Mountain View College

Twitter in the Classroom: Using your Social Media Outlets as a resource for Classroom Educators

Alyce Todd, Texas State Aquarium

Sticks and Stones: Risk Management in Nature Play

Anna Lewis, Dallas Zoo and Children's Aquarium at Fair Park

Engineering a Natural Disaster Proof House – Using STEM for Innovative Problem Solving

Samantha Doupnik, Perot Museum of Nature and Science

Funding Your Dream Program

Cappy Smith, Texas Parks & Wildlife Department

Fires, Floods, and Zebra Mussels, Oh My!

Danielle Bradley and Sarah Nordlof, Texas Parks & Wildlife - State Parks

walkSTEM® Network presents: How to Design your Own walkSTEM® Experience

Mary Cary Peterson, Jonathan Edquid, talkSTEM

Aqua Adventure

Melissa Mullins, Baylor University with Bill Balboa & Paige Leadford, Texas Sea Grant, Lower Colorado River Authority

ISEA Dialogue: A Conversation and Listening Session

Charlie Walter, Mayborn Museum and Kristin Evans, UT Marine Science Institute

Incorporating Research Data Into Student Programs

Sara Pelleteri, University of Texas Marine Science Institute

Field Science On a Shoestring Budget

Jennifer Chapman & Elizabeth McMahan, Austin Zoo

Poster: Lions and Tigers and Teens: Investigating Volunteer Experiences in Informal Science Education

Leah Cuddeback & Dr. Kristy Daniel, Texas State University

Poster: A Case Study Examining the Field Teaching Practices of Three Expert Birders

Sarah Jenevein, University of Texas at Austin

Poster: Where are your climate facts? Understanding Climate change through local impact and debate

Puneet Gill, Texas A&M International University

Poster: Working Collectively to Improve ACCEYSS to Informal STEM Programming

Shetay N. Ashford-Hanserd, Kristy L. Daniel & Dana M. Garcia, Texas State University

Poster: Assessing public perceptions of arachnids and identifying trends through citizen science

Bria Marty, Kristy L. Daniel, Texas State University

Poster: LCRA Parks - Matagorda Bay: Utilizing Recreational Activities as a way to Educate Today’s Youth

Paige Leadford, Rachael Puryear, Lower Colorado River Authority-Matagorda Bay Nature Park

Poster: Talking conservation: Exploring the influence of zoo educators on visitor conversations

Jenn Idema & Kristy Daniel, Texas State University & Patricia Patrick, Columbus State University

Poster: Free-Choice Learning within Science Education Graduate Coursework

Kathryn Kunz & Joanne K. Olson, Texas A&M University

Workshop: Building Resilient Partnerships with Public Schools

Natalie K. James, Brenham ISD Outdoor Education

Workshop: Redesigning Museum Curriculum Materials to Support Student Agency, Interest, and Interaction

Sarah Jenevein, University of Texas at Austin and Pamela Owen, Texas Memorial Museum

Workshop: Nature Journaling for Beginners: An Interdisciplinary Tool for Fostering Environmental Literacy  

Misty Bowie, Texas Project Learning Tree

Workshop: I Asked My 6th Graders what Resilience Meant to Them, and the Room Fell Utterly Silent...  

Leslie Peart, Texas State Aquarium; Sheryl Roehl, Larijai Francis, Joelle Francoise, and 5-10 Coastal Bend Teachers, ESC Region 3, City of Corpus Christi, AECOM Engineering, and Coastal Bend Schools

Workshop: Texas Aquatic Science and Informal Science Education

Melissa Alderson & Danielle Knapp-Smith, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department