Jane Kirkland - “Take a Minute To Be In It”

Jane Kirkland is an award-winning nonfiction author who speaks at conferences and schools across the U.S. She is a regular guest on WXPNs Kids Corner radio program and has appeared on Animal Planet TV, NPR, and PBS. Jane’s work and her books have been written about in Parents, Learning, and many other major magazines and newspapers. Jane’s Take a Walk® books, and her new book for educators, No Student Left Indoor: Creating a Field Guide to Your Schoolyard, are recommended by the National Science Teachers Association, The National Wildlife Federation, the National Arbor Day Foundation, and more!

You’ll be inspired by her passion, entertained by her humor, and infected with her love and curiosity of nature. Don’t miss the chance to journey with Jane as she shares her revelations, experiences, and adventures of nature in her backyard, neighborhood, and yes, her grocery store parking lot. Laugh with her as she reveals her talents as a “bird whisperer” and “bird magnet.” Learn her secrets to turning today’s savvy kids into today’s earth stewards through her sixty-second nature observation challenge. Gain insight into her field guide project and see how it can apply to your world.

Erica Wheeler - “The Soulful Landscape”

Erica Wheeler is a national touring, award-winning singer and songwriter. She has been a featured guest on NPR’s “All Things Considered” and has released five critically acclaimed CDs to her credit. Erica’s music has been noted by the “All Music Guide” as combining the “literary sensitivity of New England with the spiritual vision of the American West.”

Erica has given her keynote concerts at colleges, conferences and retreat centers across the country including the Walden Woods Project, the Murie Center, and the National Association for Interpretation. She has performed at clubs, coffeehouses, and colleges across the country and has shared the stage with Shawn Colvin, Indigo Girls, Greg Brown, and others.

Through a keynote concert based upon Erica’s Soulful Landscape Philosophy that we all have stories of place and belonging, waiting to be remembered and revealed, Erica will instill ways to tap into your senses to uncover stories about your connection to the land. And through finding our sense of place, we restore our sense of self. Erica will inspire you to embrace your connection to the land while showing how song can empower creative self-expression and a means to integrate multi-disciplinary learning opportunities.