Forest Educator with Ricardo Sierra | A Podcast for Revolutionary Conversations about Nature-Based Education
Welcome to the Forest Educator Podcast hosted by Ricardo Sierra. Join Ricardo as he engages in enlightening conversations with educators from across the globe who are revolutionizing nature-based education. Drawing on his 35 years of experience in wilderness education, Ricardo shares practical insights, tools, and best practices to inspire and support forest educators and camp staff worldwide. Tune in twice a week for interviews with passionate educators and skill spotlights that delve into the challenges and triumphs of the field.
- Update frequency
- every 3 days
- Average duration
- 54 minutes
- Episodes
- 164
- Years Active
- 2023 - 2025
Forest Educator Spotlight REPLAY: The Forest Educator's Secret Sauce
Today's Forest Educator Spotlight is all about the best-kept secret for Forest Educators: the Natural Advantage. When we implement this three-part framework in our programs, we can have the biggest i…
00:44:10 |
Thu 06 Mar 2025
Forest Educator Spotlight REPLAY: Working with Middle Schoolers
Some of my favorite ages to work with are middle schoolers, anywhere from 10-14 years old. Some may say those ages are some of the most challenging, but I really like that age group for so many reaso…
00:36:12 |
Thu 27 Feb 2025
Forest Educator Spotlight REPLAY: The Bonding Paradox
The first rule about 'bonding' is like Fight Club:
"Never talk about Bonding."
At least to your students. (Because it's awkward and weird.)
But honestly, so many of the benefits of nature-based ed…
00:54:58 |
Thu 20 Feb 2025
Forest Educator Spotlight REPLAY: Finding Your Lane as a Forest Educator
The paths we take in our journey as educators are incredibly diverse and unique to each of us. We all have different origins, with mentors, teachers, opportunities and our communities all influencin…
00:38:05 |
Thu 16 Jan 2025
Episode 158 (REPLAY) - Forest Educator Spotlight: Doing Hard Things with Ricardo Sierra
An aspect of nature education that I believe is greatly overlooked is the ability and benefit it gives young people to 'Do Hard Things'. This happens when we learn to climb a steep hill, climb a tre…
00:57:13 |
Thu 09 Jan 2025
Episode 157 (REPLAY) - Forest Educator Spotlight: The Problem with Intangible Results
If you've ever tried to talk about the meaning and value of an experience in nature with someone who's never experienced something similar, it can feel like talking to a brick wall.
Our insights, …
01:04:37 |
Thu 02 Jan 2025
Episode 156 - The Power of Science and Nature with Danny Rosenstein
Going behind the scenes and into the mind of a public school Earth Science teacher was a journey filled with insights about why education is so different from school to school. The diversity of stud…
01:21:05 |
Thu 26 Dec 2024
Episode 155 (REPLAY) - The Forest Educator Spotlight: Cold Training
Fear of being uncomfortable lurks behind almost every outdoor experience when we are first learning to deal with nature's 'moods'. The purifying intensity of cold scours the world when it moves acros…
01:02:42 |
Thu 19 Dec 2024
Episode 154 - The Gift of Magical Encounters with Animals with John Stokes
It's not uncommon for nature educators to have experiences that defy easy explanations, like the appearance of birds, deer, squirrels or mice in one of our forays into the wild with students. The pr…
01:05:56 |
Thu 12 Dec 2024
Episode 153 - Awakening Imagination and Exploration at Trackers Earth: An Interview with Molly & Tony Deis
The most impressive takeaway I get from every encounter I have with Tony, Molly and Trackers Earth is the fact that everyone seems so normalized and nonchalant about their accomplishments in connecti…
01:15:04 |
Thu 05 Dec 2024
Episode 152 - Adaptation, Strategic Changes and the Forest Education Endgame
I know there's a universal reality that 'change is the only constant', but it's also human to try to enjoy stability for as long as possible, especially if it's a pleasant experience. Once it occur…
00:29:42 |
Mon 25 Nov 2024
Episode 151 - Forest Educator Spotlight: Holding Space for Healing in Nature
As nature educators, we often encounter students and participants who struggle with feelings of unworthiness or anxiety when it comes to connecting with the natural world. In this episode, I share th…
00:59:38 |
Wed 20 Nov 2024
Episode 150 - Forest Educator Spotlight: The Forest Educator Initiative
It feels appropriate in our 150th episode to introduce the Forest Educator Initiative. In the past year and a half I have been discovering areas of nature education advocacy and professional support…
01:00:33 |
Thu 14 Nov 2024
Episode 149 - Forest Educator Spotlight: Strategies and Guidelines for Working with Adults in Nature
Working with adult learners in the realm of nature and wilderness skills is profoundly complex. It's a world I've inhabited for many years, and one that has taught me the importance of constantly ada…
01:02:38 |
Mon 11 Nov 2024
Episode 148 - Forest Educator Spotlight: Navigating the Hard Days
"Hard Days" are an inevitable part of life as an educator. It is critical that we have effective strategies to cope, whether that's using physical sensations to reset the mind or allowing ourselves t…
00:53:30 |
Fri 08 Nov 2024
Episode 147 - Forest Educator Spotlight: Can Nature Education be Scaled to Reach 60 Million Children?
This episode explores a vision of nature education that sees millions of children across the US and the world, in a meaningful and effective way. The barriers that we face loom tall, but they are n…
00:51:00 |
Mon 04 Nov 2024
Episode 146 - Forest Educator Spotlight: So You're Thinking of Becoming a Forest Educator...
We all have to start somewhere, when it comes to being a Naturalist, or a Tracker, or a Bushcrafter, or a Forest School leader. We get a little training, some time spent honing our crafts and skills…
00:37:24 |
Thu 31 Oct 2024
Deep Earth Initiations and Nature-Based Parenthood with Trista Haggerty
Today's guest interview is with my wife and partner Trista Haggerty, who draws upon the deep connection with the land and nature to facilitate healing and inner growth. Her experiences in deep earth …
00:58:46 |
Mon 28 Oct 2024
Episode 145 - Forest Educator Spotlight: The Essential Art of "Winging It"
If you are an educator, or a camp counselor, or a program leader or wilderness instructor, there is a not insignificant percentage of the time where you are 'winging it'. We could dress it up, and c…
00:44:19 |
Thu 24 Oct 2024
Episode 144 - Forest Entrepreneur Spotlight: "Should I use 'Fear' in my Nature Program Messaging?"
Well, it's election time, and we are surrounded by examples of fear based social media posts, television ads, internet ads and all kinds of different things vying for our attention and trying to get …
00:39:40 |
Mon 21 Oct 2024
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