Podcasts about naep

Share your Field Stories!We're LIVE from NAEP 2026 in Anchorage! Nic leads a special on-stage episode featuring Anna Kohl, Carolyn Nelson, and Fred Wagner as they dive into Alaska's unique environmental landscape, NEPA challenges, and the realities of project delivery. With candid insights, legal perspectives, and memorable field stories, this live recording captures the humor, complexity, and energy of environmental work in action.Welcome back to Environmental Professionals Radio, Connecting the Environmental Professionals Community Through Conversation, with your hosts Laura Thorne and Nic Frederick! Help us continue to create great content! If you'd like to sponsor a future episode hit the support podcast button or visit www.environmentalprofessionalsradio.com/sponsor-form Please be sure to ✔️subscribe, ⭐rate and ✍review. This podcast is produced by the National Association of Environmental Professions (NAEP). Check out all the NAEP has to offer at NAEP.org.Connect with Anna Kohl at https://www.linkedin.com/in/anna-kohl-cep-8184159/Guest Bio:Anna Kohl was born and raised in Anchorage and left for college before realizing there was much to explore back home. She obtained a BA in Geology from Mount Holyoke College and worked in coffee shops and remediation before landing at HDR Engineering in 2004, where she has been ever since. Anna's technical background is in the NEPA and impact analysis/environmental science fields, though she currently is the Operations Manager for 150 engineers, planners, scientists, GIS professionals, and other smart folks who make up HDR in Alaska. An active member of NAEP and a Trustee of ABCEP, she obtained a certificate in NEPA from the Duke University Nicholas School of the Environment in 2012 and her CEP in 2017.Connect with Carolyn Nelson at https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolyn-nelson-p-e-02768977/Guest Bio:Carolyn Nelson is responsible for providing technical assistance for NEPA compliance and other related environmental laws and Executive Orders as Director of Environmental Analysis & Compliance Division of PHMSA.  Carolyn has over 30 years' experience as a geometric design engineer and NEPA practitioner.  She was Co-Chair of the White House Interagency Council (IAC), NEPA Committee and is recognized as a national expert for NEPA compliance. Carolyn has worked at Headquarters of the FHWA and also in the FHWA Michigan Division Office. Prior to FHWA, she worked for the Michigan DOT and CH2M Hill (now Jacobs).Connect with Fred Wagner at https://linkedin.com/in/fred-wagner-59043019Guest Bio:Fred Wagner focuses on environmental and natural resources issues concerning major infrastructure, including surface transportation, energy, mining, and commercial project development. Fred advises clients on environmental reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act or equivalent state statutes. He also helps secure permits and approvals from regulators under a variety of federal programs, including Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Clean Air Act, and the National Historic Preservation Act. Fred provides strategic counseling regarding implementation of the full spectrum of federal environmental programs, as well as U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) surface transportation grant management and safety regulations. Prior to joining Jacobs, Fred represented a wide variety of developers, public entities, and businesses in environmental, land use, and natural resources litigation in federal trial and appellate courts across the country, from citizen suits to government enforcement actions and Administration Procedure Act (APA) challenges. Most recently, Fred was counsel of record in the Seven County Infrastructure Coalition NEPA case before the U.S. Supreme Court.Music CreditsIntro: Givin Me Eyes by Grace MesaOutro: Never Ending Soul Groove by Mattijs MullerSupport the showThanks for listening! A new episode drops every Friday. Like, share, subscribe, and/or sponsor to help support the continuation of the show. You can find us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and all your favorite podcast players. 

Share your Field Stories!Laura interviews Dr. Angela Seligman, senior geoscientist from Clean Air Task Force, to explore the cutting edge of geothermal energy, the science behind volcanoes, and what it takes to turn curiosity into a meaningful career. From next-generation clean energy to the importance of science communication, this episode dives into how understanding what's beneath our feet can shape a more sustainable future.Welcome back to Environmental Professionals Radio, Connecting the Environmental Professionals Community Through Conversation, with your hosts Laura Thorne and Nic Frederick! Help us continue to create great content! If you'd like to sponsor a future episode hit the support podcast button or visit www.environmentalprofessionalsradio.com/sponsor-form Please be sure to ✔️subscribe, ⭐rate and ✍review. This podcast is produced by the National Association of Environmental Professions (NAEP). Check out all the NAEP has to offer at NAEP.org.Connect with Angela Seligman at https://www.linkedin.com/in/angela-seligman-4717b476/ Guest Bio:Angela Seligman is CATF's Senior Geoscientist on the Geothermal team, where she acts as the team's subsurface technical expert. In this role, she works to further the technology innovation needed to deploy geothermal at a scale necessary to provide low-carbon energy globally at a competitive cost. Angela held a postdoctoral research position with the EPA where she researched remediation methods for water contaminated by uranium mining. She received her Ph.D. in Geology from the University of Oregon and her master's degree in Geology from the University of Utah, where she studied geochemistry and volcanology.Music CreditsIntro: Givin Me Eyes by Grace MesaOutro: Never Ending Soul Groove by Mattijs MullerSupport the showThanks for listening! A new episode drops every Friday. Like, share, subscribe, and/or sponsor to help support the continuation of the show. You can find us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and all your favorite podcast players. 

Historically, many didn't consider Alabama to be at the forefront of education, but Alabama's pandemic recovery may be among the best in the nation. Perhaps most impressively, Alabama was the only state whose 4th-grade math NAEP scores were higher in 2024 than in 2019, and Alabama reports a chronic absenteeism rate that is the lowest […]

On this week's episode of The Learning Curve, co-hosts Alisha Searcy of the Center for Strong Public Schools and Mary Tamer of MassPotential speak with Rachel Canter, Director of Education Policy for the Progressive Policy Institute's Reinventing America's Schools project and founder of Mississippi First, about Mississippi's remarkable rise in K–12 student achievement and the policy reforms that helped drive it. Drawing on her experience as a former Teach For America teacher and longtime education advocate, Canter reflects on the leadership, accountability, and strategic reforms that helped Mississippi transform from one of the nation's lowest-performing states to one of its fastest-improving on the National Assessment of Educational Progress. She discusses the science of reading, the debate between phonics and whole language instruction, and what schools must do to rebuild academic rigor in literacy, STEM, and civics. Canter also explores the importance of exposing students to great literature and roots music from William Faulkner and Delta bluesmen like Robert Johnson, drawing on Mississippi's rich cultural legacy, and reflects on how lessons from Civil Rights era figures, including Emmett Till and Fannie Lou Hamer, can strengthen civics education today. She concludes by sharing policy recommendations for governors, legislators, educators, and parents seeking dramatic and lasting improvements in student outcomes nationwide.

Historically, many didn't consider Alabama to be at the forefront of education, but Alabama's pandemic recovery may be among the best in the nation.Perhaps most impressively, Alabama was the only state whose 4th-grade math NAEP scores were higher in 2024 than in 2019, and Alabama reports a chronic absenteeism rate that is the lowest in the nation—and the closest to its pre-pandemic levels of any state.Are these results part of a broader story about how Alabama has changed the way it thinks about education? What changes have helped produce Alabama's recent education gains? And where might education in the Yellowhammer State be headed next?On this episode of The Report Card, Nat Malkus discusses these questions and more with Alabama State Superintendent of Education Eric Mackey.

Share your Field Stories!Welcome back to Environmental Professionals Radio, Connecting the Environmental Professionals Community Through Conversation, with your hosts Laura Thorne and Nic Frederick! On today's episode, we talk with Chase Cain, meteorologist and the former climate correspondent for NBC News, now the creator of a new YouTube series "Chase What Matters" about Meteorology, Climate Cancer, and Life after NBC News.  Read his full bio below.Help us continue to create great content! If you'd like to sponsor a future episode hit the support podcast button or visit www.environmentalprofessionalsradio.com/sponsor-form Please be sure to ✔️subscribe, ⭐rate and ✍review. This podcast is produced by the National Association of Environmental Professions (NAEP). Check out all the NAEP has to offer at NAEP.org.Connect with Chase Cain at https://www.linkedin.com/in/chasecain/Guest Bio:Chase Cain is a meteorologist and three-time Emmy Award winner. As the first climate reporter for NBC, he also earned a national Edward R. Murrow Award for his reporting on how climate change is threatening the beloved Joshua tree. Now, Chase has traded the legacy news desk for the global reach of YouTube to lead an honest, hopeful conversation about our relationship with our environment. In his series “Chase What Matters,” he's exploring how reconnecting with nature can heal us and the planet!Music CreditsIntro: Givin Me Eyes by Grace MesaOutro: Never Ending Soul Groove by Mattijs MullerSupport the showThanks for listening! A new episode drops every Friday. Like, share, subscribe, and/or sponsor to help support the continuation of the show. You can find us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and all your favorite podcast players. 

Share your Field Stories!Welcome back to Environmental Professionals Radio, Connecting the Environmental Professionals Community Through Conversation, with your hosts Laura Thorne and Nic Frederick! On today's episode, we're LIVE from Hutchinson Island at the FAEP Conference! In this episode, we're joined by Kelley Samuels, Senior Ecologist and Certified Project Manager at AECOM. Kelley shares her insights from over 25 years of experience in environmental permitting, impact assessment, and ecological work across the Southeast. We dive into the complexities of wetland work, the challenges of managing large, interdisciplinary teams, and discuss this year's conference theme: "Anchored in Purpose, Driven by Vision." Plus, we swap some #FieldNotes from our time in the field.Help us continue to create great content! If you'd like to sponsor a future episode hit the support podcast button or visit www.environmentalprofessionalsradio.com/sponsor-form Please be sure to ✔️subscribe, ⭐rate and ✍review. This podcast is produced by the National Association of Environmental Professions (NAEP). Check out all the NAEP has to offer at NAEP.org.Connect with Kelley Samuels at https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelley-samuels-pws-635b98b/Guest Bio:Kelley Samuels is a Senior Ecologist and an AECOM Certified Project Manager based in Orlando, Florida. Kelley has 25 years of experience as an environmental impact assessment and permitting specialist. Her expertise includes ecological assessments of flora and fauna, primarily in the southeast, with a specific focus on wetlands and wildlife as they relate to linear corridor analyses, environmental permitting, due diligence evaluation, and environmental monitoring. Music CreditsIntro: Givin Me Eyes by Grace MesaOutro: Never Ending Soul Groove by Mattijs MullerSupport the showThanks for listening! A new episode drops every Friday. Like, share, subscribe, and/or sponsor to help support the continuation of the show. You can find us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and all your favorite podcast players. 

