How Your Support Nurtures Environmental Leaders

Facing a season of significant unknowns due to El Niño.

Because of supporters like you, Nature Collective continues to serve as a launchpad for the next generation of environmental educators and conservation leaders. Your investment in our internship programs provides hands-on mentorship, equipping emerging professionals with lifelong skills that ripple across our community and beyond.

One inspiring example of your impact is Erin Stone, a former Environmental Education Intern at Nature Collective. After completing her internship, Erin spent several years living in Minnesota, working at a local food co-op and in infant childcare. “Minnesota was a lovely place to live and has an exceptional state park system that we loved to explore,” Erin shares. But San Diego’s natural beauty and its vibrant community eventually called her back home.

Today, Erin serves as the Education & Outreach Manager at the Solana Center for Environmental Innovation, where she leads a dedicated team delivering critical environmental education across San Diego County to students, residents, and local stakeholders.

The professional foundation Erin built at Nature Collective—specifically, learning to facilitate learner-centered outdoor inquiry, foster critical thinking, and lead field experiences grounded in nature connection—continues to guide her leadership style and instructional approach every day.

“My experience as an intern at Nature Collective is so relevant to everything I do now,” says Erin. “Because of the hands-on practice I gained with inquiry-based learning during my internship, I approach education with curiosity and openness. Instead of arriving with a rigid, planned lecture, I guide learning by encouraging questions and allowing student curiosity to drive the exploration.”

Your generosity provided Erin with the training ground to cultivate these student-led teaching techniques and to transition seamlessly into a key leadership role in San Diego’s environmental sector.

Even outside of work, Erin remains deeply connected to the spaces and programs your donations protect. Living near the San Elijo Lagoon Nature Center, she frequently visits the local trails and stays tuned into our latest conservation projects.

Thank you for providing the resources that empower passionate leaders like Erin. Your gift does more than protect our local habitats today; it invests in the skilled educators who inspire our entire region for years to come.

We are now accepting applications for our 2027 spring/winter semester