Carolyn Roberts

Indigenous Knowledge

Carolyn Roberts

Carolyn Roberts uses her voice to support Indigenous resurgence through education. She is a St’at’imc and Sto:lo woman belonging to the Thevarge family from N’quatqua Nation and the Kelly Family from the Tzeachten Nation and under the Indian act she is a member of the Squamish Nation. Carolyn is a Speaker, Author, Indigenous academic, and a new faculty working in the UBC Teacher Education and NITEP programs. She has been an educator and administrator for over 20 years in the K-12 system. Carolyn’s work is grounded in educating about Indigenous people and the decolonization of the education system. She works with pre-service teachers to help build their understandings in Indigenous history, education, and ancestral ways of knowing, to create a brighter future for all Indigenous people and the seven generations yet to come.

Cheryl Lenardon

Systems Change

Cheryl Lenardon

Cheryl Lenardon is proud to be superintendent of schools in Cariboo-Chilcotin School District across the spectacular unceded territories of the Secwepemc, Tsilhqot’in and Dakelh Nations. Although the Cariboo is her home now, Cheryl grew up in Northern Ontario and has lived in the Peace country and Kootenay regions of BC. With more than 30 years in K-12 education, 15 of those in district leadership, Cheryl’s greatest sense of accomplishment has been in growing outdoor and place-based learning as an integral part of the school experience of staff and students in two districts.

Dr. Astrid Kendrick

Health & Wellbeing

Dr. Astrid Kendrick

Before taking on her current role of Director, Field Experience (Community-Based Pathway), at the Werklund School of Education, Dr. Astrid Kendrick was a K-12 classroom teacher for nineteen years specializing in Physical Education and English/Language Arts. Dr. Kendrick has two main research areas: firstly, on compassion fatigue, burnout, and emotional labour in Alberta educational workers, and secondly, on building the instructional capacity of preservice teachers in online and virtual learning environments. She is currently working on a podcast series aimed at bringing professional learning outdoors.

Dr. Marianna Brussoni

Dr. Marianna Brussoni

Dr. Mariana Brussoni is Director of the Human Early Learning Partnership, Professor in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of British Columbia, Investigator at the British Columbia Children’s Hospital Research Institute and Director of the Outside Play Lab. Her award-winning research investigates children’s outdoor play and learning, focusing on parents’ and educators’ perceptions of risk, design of play-friendly environments, and changing systems to ensure children have the time, space and freedom to play and learn outside every day. Further details: https://www.outsideplay.org/

Megan Zeni

Megan Zeni

Megan has over 25 years’ experience as a professional K-7 classroom teacher and is a mum of 3 active teenagers. Megan is widely known for her expertise in school gardens and risky play at school, and is currently employed as a Teacher Consultant with the BC MOECC provincial outreach program for the early years (POPEY). Megan is particularly interested in how teachers enact pedagogies of place and play in outdoor learning environments. Her PhD research resulted in a FREE teacher capacity building tool for outdoor play and learning available at teacher.outsideplay.org. To learn more about her work, visit: https://meganzeni.com