Share your Field Stories!Welcome back to Environmental Professionals Radio, Connecting the Environmental Professionals Community Through Conversation, with your hosts Laura Thorne and Nic Frederick! On today's episode, we talk with Angela Perri, Vice President of International at Chronicle Heritage about Cultural Resources Management, Transitioning from PhD to Field Archeology, and Working in Saudi Arabia.  Read her full bio below.Help us continue to create great content! If you'd like to sponsor a future episode hit the support podcast button or visit www.environmentalprofessionalsradio.com/sponsor-form Showtimes: Time - NAEP Member ShoutoutsTime - Nic and Laura dive into marketing yourselfTime - Interview startsTime - Time - Please be sure to ✔️subscribe, ⭐rate and ✍review. This podcast is produced by the National Association of Environmental Professions (NAEP). Check out all the NAEP has to offer at NAEP.org.Connect with Angela Perri at linkedin.com/in/angela-perri-ph-d-605855222Guest Bio:As Vice President of International at Chronicle Heritage, Dr. Angela Perri directs a broad portfolio of heritage projects across the international space, including in the GCC, UK, and Europe. Since joining the firm in 2021, she has expanded the division's international capabilities and built a diverse team of heritage professionals from around the world. Her leadership has supported the successful delivery of dozens of major initiatives for clients operating in complex cultural and regulatory environments. Dr. Perri holds a Ph.D. in Archaeology from Durham University and is an expert in prehistoric archaeology, domestication, and archaeological science.Music CreditsIntro: Givin Me Eyes by Grace MesaOutro: Never Ending Soul Groove by Mattijs Muller Support the showThanks for listening! A new episode drops every Friday. Like, share, subscribe, and/or sponsor to help support the continuation of the show. You can find us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and all your favorite podcast players. 

Share your Field Stories!Welcome back to Environmental Professionals Radio, Connecting the Environmental Professionals Community Through Conversation, with your hosts Laura Thorne and Nic Frederick! On today's episode, we talk with Melissa Troutman, award-winning journalist and filmmaker about Oil and Gas industry, Investigative Journalism, and the Permian Basin.  Read her full bio below.Help us continue to create great content! If you'd like to sponsor a future episode hit the support podcast button or visit www.environmentalprofessionalsradio.com/sponsor-form Showtimes: Time - NAEP Member ShoutoutsTime - Nic and Laura dive into marketing yourselfTime - Interview startsTime - Time - Please be sure to ✔️subscribe, ⭐rate and ✍review. This podcast is produced by the National Association of Environmental Professions (NAEP). Check out all the NAEP has to offer at NAEP.org.Connect with Melissa Troutman at https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissa-troutman-28234056/Guest Bio:Melissa Troutman is an award-winning journalist, filmmaker, and environmental policy advocate. In 2011, Melissa co-founded the investigative newsroom Public Herald and in 2019 received a Community Sentinel Award honoring her dedication and support for communities and ecosystems in oil and gas regions. After more than a decade investigating corruption and collusion in the oilfields of Pennsylvania, Melissa turned to policymaking in the highest yielding oil and gas extraction zones across the United States. Since 2022, she has served as Climate and Health Advocate for WildEarth Guardians with a focus on energy development in New Mexico and Colorado.Music CreditsIntro: Givin Me Eyes by Grace MesaOutro: Never Ending Soul Groove by Mattijs MullerSupport the showThanks for listening! A new episode drops every Friday. Like, share, subscribe, and/or sponsor to help support the continuation of the show. You can find us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and all your favorite podcast players. 

In this week's episode of The Learning Curve, co-hosts Prof. Albert Cheng of the University of Arkansas and American Federation for Children's Walter Blanks speak with Dr. Keri Ingraham, Senior Fellow at the Discovery Institute. Dr. Ingraham reflects on her academic and athletic journey, including being an Academic All-American, and how it shaped her belief in discipline, opportunity, and high expectations in education. She shares that in deep blue states like Washington, Oregon, California, and New York, strong teacher union political influence has often limited K-12 reform and innovation. Despite roughly $800 billion in annual K–12 spending, she points to stagnant academic outcomes, highlighted by National Assessment of Educational Progress results, as evidence that funding alone is insufficient without meaningful school choice and accountability. She discusses persistent achievement gaps and their economic consequences, emphasizing how today's workforce increasingly rewards knowledge and skills. She also highlights the rapid expansion of school choice policies following landmark U.S. Supreme Court decisions, such as Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue and Carson v. Makin, and critiques testing monopolies like those tied to the College Board. Dr. Ingraham concludes by underscoring the importance of federalism and a more limited role for the Beltway in education, with states, localities, and parents leading the way on school reform efforts.

Share your Field Stories!Welcome back to Environmental Professionals Radio, Connecting the Environmental Professionals Community Through Conversation, with your hosts Laura Thorne and Nic Frederick! We have a new minisode for you today! This is taking place instead of our regularly scheduled episode this week. Thank you so much for listening!Help us continue to create great content! If you'd like to sponsor a future episode hit the support podcast button or visit www.environmentalprofessionalsradio.com/sponsor-form Please be sure to ✔️subscribe, ⭐rate and ✍review. This podcast is produced by the National Association of Environmental Professions (NAEP). Check out all the NAEP has to offer at NAEP.org.Music CreditsIntro: Givin Me Eyes by Grace MesaOutro: Never Ending Soul Groove by Mattijs MullerSupport the showThanks for listening! A new episode drops every Friday. Like, share, subscribe, and/or sponsor to help support the continuation of the show. You can find us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and all your favorite podcast players. 

Share your Field Stories!Welcome back to Environmental Professionals Radio, Connecting the Environmental Professionals Community Through Conversation, with your hosts Laura Thorne and Nic Frederick! On today's episode, we talk with Dr. Renee Lertzman, environmental psychologist and founder of Project InsideOut about Environmental Psychology, Climate Anxiety, and Behavior Change.   Read her full bio below.Help us continue to create great content! If you'd like to sponsor a future episode hit the support podcast button or visit www.environmentalprofessionalsradio.com/sponsor-form Showtimes: 1:35 - Green guilt9:34 - Interview with Renee starts!13:14 - Reframing environmental Action29:43 - Listening to stakeholders38:31- Five guiding principalsPlease be sure to ✔️subscribe, ⭐rate and ✍review. This podcast is produced by the National Association of Environmental Professions (NAEP). Check out all the NAEP has to offer at NAEP.org.Connect with Dr. Renee Lertzman at reneelertzman.comGuest Bio: Dr. Renée Lertzman is a founder, psychologist, researcher, and strategist who has spent three decades investigating one of the most pressing questions of our time: why do people struggle to act on what they care most deeply about—and what does it actually take to change that? Her answer challenges everything we think we know about motivation, resistance, and human behavior. The problem, she has found, is never lack of care. It's that care gets buried under anxiety, unprocessed grief, and the weight of impossible-feeling choices, and the strategies we use to overcome that tend to make it worse. Her work, spanning corporations, governments, nonprofits, and communities across the globe—is built on a simple but radical premise: the capacity for change already exists in people. Our job is to unlock it. Renée has advised senior leaders and leadership teams at Google, IKEA, Johnson & Johnson, WWF, Live Nation, and the White House, and her TED Talk, How to Turn Climate Anxiety into Action, has been viewed over two million times. She is the author of Environmental Melancholia and the founder of the acclaimed Project InsideOut, seed funded by the 11th Hour Project and KR Foundation. Her forthcoming book, So You Want to Change the World? Creating the Future You Want from the Inside Out (Viking 2027), is the culmination of thirty years of practice and research  at the intersection of psychology and planetary change.Music CreditsIntro: Givin Me Eyes by Grace MesaOutro: Never Ending Soul Groove by Mattijs MullerSupport the showThanks for listening! A new episode drops every Friday. Like, share, subscribe, and/or sponsor to help support the continuation of the show. You can find us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and all your favorite podcast players. 

Share your Field Stories!Welcome back to Environmental Professionals Radio, Connecting the Environmental Professionals Community Through Conversation, with your hosts Laura Thorne and Nic Frederick! On today's episode, we talk with Kimberlee Chambers, Agriculture Program Manager at Earthworm Foundation about Regenerative Farming, Food Systems, and Non-Linear Career Paths.  Read her full bio below.Help us continue to create great content! If you'd like to sponsor a future episode hit the support podcast button or visit www.environmentalprofessionalsradio.com/sponsor-form Showtimes: Time - NAEP Member ShoutoutsTime - Nic and Laura dive into marketing yourselfTime - Interview startsTime - Time - Please be sure to ✔️subscribe, ⭐rate and ✍review. This podcast is produced by the National Association of Environmental Professions (NAEP). Check out all the NAEP has to offer at NAEP.org.Connect with Kimberlee Chambers at https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimberlee-chambers-7b4a958 Guest Bio:Dr. Kimberlee Chambers is an Agriculture Program Manager at Earthworm Foundation, an international nonprofit. She works throughout food system supply chains to support farm viability and sustainability initiatives. Kimberlee's roots in agriculture and conservation run deep — since growing up on a family farm in Ontario, Canada, she has conducted multiple applied agricultural research projects with farmers, Tribes, and First Nation communities in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. Kimberlee serves as a Board Member for Sustainable Northwest and the Oregon Agricultural Trust. She has a PhD in geography from the University of California, Davis, and an MSc in ethnoecology from the University of Victoria in British Columbia.Music CreditsIntro: Givin Me Eyes by Grace MesaOutro: Never Ending Soul Groove by Mattijs Muller Support the showThanks for listening! A new episode drops every Friday. Like, share, subscribe, and/or sponsor to help support the continuation of the show. You can find us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and all your favorite podcast players. 

