After leaving my teaching fellowship at Eagle Rock, I was accepted into the Audubon Expedition Institute (now the Expedition Education Institute) for a Master of Science in Environmental Education. We traveled on a retrofitted school bus each semester, immersing ourselves in the bioregions we studied.

AEI was a familiar experience for me after my time in Outward Bound and National Outdoor Leadership School as well as Eagle Rock. It was an opportunity to understand how the environment impacted people and how people impacted the environment. We interviewed a variety of individuals tied to and knowledgeable about the region, camped outdoors, and intentionally practiced consensus decision making as a traveling cohort. I honed my experiential teaching skills while also gaining experience interviewing people and drawing out their stories with trust and empathy.

My first expedition was in the Pacific Northwest, traveling from British Columbia to Northern California. We spent time in the Hoh Rainforest, Mount Rainier, Neah Bay with the Makah, and Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park. The second expedition, I was on the Big Island of Hawaii learning about the ancient land systems and the sovereignty movement. Our third semester, the last bus expedition for our program, we were on the Atlantic Coast and traveled from Maine to North Carolina. For the final semester, I completed my capstone internship at the Urban Ecology Institute where I helped develop curriculum that aligned with Massachusetts state standards.