Today on AOTA Shorts: The State of Oregon is one of just a few in the country that doesn't mandate a specific number of school days each year, and over ⅓ of their school districts have gone down to a 4 day school week. Proponents of mandating more school for Oregon youth argue this is the driving force behind Oregon's dismal performance on the most recent NAEP.  And, they argue, that the aggregate effect of the shorter school weeks and shorter school years, can mean students miss out on a full year of instruction by the time they graduate. But, not all school days are created equal. Most states text in April or May, weeks before the end of the school year, so does a week or two less school in Oregon really make a difference? It just might. Manuel and Jeff discuss!MAXIMUM WOKENESS ALERT -- get your All of the Above swag, including your own “Teach the Truth” shirt! In this moment of relentless attacks on teaching truth in the classroom, we got you covered. https://all-of-the-above-store.creator-spring.com Watch, listen and subscribe to make sure you don't miss our latest content!Listen on Apple Podcast and Spotify Website: https://AOTAshow.com

Share your Field Stories!Welcome back to Environmental Professionals Radio, Connecting the Environmental Professionals Community Through Conversation, with your hosts Laura Thorne and Nic Frederick! On today's episode, we talk with Irene Jorden Romero, NASA Goddard NEPA Manager and Cultural Resource Manager about Rockets, Environmental Compliance at NASA, and Space Mission Planning.  Read her full bio below.Help us continue to create great content! If you'd like to sponsor a future episode hit the support podcast button or visit www.environmentalprofessionalsradio.com/sponsor-form Showtimes: Time - NAEP Member ShoutoutsTime - Nic and Laura dive into marketing yourselfTime - Interview startsTime - Time - Please be sure to ✔️subscribe, ⭐rate and ✍review. This podcast is produced by the National Association of Environmental Professions (NAEP). Check out all the NAEP has to offer at NAEP.org.Connect with Irene Jorden Romero at https://www.linkedin.com/in/ireneromero/Music CreditsIntro: Givin Me Eyes by Grace MesaOutro: Never Ending Soul Groove by Mattijs MullerSupport the showThanks for listening! A new episode drops every Friday. Like, share, subscribe, and/or sponsor to help support the continuation of the show. You can find us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and all your favorite podcast players. 

Share your Field Stories!Welcome back to Environmental Professionals Radio, Connecting the Environmental Professionals Community Through Conversation, with your hosts Laura Thorne and Nic Frederick! On today's episode, we talk with Eric Beightel, Federal Strategy Director at Environmental Science Associates about Environmental Permitting Reform, NEPA Assignment, and the Future of Environmental Policy.  Read his full bio below.Help us continue to create great content! If you'd like to sponsor a future episode hit the support podcast button or visit www.environmentalprofessionalsradio.com/sponsor-form Showtimes: 0:19 - Right Whale Facts!7:18 - Interview with Eric Beightel starts18:38- The bureaucracy and challenges of environmental permitting36:55 - The benefits and futures of NEPA Assignment for states45:12 - #FieldNotesPlease be sure to ✔️subscribe, ⭐rate and ✍review. This podcast is produced by the National Association of Environmental Professions (NAEP). Check out all the NAEP has to offer at NAEP.org.Connect with Eric Beightel at www.linkedin.com/in/ericbeightelGuest Bio:As Federal Strategy Director, Eric serves as an advisor to ESA's clients on the full range of regulatory challenges, helping navigate the ever-evolving changes to federal policies, processes, and funding requirements.A seasoned practitioner with a career spanning 25 years in federal, state, and private sector positions, Eric Beightel is a nationally recognized expert on environmental policy, NEPA, and the federal permitting process. Throughout his career, he has continually played a leading role in driving the national effort to streamline the environmental permitting process for major infrastructure projects.Before joining ESA, Eric was the Presidentially appointed Executive Director of the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council (Permitting Council) where he was responsible for overseeing a portfolio of more than $75 billion in large-scale infrastructure projects, supporting federal agencies and project sponsors through expedited federal environmental review and permitting that advanced dozens of critical projects to completion, realizing their economic and environmental benefits for the nation.Eric previously served under prior federal administrations as a Senior Environmental Policy Advisor at the Department of Transportation and as a subject matter expert to the Office of Management and Budget. In addition to his public sector positions, he also has held national infrastructure and environmental policy and strategy roles with national and global consulting firms, bringing hands-on experience with project implementation and delivery for complex infrastructure projects.Eric Beightel holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Kansas and a Master of Public Policy degree from George Mason University.Music CreditsIntro: Givin Me Eyes by Grace MesaOutro: Never Ending Soul Groove by Mattijs MullerSupport the showThanks for listening! A new episode drops every Friday. Like, share, subscribe, and/or sponsor to help support the continuation of the show. You can find us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and all your favorite podcast players.

Share your Field Stories!Welcome back to Environmental Professionals Radio, Connecting the Environmental Professionals Community Through Conversation, with your hosts Laura Thorne and Nic Frederick! On today's episode, we talk with Fred Wager, Principal Environmental Regulatory Advisor with Jacobs about The Endangerments Clause, Updates to ESA, and the Future of WOTUS.   Read his full bio below.Help us continue to create great content! If you'd like to sponsor a future episode hit the support podcast button or visit www.environmentalprofessionalsradio.com/sponsor-form Showtimes: 0:29 - Cute animal facts!1:28 - Navigating travel chaos10:39 - Interview with Fred Wagner starts16:15 - Unpacking the Endangerment Clause and Major Questions Doctrine 27:47 - The future of WOTUS and endangered species act interpretations37:44 - Examining Section 106 and historic preservation challenges40:53 - Optimism, regulatory resilience, and concluding thoughtsPlease be sure to ✔️subscribe, ⭐rate and ✍review. This podcast is produced by the National Association of Environmental Professions (NAEP). Check out all the NAEP has to offer at NAEP.org.Connect with Fred Wagner at linkedin.com/in/fred-wagner-59043019Guest Bio:Fred Wagner focuses on environmental and natural resources issues concerning major infrastructure, including surface transportation, energy, mining, and commercial project development. Fred advises clients on environmental reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act or equivalent state statutes. He also helps secure permits and approvals from regulators under a variety of federal programs, including Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Clean Air Act, and the National Historic Preservation Act. Fred provides strategic counseling regarding implementation of the full spectrum of federal environmental programs, as well as U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) surface transportation grant management and safety regulations. Prior to joining Jacobs, Fred represented a wide variety of developers, public entities, and businesses in environmental, land use, and natural resources litigation in federal trial and appellate courts across the country, from citizen suits to government enforcement actions and Administration Procedure Act (APA) challenges. Most recently, Fred was counsel of record in the Seven County Infrastructure Coalition NEPA case before the U.S. Supreme Court.Music CreditsIntro: Givin Me Eyes by Grace MesaOutro: Never Ending Soul Groove by Mattijs MullerSupport the showThanks for listening! A new episode drops every Friday. Like, share, subscribe, and/or sponsor to help support the continuation of the show. You can find us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and all your favorite podcast players.

Drew Bailey, professor at the University of California, Irvine, joins The Education Gadfly Show to discuss the fadeout effect across education interventions. Why do early treatment effects shrink over time, and what does that mean for judging program success, especially when test score gains diminish but long-term outcomes like graduation rates and earnings persist? We also debate the role of test scores in accountability, the evidence linking school value-added to real-world success, and what this all means for the role of testing in school choice initiatives.Then on the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines new data on how states define “proficiency” in reading and math and what NAEP reveals about rigor, transparency, and the debate over standards.Recommended content:Why Do Most Education Interventions Fade Out Over Time? —Drew Bailey, Tyler Watts, and Emma Hart, Education NextSchool Choice, Test Scores and Long-Term Outcomes: The Evidence Is Ambiguous —Michael J Petrilli, Education NextReducing Inequality through Dynamic Complementarity: Evidence from Head Start and Public School Spending —Rucker C. Johnson and C. Kirabo Johnson, American Economic JournalA future for IES? —Chester E. Finn, Jr., Thomas B. Fordham InstituteMapping State Proficiency Standards Onto the NAEP Scales Results From the 2022 NAEP Reading and Mathematics Assessments —Darrick Shen-Wei Yee and Brian Cramer, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics (2026)Feedback Welcome: Have ideas for improving our show? We would love to hear them. Send them to thegadfly@fordhaminstitute.org

Share your Field Stories!Welcome back to Environmental Professionals Radio, Connecting the Environmental Professionals Community Through Conversation, with your hosts Laura Thorne and Nic Frederick! On today's episode, we talk with Amy Jacobs, The Nature Conservancy, Chesapeake Bay Director, about Wetland Restoration, Agricultural Water Quality, and Chesapeake Bay Conservation.  Read her full bio below.Help us continue to create great content! If you'd like to sponsor a future episode hit the support podcast button or visit www.environmentalprofessionalsradio.com/sponsor-form Showtimes:1:40 - Our favorite Airbnb experiences6:10 - Interview with Amy Jacobs Starts!12:39 - Jacobs Conservation Efforts20:02 - Approaches to the Watershed26:32 - Jacobs paddle boarding hobbyPlease be sure to ✔️subscribe, ⭐rate and ✍review. This podcast is produced by the National Association of Environmental Professions (NAEP). Check out all the NAEP has to offer at NAEP.org.Connect with Amy Jacobs at https://www.linkedin.com/in/amy-jacobs-a945041a7/Guest Bio:Amy brings over 30 years of experience in conservation, dedicating her career to making a significant impact in the Chesapeake Bay and surrounding landscapes. She began her journey with The Nature Conservancy, assessing the condition of wetlands in the Nanticoke Watershed. Amy then took a position with the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, where she built a Wetland Assessment and Monitoring Program. In 2012, she returned to The Nature Conservancy for the mission and to advance restoration in the Chesapeake Bay. Amy has a proven track record of leading large-scale conservation programs, securing funding, and fostering impactful partnerships. From working to restore over 3,500 acres of floodplains along the Pocomoke River to working with private agribusiness to establish the MidAtlantic 4R Nutrient Stewardship Association that has advanced over 150,000 acres of improved farmland management in the Chesapeake region, she is passionate about driving impact on the ground. Amy holds a bachelor's degree in forestry and wildlife from Virginia Tech and a master's degree in Environmental Forest Biology from the State University of New York and Syracuse University.In her free time Amy enjoys traveling with her family, standup paddleboarding, yoga, raising funds for local food pantries, and being a groupie to her husband's band.Music CreditsIntro: Givin Me Eyes by Grace MesaOutro: Never Ending Soul Groove by Mattijs Muller Support the showThanks for listening! A new episode drops every Friday. Like, share, subscribe, and/or sponsor to help support the continuation of the show. You can find us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and all your favorite podcast players.

Share your Field Stories!Welcome back to Environmental Professionals Radio, Connecting the Environmental Professionals Community Through Conversation, with your hosts Laura Thorne and Nic Frederick! On today's episode, we talk with Lee Clauss, Southern California Project Manager with The Trust for Public Land and Principal Consultant at LSC Consulting, specializing in Indigenous land stewardship, sovereignty, and cultural resource management. Read her full bio below.Help us continue to create great content! If you'd like to sponsor a future episode hit the support podcast button or visit www.environmentalprofessionalsradio.com/sponsor-formShowtimes: 1:31 - Nic's New Job!7:13 - Interview with Lee Clauss Starts22:37 - What needs to Change?33:03 - What is the Process of Giving Land Back?40:36- #Fieldnotes with Lee!Please be sure to ✔️subscribe, ⭐rate and ✍review. This podcast is produced by the National Association of Environmental Professions (NAEP). Check out all the NAEP has to offer at NAEP.org.Connect with Lee Clauss at Lee Clauss | LinkedIn Guest Bio: Lee Clauss currently serves as a Project Manager on the Trust for Public Land'sCalifornia Land Protection team.  She is an applied anthropologist/archaeologist andadvocate for Native American communities' sovereignty. She has 25 years ofexperience in historic preservation and environmental law, regulatory compliance andpublic policy analysis. Her background includes Indigenous lands and culturalstewardship, curation, and community-based planning and research. Clauss regularlyprovides training on land return pathways, repatriation, Indigenous science, Tribalconsultation, environmental justice, and data sovereignty.  Prior to her time at TPL, Leeworked for and with multiple Tribal governments in Arizona, North Carolina, andCalifornia.Music CreditsIntro: Givin Me Eyes by Grace MesaOutro: Never Ending Soul Groove by Mattijs MullerSupport the showThanks for listening! A new episode drops every Friday. Like, share, subscribe, and/or sponsor to help support the continuation of the show. You can find us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and all your favorite podcast players.Support the showThanks for listening! A new episode drops every Friday. Like, share, subscribe, and/or sponsor to help support the continuation of the show. You can find us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and all your favorite podcast players.

On this week's episode of The Learning Curve, co-hosts Alisha Searcy of the Center for Strong Public Schools and Mary Tamer of MassPotential speak with Dr. Richard Phelps, the author of Pioneer Institute's recent paper, Post-MCAS Assessments and Accountability in Massachusetts, to unpack the past, present, and future of K-12 accountability in the Commonwealth. Looking back at the 1993 Massachusetts Education Reform Act (MERA), Dr. Phelps explores how rigorous academic standards and the original MCAS testing system helped propel Massachusetts to the top of national and international rankings in reading, math, and science. Phelps explains how Massachusetts' 2010 adoption of Common Core national standards and the shift away from the original MCAS framework led to a dramatic decline in academic performance on NAEP after 2011. Shifting to today, Dr. Phelps discusses the implications of the 2024 ballot initiative that eliminated MCAS as a high school graduation requirement. He outlines the major takeaways from Post-MCAS Assessments and Accountability in Massachusetts, including recommendations for statewide end-of-course exams, as well as the weaknesses of portfolio assessments. He underscores why strong, independent academic oversight is essential in a post-MCAS landscape. He advocates reinstating an independent Office of Educational Quality and Accountability to deliver transparent, data-driven evaluations of school districts and ensure Massachusetts maintains high academic expectations for all students.

Share your Field Stories!Welcome back to Environmental Professionals Radio, Connecting the Environmental Professionals Community Through Conversation, with your hosts Laura Thorne and Nic Frederick! On today's episode, we talk with Sarah Newman, Founder and Executive Director of the Climate Mental Health Network about Climate Anxiety, Resilience, and Community Support.   Read her full bio below.Help us continue to create great content! If you'd like to sponsor a future episode hit the support podcast button or visit www.environmentalprofessionalsradio.com/sponsor-form Showtimes: 1:30 - Environmental Challenges 8:15 - Interview with Sarah Newman Starts12:30 - How do we help25:19 - Connecting to the Climate movement 30:16 - Living on a Sailboat!Please be sure to ✔️subscribe, ⭐rate and ✍review. This podcast is produced by the National Association of Environmental Professions (NAEP). Check out all the NAEP has to offer at NAEP.org.Connect with Sarah Newman at https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarnew/Guest Bio: Sarah Newman is the founder and executive director of Climate Mental Health Network, addressing the mental health consequences of climate change. The organization is the largest in this emerging sector, reaching young people, parents and educators with research-informed programs and resources. In 2025 she was named a Grist 50 Fixer. She previously worked in the media impact sector and at nonprofits as an outreach director and community organizer.Music CreditsIntro: Givin Me Eyes by Grace MesaOutro: Never Ending Soul Groove by Mattijs MullerSupport the showThanks for listening! A new episode drops every Friday. Like, share, subscribe, and/or sponsor to help support the continuation of the show. You can find us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and all your favorite podcast players.

Share your Field Stories!Welcome back to Environmental Professionals Radio, Connecting the Environmental Professionals Community Through Conversation, with your hosts Laura Thorne and Nic Frederick! We have a new minisode for you today! This is taking place instead of our regularly scheduled episode on Friday this week. Thank you so much for listening!Help us continue to create great content! If you'd like to sponsor a future episode hit the support podcast button or visit www.environmentalprofessionalsradio.com/sponsor-form Please be sure to ✔️subscribe, ⭐rate and ✍review. This podcast is produced by the National Association of Environmental Professions (NAEP). Check out all the NAEP has to offer at NAEP.org.Support the showThanks for listening! A new episode drops every Friday. Like, share, subscribe, and/or sponsor to help support the continuation of the show. You can find us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and all your favorite podcast players.

What does it really take to change reading outcomes at scale?In this episode of Literacy Talks, Donell Pons, Stacy Hurst, and Lindsay Kemeny kick off a new conversation focused on changemakers in literacy. Together, they unpack commonly cited literacy data—especially NAEP scores—and explore what those numbers do (and don't) tell us about reading achievement in the U.S.The discussion moves beyond test scores to examine systems change: leadership, shared language, collaboration across classrooms and institutions, and the growing role of innovation and technology. From teacher leaders and researchers to curriculum developers and parent advocates, this episode highlights the many roles changemakers play in moving literacy work forward—and why lasting change requires collective impact, not quick fixes.Literacy Talks Episode 110 Show NotesTopics CoveredWhat NAEP data does (and does not) tell us about reading proficiencyWhy systemic change is harder—and more important—than isolated successMississippi's literacy efforts and what we can learn from themAI and technology as tools, supports, and potential risks in literacy instructionThe importance of shared language, collaboration, and leadershipTeachers, parents, researchers, and curriculum providers as change makersScaling impact through conferences, professional communities, and partnershipsResources & References MentionedBooksFrontiers in Social InnovationThe Journey of Collective Impact (John Kania, Mark Kramer, & colleagues)Assessments & DataNational Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)Organizations & InitiativesProject Read AIThe Reading LeagueCenter for Literacy & Learning – Plain Talk ConferenceBig Sky Literacy SummitTransformative Reading Teacher GroupResearch & Thought LeadershipReid Lyon's work on literacy, systems change, and shared languageLiteracy Instruction & ResearchReading Horizons

Share your Field Stories!Welcome back to Environmental Professionals Radio, Connecting the Environmental Professionals Community Through Conversation, with your hosts Laura Thorne and Nic Frederick! On today's episode, we talk with Jeremy Raguain, Seychellois conservationist, Italy-AOSIS Fellowship Director, and owner of Out of the Shell Solutions Seychelles about Protecting the High Seas, Teaching the Next Generation of Leaders, and Growing Up Where Conservation is Everyday Life.  Read his full bio below.Help us continue to create great content! If you'd like to sponsor a future episode hit the support podcast button or visit www.environmentalprofessionalsradio.com/sponsor-form Showtimes: 1:26 - Island Living6:02 - Interview with Jeremy Raguain begins13:55 - Italy-AOSIS Fellowship26:13 - What makes a good fellow30:41 - #Fieldnotes with Jeremy!Please be sure to ✔️subscribe, ⭐rate and ✍review. This podcast is produced by the National Association of Environmental Professions (NAEP). Check out all the NAEP has to offer at NAEP.org.Connect with Jeremy Raguain at linkedin.com/in/jeremy-raguain-a0b8b1bbGuest Bio:Jeremy Raguain is a Seychellois conservationist working with the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) as the Director of the Italy-AOSIS Fellowship. In addition to being an alumnus of this fellowship (2022) he is also an alumnus of Columbia University's Masters of Public Administration in Environmental Science and Policy (2024), which builds on a Bachelor of Social Science in International Relations (Honours) and Environmental Geographical Sciences from the University of Cape Town. Before rejoining AOSIS, Jeremy worked as a Senior Programme Officer for the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) at its Eastern and Southern African Regional Office, supporting 11 African states in ratifying and implementing the BBNJ Agreement, a subject matter on which he publishes peer-reviewed research. Jeremy has served as the Climate Change and Ocean Advisor for the Seychelles Permanent Mission to the UN, coordinated projects and communications, as well as contributed to Seychelles' national environmental policy through several positions at the Seychelles Islands Foundation and is the Owner of Out of the Shell Solutions Seychelles, a consultancy providing services related to environmental policy, communications and project Management.Music CreditsIntro: Givin Me Eyes by Grace MesaOutro: Never Ending Soul Groove by Mattijs MullerSupport the showThanks for listening! A new episode drops every Friday. Like, share, subscribe, and/or sponsor to help support the continuation of the show. You can find us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and all your favorite podcast players.

“This is a book about my life, about admitting ‘I was wrong,' and about how important it is to say it out loud,” is how our guest today, Diane Ravitch, begins her 2025 memoir, An Education: How I Changed My Mind About Schools and Almost Everything Else.What follows is her incredible life's journey spanning nearly nine decades, from learning to write as a left-hander using a quill pen at her Texas public school to becoming one of the most influential leaders of the modern conservative American education reform movement. Having spent the first half of her professional life in education policy advocating for national standards, testing, and accountability reform alongside charter schools and so-called school choice programs; as a founder of Thomas B. Fordham Institute, Assistant Secretary of Education during the George HW Bush administration, and serving on the board of the National Assessment for Educational Progress or NAEP (the “gold standard” of achievement assessments), however, as the opening quote reveals, after seeing this vision of education reform in action, she very publicly changed her mind about all of it.‍Diane has now spent the last 15 years vigorously challenging the same education reform movement she helped build. Co-founding the Network for Public Education, and writing several best-selling books critical of testing, corporate influence in education policy, and privatization. “We must have a more generous, contemporary vision of public schools and what they can be,” she writes. “I will use whatever time I have to fight for the ideals I believe in, to love the people who mean the most to me, to do whatever I can to strengthen democracy in my beloved country, and to advance the common good.”An Education: How I Changed My Mind About Schools and Almost Everything Else (Columbia University Press)

Share your Field Stories!Welcome back to Environmental Professionals Radio, Connecting the Environmental Professionals Community Through Conversation, with your hosts Laura Thorne and Nic Frederick! On today's episode, we talk with Sunny Fleming, Esri's Director of Conservation about Making Conservation Tools Accessible, Using Data Responsibility in Conservation, and a New Chapter for Conservation Leadership.  Read her full bio below.Help us continue to create great content! If you'd like to sponsor a future episode hit the support podcast button or visit www.environmentalprofessionalsradio.com/sponsor-form Showtimes: Time - NAEP Member ShoutoutsTime - Nic and Laura dive into marketing yourselfTime - Interview startsTime - Time - Please be sure to ✔️subscribe, ⭐rate and ✍review.  This podcast is produced by the National Association of Environmental Professions (NAEP). Check out all the NAEP has to offer at NAEP.org.Connect with Sunny Fleming at https://www.linkedin.com/in/littlemissesri/Guest Bio:Sunny Fleming serves as the Director of Conservation Solutions at Esri. Her career has been shaped by a consistent theme of applying GIS to solve real‑world challenges across conservation, environmental regulation, and parks and recreation management. From monitoring species and natural resources in the field to supporting agencies in policy development, asset management, and strategy, GIS has been central to her work at every stage. She has a passion for uniting these interconnected disciplines and advancing their role in conservation efforts around the world, and she is committed to building a global community of GIS practitioners who collaborate, innovate, and support conservation through shared expertise and geospatial insight.Music CreditsIntro: Givin Me Eyes by Grace MesaOutro: Never Ending Soul Groove by Mattijs MullerSupport the showThanks for listening! A new episode drops every Friday. Like, share, subscribe, and/or sponsor to help support the continuation of the show. You can find us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and all your favorite podcast players.

In this episode of the Chuck ToddCast, Chuck delivers a blunt warning about how Donald Trump’s erratic, ahistorical tariff strategy is pushing the United States toward a self-inflicted crisis—one that could even stumble into war. With none of the usual political penalties applying to Trump, elected Republicans have opted for fearful silence, becoming complicit as tariffs punish American taxpayers and U.S. credibility abroad rapidly erodes. Americans, worn down by “Trump Exhaustion Syndrome” and the lack of consequences after January 6th, are watching as the last real guardrail—the economy—buckles under market turmoil, while Congress and the Supreme Court delay or abdicate their responsibility to act. The episode underscores the extraordinary global fallout: Canada openly questioning whether it can rely on the U.S., wargaming invasion scenarios, pursuing “strategic autonomy,” and calling for new middle-power alliances even as it reaffirms commitment to NATO. As isolationism spreads and the rules-based order America once led begins to fracture, Chuck argues that only a congressional reckoning—or a midterm revolt—can halt the damage and preserve the country’s democratic institutions. Gina Hinojosa, a Texas state representative and Democratic candidate for governor, joins Chuck to discuss how the school choice debate has created unexpected opportunities for Democrats in traditionally red states. Hinojosa, who entered politics through school board advocacy to save her son's school, argues that corruption—not ideology—is the biggest driver of Texas politics. She accuses Governor Greg Abbott of holding school funding hostage to push through a voucher program, forcing closures across the state while Texas ranks in the bottom three nationally for education funding. Hinojosa contends that vouchers lack transparency and accountability, and notes that even Trump-voting Texas women have joined the fight against them. She criticizes charter schools for cherry-picking students while taking public resources, and highlights how special education funding has been systematically cut, leaving expensive and crucial services unmet. Beyond education, Hinojosa paints a broader picture of dysfunction in Texas, claiming Abbott has awarded $1 billion in no-bid contracts to donors—what she calls the "Greg Abbott corruption tax"—and pointing to failures in the state's deregulated electric grid, border policy, and treatment of vulnerable communities. She argues that Texas operates as a three-party state, with two Republican wings and Democrats, and describes how Abbott used millions to primary moderate "Bush Republicans," successfully defeating nine incumbents who wouldn't toe the line. While acknowledging challenges like the border security issue that flipped the Rio Grande Valley toward Trump and ICE enforcement she describes as "terrorizing communities," Hinojosa sees opportunities in growing business community frustration over tariffs and deportations. She emphasizes that despite Texas's economic power and population growth—which will add 4-5 congressional districts—ordinary Texans aren't benefiting, with small business owners earning less than the national average and electric bills skyrocketing due to data center demand and grid mismanagement. Finally, Chuck updates his ToddCast Top 5 senate seats Democrats are most likely to flip in the midterms, answers listeners’ questions in the “Ask Chuck” segment and recaps his experience at the college football national championship game… and the insane prices being charged to attend. Get your wardrobe sorted and your gift list handled with Quince. Don't wait! Go to https://Quince.com/CHUCK for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada, too! Protect your family with life insurance from Ethos. Get up to $3 million in coverage in as little as 10 minutes at https://ethos.com/chuck. Application times may vary. Rates may vary. Thank you Wildgrain for sponsoring. Visit http://wildgrain.com/TODDCAST and use the code "TODDCAST" at checkout to receive $30 off your first box PLUS free Croissants for life! Timeline: (Timestamps may vary based on advertisements) 00:00 Chuck Todd’s introduction 06:00 Trump is potentially stumbling into a war over tariffs 07:00 Trump’s strategy is erratic & detached from historical norms 07:45 None of the usual political penalties apply to Trump 08:15 Canada is preparing & worrying that U.S. could invade 08:45 Trump’s tariffs punish the American taxpayer 09:30 Elected Republicans are afraid of voicing dissent 10:45 Republicans choose silence & makes them complicit 12:00 Americans are numb, suffering from “Trump Exhaustion Syndrome” 13:00 Lack of consequences for January 6th emboldened Trump 14:45 Trump has weakened American credibility abroad 16:00 There’s little check left in the GOP to prevent damage 16:30 The only guardrail left is the economy and markets, which crated 18:15 Isolationism is terrible politics and terrible for the country 19:15 Congress is the only institution that can stop Trump & is abdicating 20:15 SCOTUS delays ruling on tariffs, making them hard to unwind 21:15 It’s possible the midterms become a revolt & sober up the GOP 21:45 Trump is affected by the “political YOLO virus” 22:30 Mitch McConnell could have changed the course of history, and didn’t 23:30 Trump has made America most vulnerable & isolated in decades 25:00 Canadian PM gives Davos speech pleading with Americans 26:00 When America chooses isolationism, so will everyone else 27:00 Canada has shifted toward “strategic autonomy” 28:15 Carney is saying Canada can’t rely on the United States 29:00 Canada is wargaming for an invasion from the south 29:45 Canada proposes a middle power trading bloc 31:15 Carney says Canada stands committed to NATO’s Article 5 31:45 Canada looking for new partners to confront an aggressive U.S. 32:30 America has thrived atop the rules based order, and is risking everything 34:45 25th Amendment intended for true incapacitation 35:30 Congress has to do its job to preserve the America we love 42:45 Gina Hinojosa joins the Chuck ToddCast 43:45 School choice issue has opened the door for Dems in red states 45:15 Gina’s background in education & school board politics 46:45 Ran for school board to save her son’s school 47:15 Greg Abbott is reallocating money, forcing school closures 48:00 Corruption is biggest driver of politics in Texas 48:45 Consultants & vendors use part time legislators to make money 49:30 Schools closing all over Texas due to budget cuts & vouchers 50:45 Abbott held school funding hostage trying to pass voucher program 51:15 Texas is bottom 3 in the country for school funding 52:45 Texas women who voted Trump joined fight against vouchers 54:00 Vouchers have no transparency or accountability 55:15 The school funding model hasn’t changed since industrial age 56:30 Do you support Texas’s “recapture” funding model? 57:45 The recaptured money is being wasted 59:15 Student testing and NAEP scores are decreasing overall 1:00:30 Teachers deserve to be treated and paid like professional 1:01:15 Special needs students can attend private school funded by state 1:02:15 Special education is very expensive & requests go unmet 1:03:30 State cut corners to avoid paying for special ed students 1:05:00 Charter schools take public resources but not all kids 1:06:00 Charter schools deny admission to kids with disciplinary records 1:07:30 Education paid for by Texas property taxes which have skyrocketed 1:08:00 Texans pay the “Greg Abbott corruption tax” 1:08:45 Abbott has given $1 billion dollars in no-bid contracts to donors 1:10:30 The corruption issue is ripe but the electorate is cynical on both sides 1:12:00 Abbott’s corruption is the #1 talking point in the Republican primary 1:13:15 Gas companies let Texans freeze until prices spiked high enough 1:15:15 Border security issue led to Rio Grande valley voting for Trump 1:16:45 Biden was able to fix border issues, just took too long to do it 1:17:15 Deportations flipped political sentiment in Rio Grande valley 1:18:45 ICE is terrorizing communities 1:19:30 Masked law enforcement should be illegal 1:20:30 Texas is a three party state: Two GOP wings & Democrats 1:21:15 How can you grow the Democratic party in Texas? 1:22:30 The “Bush Republicans” in TX can’t vote their districts or conscience 1:23:00 Abbott used millions to primary Bush Republicans & 9 lost their race 1:24:15 Is the GOP nationalizing the race your biggest challenge? 1:25:15 Texas will gain 4-5 congressional districts due to growth 1:27:30 The business community in TX is mad at tariffs & deportations 1:28:15 People of Texas aren’t benefiting from their economic power 1:30:00 Small business owners make less than average nationally 1:30:30 Texas’s electric grid is a ticking time bomb 1:31:00 Deregulation & corruption have exacerbated issues with grid 1:31:45 Electric bills skyrocketing due to data centers 1:33:15 Thoughts on nuclear energy to address energy problems? 1:34:45 Favorite food on the campaign trail? 1:37:30 Chuck’s thoughts on interview with Gina Hinojosa 1:39:00 ToddCast Top 5 seats Democrats can win & flip senate 1:41:45 #1 North Carolina & #2 Maine 1:45:30 #3 Michigan 1:48:45 #4 Ohio 1:50:15 #5 Alaska 1:53:30 Ask Chuck 1:54:15 Which presidency would be more dangerous… Trump or Vance? 1:58:30 If most Americans are center left or right, why can’t we elect centrists? 2:03:15 Would military action against a treaty ally be considered an illegal order? 2:06:45 How should the country resolve insider trading on the prediction markets? 2:08:15 Reaction to Indiana winning National Championship over Miami 2:18:30 The prices at the National Championship were highway robberySee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gina Hinojosa, a Texas state representative and Democratic candidate for governor, joins the Chuck ToddCast to discuss how the school choice debate has created unexpected opportunities for Democrats in traditionally red states. Hinojosa, who entered politics through school board advocacy to save her son's school, argues that corruption—not ideology—is the biggest driver of Texas politics. She accuses Governor Greg Abbott of holding school funding hostage to push through a voucher program, forcing closures across the state while Texas ranks in the bottom three nationally for education funding. Hinojosa contends that vouchers lack transparency and accountability, and notes that even Trump-voting Texas women have joined the fight against them. She criticizes charter schools for cherry-picking students while taking public resources, and highlights how special education funding has been systematically cut, leaving expensive and crucial services unmet. Beyond education, Hinojosa paints a broader picture of dysfunction in Texas, claiming Abbott has awarded $1 billion in no-bid contracts to donors—what she calls the "Greg Abbott corruption tax"—and pointing to failures in the state's deregulated electric grid, border policy, and treatment of vulnerable communities. She argues that Texas operates as a three-party state, with two Republican wings and Democrats, and describes how Abbott used millions to primary moderate "Bush Republicans," successfully defeating nine incumbents who wouldn't toe the line. While acknowledging challenges like the border security issue that flipped the Rio Grande Valley toward Trump and ICE enforcement she describes as "terrorizing communities," Hinojosa sees opportunities in growing business community frustration over tariffs and deportations. She emphasizes that despite Texas's economic power and population growth—which will add 4-5 congressional districts—ordinary Texans aren't benefiting, with small business owners earning less than the national average and electric bills skyrocketing due to data center demand and grid mismanagement. Get your wardrobe sorted and your gift list handled with Quince. Don't wait! Go to https://Quince.com/CHUCK for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada, too! Protect your family with life insurance from Ethos. Get up to $3 million in coverage in as little as 10 minutes at https://ethos.com/chuck. Application times may vary. Rates may vary. Thank you Wildgrain for sponsoring. Visit http://wildgrain.com/TODDCAST and use the code "TODDCAST" at checkout to receive $30 off your first box PLUS free Croissants for life! Timeline: (Timestamps may vary based on advertisements) 00:00 Gina Hinojosa joins the Chuck ToddCast 01:00 School choice issue has opened the door for Dems in red states 02:30 Gina’s background in education & school board politics 04:00 Ran for school board to save her son’s school 04:30 Greg Abbott is reallocating money, forcing school closures 05:15 Corruption is biggest driver of politics in Texas 06:00 Consultants & vendors use part time legislators to make money 06:45 Schools closing all over Texas due to budget cuts & vouchers 08:00 Abbott held school funding hostage trying to pass voucher program 08:30 Texas is bottom 3 in the country for school funding 10:00 Texas women who voted Trump joined fight against vouchers 11:15 Vouchers have no transparency or accountability 12:30 The school funding model hasn’t changed since industrial age 13:45 Do you support Texas’s “recapture” funding model? 15:00 The recaptured money is being wasted 16:30 Student testing and NAEP scores are decreasing overall 17:45 Teachers deserve to be treated and paid like professional 18:30 Special needs students can attend private school funded by state 19:30 Special education is very expensive & requests go unmet 20:45 State cut corners to avoid paying for special ed students 22:15 Charter schools take public resources but not all kids 23:15 Charter schools deny admission to kids with disciplinary records 24:45 Education paid for by Texas property taxes which have skyrocketed 25:15 Texans pay the “Greg Abbott corruption tax” 26:00 Abbott has given $1 billion dollars in no-bid contracts to donors 27:45 The corruption issue is ripe but the electorate is cynical on both sides 29:15 Abbott’s corruption is the #1 talking point in the Republican primary 30:30 Gas companies let Texans freeze until prices spiked high enough 32:30 Border security issue led to Rio Grande valley voting for Trump 34:00 Biden was able to fix border issues, just took too long to do it 34:30 Deportations flipped political sentiment in Rio Grande valley 36:00 ICE is terrorizing communities 36:45 Masked law enforcement should be illegal 37:45 Texas is a three party state: Two GOP wings & Democrats 38:30 How can you grow the Democratic party in Texas? 39:45 The “Bush Republicans” in TX can’t vote their districts or conscience 40:15 Abbott used millions to primary Bush Republicans & 9 lost their race 41:30 Is the GOP nationalizing the race your biggest challenge? 42:30 Texas will gain 4-5 congressional districts due to growth 44:45 The business community in TX is mad at tariffs & deportations 45:30 People of Texas aren’t benefiting from their economic power 47:15 Small business owners make less than average nationally 47:45 Texas’s electric grid is a ticking time bomb 48:15 Deregulation & corruption have exacerbated issues with grid 49:00 Electric bills skyrocketing due to data centers 50:30 Thoughts on nuclear to address energy problems? 52:00 Favorite food on the campaign trail?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Share your Field Stories!Welcome back to Environmental Professionals Radio, Connecting the Environmental Professionals Community Through Conversation, with your hosts Laura Thorne and Nic Frederick! On today's episode, we talk with Lauren Watkins, environmental psychologist, working at the intersection of people and environmental challenges about Using Psychology to Solve Environmental Problems, Working Directly with Communities, and Managing Conflict and Tough Conversation.   Read her full bio below.Help us continue to create great content! If you'd like to sponsor a future episode hit the support podcast button or visit www.environmentalprofessionalsradio.com/sponsor-form Showtimes: 1:55 - EPR is hiring!5:15 - EPRs New Yearly Goals9:14 - Interview with Lauren Watkins Starts19:15 - Opportunities outside Academia26:12 - Behavior Change CampaignPlease be sure to ✔️subscribe, ⭐rate and ✍review. This podcast is produced by the National Association of Environmental Professions (NAEP). Check out all the NAEP has to offer at NAEP.org.Connect with Lauren Watkins at https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurenwatkins/Guest Bio: Currently supporting organizations such as the Jane Goodall Institute, Keeping Forests, Ecochallenge.org, and the Pan African Sanctuary Alliance, Lauren Watkins brings over a decade of experience in environmental psychology and social science research to inspire sustainable behavior change. As Principal Owner of her consultancy, Lauren specializes in co-creating solutions alongside communities, employing empathetic research methods, and crafting tailored communication and change strategies with communities and target audiences - not simply for them. Her work emphasizes ethical and sustainable approaches to addressing environmental challenges, ensuring that initiatives resonate deeply with stakeholders. Passionate about fostering impactful change, Lauren focuses on bridging the gap between people and natural ecosystems to find solutions that match the scale of today's problems.Music CreditsIntro: Givin Me Eyes by Grace MesaOutro: Never Ending Soul Groove by Mattijs MullerSupport the showThanks for listening! A new episode drops every Friday. Like, share, subscribe, and/or sponsor to help support the continuation of the show. You can find us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and all your favorite podcast players.

Share your Field Stories!Welcome back to Environmental Professionals Radio, Connecting the Environmental Professionals Community Through Conversation, with your hosts Laura Thorne and Nic Frederick! On today's episode, we talk with Heidi Pan, Founder of the 1.5 Degrees Podcast about Starting a Podcast at 16, Career Advice for Gen Z, and Junk Journaling.   Read her full bio below.Help us continue to create great content! If you'd like to sponsor a future episode hit the support podcast button or visit www.environmentalprofessionalsradio.com/sponsor-form Showtimes: 4:06 - Let Them Theory11:45 - Interview with Heidi Pan begins18:50 - Who are you speaking to?27:30 - Mental Health & Youths32:58 - #FieldNotes with Heidi Pan!Please be sure to ✔️subscribe, ⭐rate and ✍review. This podcast is produced by the National Association of Environmental Professions (NAEP). Check out all the NAEP has to offer at NAEP.org.Connect with Heidi Pan https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidi-pan-037257219/Guest Bio: At 16, to bridge the gap between aspiring environmentalists and established professionals Heidi Pan founded the 1.5 Degrees Podcast showcasing climate careers and involving the science, solutions, and stories in the fight against climate change. Her accessible intergenerational and intersectional climate conversations have since been featured by BBC Future Earth and the Smithsonian. In her free time she's teaching herself acoustic guitar, taking photos of birds, and junk journaling.  Music CreditsIntro: Givin Me Eyes by Grace MesaOutro: Never Ending Soul Groove by Mattijs MullerSupport the showThanks for listening! A new episode drops every Friday. Like, share, subscribe, and/or sponsor to help support the continuation of the show. You can find us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and all your favorite podcast players.

In this week's episode of The Learning Curve, co-hosts U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng and Center for Strong Public Schools' Alisha Searcy discuss state and national K-12 education reform with Katherine Haley, Founder and Partner of the Oak Rose Group and President of the Arizona State Board of Education. Haley shares her remarkable career journey from Capitol Hill—where she served as chief policy advisor to former U.S. House Speaker John Boehner—to leading education reform in Arizona. She discusses founding the Oak Rose Group to advance human flourishing through strategic consulting, and her work on the Arizona State Board of Education, where she addresses the state's academic challenges on NAEP despite robust charter public and school choice programs. Ms. Haley provides an insider's perspective on the political dynamics of federal education lawmaking, the influence of special interests, and the complexities of programs like IDEA, Title I, and the DC voucher program. She examines why American K-12 education struggles to improve despite massive expenditures exceeding $800 billion annually, and offers advice for what governors, legislators, local officials, and parents can do to dramatically transform academic outcomes for America's schoolchildren.

Share your Field Stories!Welcome back to Environmental Professionals Radio, Connecting the Environmental Professionals Community Through Conversation, with your hosts Laura Thorne and Nic Frederick! We have a new minisode for you today! This is taking place instead of our regularly scheduled episode on Friday this week. Thank you so much for listening!Help us continue to create great content! If you'd like to sponsor a future episode hit the support podcast button or visit www.environmentalprofessionalsradio.com/sponsor-form Please be sure to ✔️subscribe, ⭐rate and ✍review. This podcast is produced by the National Association of Environmental Professions (NAEP). Check out all the NAEP has to offer at NAEP.org.Support the showThanks for listening! A new episode drops every Friday. Like, share, subscribe, and/or sponsor to help support the continuation of the show. You can find us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and all your favorite podcast players.

Share your Field Stories!Welcome back to Environmental Professionals Radio, Connecting the Environmental Professionals Community Through Conversation, with your hosts Laura Thorne and Nic Frederick! On today's episode, we talk with Teresa Martinez, Executive Director and Co-founder of the Continental Divide Trail Coalition about Leadership Rooted in the Ground, Community-Led Conservation, and Connection Across Landscape and People.   Read her full bio below.Help us continue to create great content! If you'd like to sponsor a future episode hit the support podcast button or visit www.environmentalprofessionalsradio.com/sponsor-form Showtimes: 2:35 - Hiking the Appalachian Trail10:36 - Interview with Teresa Martinez Starts!19:03 - Personal Goals in the Workplace27:45 - Challenges of Community Input42:49 - #FieldNotes with TeresaPlease be sure to ✔️subscribe, ⭐rate and ✍review. This podcast is produced by the National Association of Environmental Professions (NAEP). Check out all the NAEP has to offer at NAEP.org.Guest Bio: Teresa Martinez is a co-founder and the Executive Director of the Continental Divide Trail Coalition, the lead national and lead partner working with the USFS, BLM, National Park Service, State Agencies, Indigenous Communities and Tribal Nations to cooperatively steward the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail. For over 30 years, Teresa has worked professionally to increase awareness, engagement, access, and stewardship of our entire National Trails System. A graduate of Virginia Tech, Teresa holds a B.S. and M.S from the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife in the College of Natural Resources. From 1987- 2007 she worked for the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, from 2007 to 2012 she worked for the Continental Divide Trail Alliance and since 2012 she has been the Executive Director (and co-founder) of the Continental Divide Trail Coalition. Formerly a Board member, today she serves on the Trail Leadership Council of the Partnership for the National Trails System and has served as the Chair of the Federal Advisory Committee to aid the USFS in the development of the Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail. Teresa also serves on the Board of Directors for Leave No Trace and has also served on the advisory committee for the Salazar Center for North American Conservation. Teresa is actively involved in the creation of equitable spaces for all people in the outdoors and in 2015, was part of the inaugural group of conservation leaders assembling in Washington DC to launch a new vision for the next 100 years of stewardship of our nation's parks, forests, waters, oceans, and trails which led to the formation of the Next 100 Coalition and the Next 100 Coalition Colorado. Today, Teresa serves as the Chair of the National Board for the Next 100 Coalition. In 2019, Teresa was honored by the Virginia Tech College of Natural Resources as the recipient of the Gerald Cross Alumni Leadership Award. When not working one of these heart driven endeavors, Teresa can be found perfecting her sourdough and puff pastry bakes, or spending her time exploring the mountains, mesas and arroyos of the landscapes around her home in Santa Fe, New Mexico with her rescue dog Riley and hosting discadas with friends while watching the sunrise and sunset over the beautiful terrain of the Land of EncSupport the showThanks for listening! A new episode drops every Friday. Like, share, subscribe, and/or sponsor to help support the continuation of the show. You can find us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and all your favorite podcast players.

Rudyard Kipling wrote a poem called, "The Gods of the Copybook Headings."  It's all about propaganda.  Most of what we hear about our so-called education system is exactly that.  We are all told that we have to continue to pay high property taxes to pay for "our high quality education system."  That's what Grady Hutcherson from the WEA called it.  But is it really?  Do our test scores really justify the hundreds of millions that we throw at Wyoming education? The short answer is not even close.  But you don't understand the reality of it until you look at the national NAEP scores as Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder told the Appropriations Committee to do. If we aren't paying to educate our students, what are we paying for exactly?  I reality of where we are at will shock you.

Share your Field Stories!Welcome back to Environmental Professionals Radio, Connecting the Environmental Professionals Community Through Conversation, with your hosts Laura Thorne and Nic Frederick! On today's episode, we talk with Dr. Jalonne White-Newsome, Associate Professor in the Environmental Justice Specialization at the University of Michigan about Forced Job Transition, Career Reinvention, and Purpose Under Pressure.  Read her full bio below.Help us continue to create great content! If you'd like to sponsor a future episode hit the support podcast button or visit www.environmentalprofessionalsradio.com/sponsor-form Showtimes: 2:12 - Learning a New Job8:37 - Interview with Jalonne White-Newsome Starts16:37 - Key factors to continue moving forward31:34 - How to engage communities in today political climate42:11 - #Fieldnotes with Dr. White-Newsome!Please be sure to ✔️subscribe, ⭐rate and ✍review. This podcast is produced by the National Association of Environmental Professions (NAEP). Check out all the NAEP has to offer at NAEP.org.Connect with Dr. Jalonne White-Newsome at https://www.linkedin.com/in/drjalonne/Guest Bio: Dr. Jalonne L. White-Newsome is an Associate Professor in the Environmental Justice Specialization.  Building on her multi-faceted, multi-sectoral and diverse areas of passion, practice, service and scholarship, Dr. White-Newsome's areas of research include: environmental and climate justice policy and practice; finding solutions to address the social, economic and public health impacts of climate change – specifically, extreme heat, extreme flooding, and specific health impacts on the elderly and children; examining how to integrate justice, equity and corporate social responsibility; and advancing justice-centered leadership across the environmental sector.Music CreditsIntro: Givin Me Eyes by Grace MesaOutro: Never Ending Soul Groove by Mattijs MullerSupport the showThanks for listening! A new episode drops every Friday. Like, share, subscribe, and/or sponsor to help support the continuation of the show. You can find us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and all your favorite podcast players.

Share your Field Stories!Welcome back to Environmental Professionals Radio, Connecting the Environmental Professionals Community Through Conversation, with your hosts Laura Thorne and Nic Frederick! On today's episode, we talk with Carissa Cabrera, Founder of Futureswell an ocean conservation consultancy scaling solutions for planet ocean about Media-Powered Advocacy, Persistent Policy Leadership, and Place-Based Inspiration.   Read her full bio below.Help us continue to create great content! If you'd like to sponsor a future episode hit the support podcast button or visit www.environmentalprofessionalsradio.com/sponsor-form Showtimes: 2:02 - Carbon Footprints of Travlers8:55 - Interview with Carissa Cabrera begin21:40 - Something I learned as an Advocate29:35 - What kind of stories do you share?41:45 - Carissas Hobbies; Bookclub!Please be sure to ✔️subscribe, ⭐rate and ✍review. This podcast is produced by the National Association of Environmental Professions (NAEP). Check out all the NAEP has to offer at NAEP.org.Connect with Carissa Cabrera https://www.linkedin.com/in/carissa-cabrera-b14a6a13a/Guest Bio: Carissa Cabrera is an ocean climate advocate, Harvard-recognized content creator, and has dedicated her career to conserving planet ocean. For the past 10 years, she has focused on ocean recovery efforts—working with endangered species, ecosystem restoration, conservation financing, community outreach, and environmental literacy. She founded Futureswell in 2020, a conservation consultancy and storytelling firm dedicated to advancing community-based ocean climate solutions through partnerships with NGOs, coalitions, and accessible media. Specifically, she works on the development strategy of innovative ocean climate solutions that serve Hawai'i and the broader ocean community. For example, she developed the first coral restoration training program in the Pacific specifically dedicated to training Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders on diving restoration, and recently was the long-standing community organizer for passing the first visitor green fee legislation in the United States. She has been recognized as Ocean Influencer of the Year by Coral Reef Alliance, is an established educator under National Geographic Society, and was one of the inaugural Climate Creators to Watch by Harvard. Carissa's work, company, and media projects share one mission: to expand pathways for ocean climate action and accelerate collective conservation solutions globally.Music CreditsIntro: Givin Me Eyes by Grace MesaOutro: Never Ending Soul Groove by Mattijs MullerSupport the showThanks for listening! A new episode drops every Friday. Like, share, subscribe, and/or sponsor to help support the continuation of the show. You can find us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and all your favorite podcast players.

Share your Field Stories!Welcome back to Environmental Professionals Radio, Connecting the Environmental Professionals Community Through Conversation, with your hosts Laura Thorne and Nic Frederick! We are dropping a minisode today! This is taking place instead of our regularly scheduled episode this week.  Thank you so much for listening!Help us continue to create great content! If you'd like to sponsor a future episode hit the support podcast button or visit www.environmentalprofessionalsradio.com/sponsor-formPlease be sure to ✔️subscribe, ⭐rate and ✍review.This podcast is produced by the National Association of Environmental Professions (NAEP). Check out all the NAEP has to offer at NAEP.org.Support the showThanks for listening! A new episode drops every Friday. Like, share, subscribe, and/or sponsor to help support the continuation of the show. You can find us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and all your favorite podcast players.

Share your Field Stories!Welcome back to Environmental Professionals Radio, Connecting the Environmental Professionals Community Through Conversation, with your hosts Laura Thorne and Nic Frederick! On today's episode, we talk with Ushma Pandya, co-founder and partner at Think Zero about Zero Waste, Sustainability Job Types, and Trash Walkers.  Read her full bio below.Help us continue to create great content! If you'd like to sponsor a future episode hit the support podcast button or visit www.environmentalprofessionalsradio.com/sponsor-form Showtimes: 1:58 - Nic & Laura talk Scams8:48 - Interview with Ushma Pandya Starts17:48 - Different type of Partnerships29:14 - Sustainability as a growing field34:20 - Fieldnotes with Ushma!Please be sure to ✔️subscribe, ⭐rate and ✍review. This podcast is produced by the National Association of Environmental Professions (NAEP). Check out all the NAEP has to offer at NAEP.org.Connect with Ushma Pandya at https://www.linkedin.com/in/ushmapandya/ Guest Bio: Ushma is a co founder and Partner at Think Zero LLC, a zero waste advisory firm that works with companies on their sustainability goals related to waste.  Ushma has had a lifelong interest in sustainability and waste reduction. Before the term "zero waste" was coined, she was raising awareness about consumption and waste with her schoolmates and work colleagues.  Prior to launching Think Zero, Ushma held senior management roles with American Express, Booz & Co., and Katzenbach Partners. She has worked on environmental issues with organizations such as the Environmental Defense Fund, the Department of Environment of the City of Chicago, and Acumen.      Ushma is a board member of the Sanitation Foundation, the nonprofit arm of the NYC DSNY, the Manhattan Solid Waste Advisory Board (MSWAB) and the NYC chapter of the New York League of Conservation Voters. She was previously on the Board of Sustainable South Bronx, where she oversaw the for-profit subsidiary Cool Roofs that worked on cooling and greening roofs throughout NYC.   In addition, she sits on the Environmental Protection Committee of Community Board 1, Manhattan.Ushma holds degrees from Georgetown University, Columbia University and Harvard University. She is certified as a TRUE Zero Waste Business Associate by GBCI and a LEED Green Associate.Music CreditsIntro: Givin Me Eyes by Grace MesaOutro: Never Ending Soul Groove by Mattijs MullerSupport the showThanks for listening! A new episode drops every Friday. Like, share, subscribe, and/or sponsor to help support the continuation of the show. You can find us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and all your favorite podcast players.

Share your Field Stories!Welcome back to Environmental Professionals Radio, Connecting the Environmental Professionals Community Through Conversation, with your hosts Laura Thorne and Nic Frederick! On today's episode, we talk with Dr. Letise LaFeir, Chief of Conservation and Stewardship at the New England Aquarium about Resilient Leadership, Interconnected Stewardship, and Integrated Science Communication.  Read her full bio below.Help us continue to create great content! If you'd like to sponsor a future episode hit the support podcast button or visit www.environmentalprofessionalsradio.com/sponsor-form Showtimes: 1:55 - Friends in adulthood10:37 - Interview with Letise LaFeir starts21:45 - LaFeir's Career Path 34:50 - Policy Work 41:09 - Field Notes with LaFeirPlease be sure to ✔️subscribe, ⭐rate and ✍review. This podcast is produced by the National Association of Environmental Professions (NAEP). Check out all the NAEP has to offer at NAEP.org.Connect with Dr. Letise LaFeir https://www.linkedin.com/in/letise-houser-lafeir/Guest Bio: Dr. Letise LaFeir serves as the Chief of Conservation and Stewardship at New England Aquarium, overseeing Animal Care, Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life, Conservation Learning, Conservation Policy, and Community Engagement. LaFeir most recently served as a day-one Biden-Harris Administration appointee in the role of Senior Advisor to the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Before holding that position, LaFeir was a Program Officer and later Director of Federal Policy at Resources Legacy Fund; California Ocean Policy Manager at Monterey Bay Aquarium; Policy Analyst and later National Outreach Coordinator for NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries; and Director of Government Relations and Education Program Coordinator at the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation. She also spent one year as a Sea Grant Knauss Marine Policy Fellow for now-retired Congressman Sam Farr of California. In 2014, LaFeir founded and still co-owns Upwelling Consulting, LLC. During her career, she has been honored with several awards, has had countless public speaking engagements, and has served on several professional advisory boards. In addition to authoring or co-authoring several scientific publications and a book of poetry, she is a certified scuba diver (Advanced and Nitrox) and has traveled to all seven continents and the seafloor. LaFeir holds a B.S. in Aquatic Biology and a B.A. in English (with Honors in Creative Writing) from Brown University, and a Ph.D. in Marine Biology from the University of Delaware-College of Marine Studies.Music CreditsIntro: Givin Me Eyes by Grace MesaOutro: Never Ending Soul Groove by Mattijs MullerSupport the showThanks for listening! A new episode drops every Friday. Like, share, subscribe, and/or sponsor to help support the continuation of the show. You can find us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and all your favorite podcast players.

Share your Field Stories!Welcome back to Environmental Professionals Radio, Connecting the Environmental Professionals Community Through Conversation, with your hosts Laura Thorne and Nic Frederick! On today's episode, we talk with Mark Coleman, Author, Planet Pragmatism and Director of Advanced Energy Advisory and Innovation with TRC Companies about Establishing Trust, Rediscovering Humanity, and Planet Pragmatism.  Read his full bio below.Help us continue to create great content! If you'd like to sponsor a future episode hit the support podcast button or visit www.environmentalprofessionalsradio.com/sponsor-form Showtimes:  2:45 - Delightful things10:08 - Interview with Mark Coleman20:32 - How to work through all the Noise29:22 - How do you build Trust with doubtful people47:06 - Fieldnotes with Mark!Please be sure to ✔️subscribe, ⭐rate and ✍review. This podcast is produced by the National Association of Environmental Professions (NAEP). Check out all the NAEP has to offer at NAEP.org.Connect with Mark Coleman at https://www.markcolemaninsights.com/Guest  Bio:Mark C. Coleman is an award-winning author and recognized voice as a business and leadership advisor, entrepreneur, and educator specializing in sustainable change management and enterprise development. With over 25 years of experience, he inspires both current and future leaders to embrace principled leadership founded on pragmatism, dignity, trust, and accountability. He has served as a strategic advisor to numerous leading organizations across academia, industry, emerging enterprises, and government, focusing on the intersection of societal change, environmental risk, and sustainable innovation. Mr. Coleman currently serves as Director of Advisory and Innovation within TRC's Advanced Energy (AE) business segment where he works with leaders across the organization and with partners and clients to strategically advance best-in-class integrated solutions to complex energy and business challenges. His work is focused on the nexus of energy and environmental innovation and the emergent sustainable economy, marked by solutions which are decarbonized, digital, decentralized, and which also embody social impact, environmental justice, and economic equity at their foundation.As the founder of Convergence Mitigation Management (CMM), a high-impact business intelligence, strategy, and management consultancy, Mr. Coleman provides custom advisory services to entrepreneurs, small and medium sized businesses, government, applied research, and non-governmental organizations.In July 2025 Mr. Coleman published his 4th book, Planet Pragmatism: The New Path to Prosperity. Mark currently serves as a Board Member of Ecology Prime, a global platform catalyzing ecologic education, outreach, and communications. He also serves on the Board of Trustees for Cayuga Community College and as an adjunct instructor of Entrepreneurship and Emerging Enterprise at the Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University where he teaches undergraduate and graduate level courses in Sustainable Enterprise. Mr. Coleman resides in the Finger Lakes region of New York with his wife and two sons. Music CreditsIntro: Givin Me Eyes by Grace MesaOutro: Never Ending Soul Groove by Mattijs MuSupport the showThanks for listening! A new episode drops every Friday. Like, share, subscribe, and/or sponsor to help support the continuation of the show. You can find us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and all your favorite podcast players.

Share your Field Stories!Welcome back to Environmental Professionals Radio, Connecting the Environmental Professionals Community Through Conversation, with your hosts Laura Thorne and Nic Frederick!We have a new minisode for you today that is taking place instead of our regularly scheduled episode. Thank you so much for listening!.Help us continue to create great content! If you'd like to sponsor a future episode hit the support podcast button or visit www.environmentalprofessionalsradio.com/sponsor-formPlease be sure to ✔️subscribe, ⭐rate and ✍review.This podcast is produced by the National Association of Environmental Professions (NAEP). Check out all the NAEP has to offer at NAEP.org.Support the showThanks for listening! A new episode drops every Friday. Like, share, subscribe, and/or sponsor to help support the continuation of the show. You can find us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and all your favorite podcast players.

Share your Field Stories!Welcome back to Environmental Professionals Radio, Connecting the Environmental Professionals Community Through Conversation, with your hosts Laura Thorne and Nic Frederick! On today's episode, we talk with Dr. Na'Taki Osborne Jelks, assistant professor of environmental and health sciences at Spelman College and Co-Founder of the West Atlanta Watershed Alliance about Community Science, Climate Justice, and Mentorship. Read her full bio below.Help us continue to create great content! If you'd like to sponsor a future episode hit the support podcast button or visit www.environmentalprofessionalsradio.com/sponsor-form Showtimes: 1:36 - The Positives about Fall7:59 - Interview with Dr. Jelks starts17:40 - West Atlanta Watershed Alliance 29:56 - Challenges of Funding39:35 - Field Notes with Dr. Jelks!Please be sure to ✔️subscribe, ⭐rate and ✍review. This podcast is produced by the National Association of Environmental Professions (NAEP). Check out all the NAEP has to offer at NAEP.org.Connect with Dr. Na'Taki Osborne Jelks https://www.linkedin.com/in/na-taki-osborne-jelks-ph-d-mph-571225/Guest Bio: Dr. Na'Taki Osborne Jelks is an assistant professor of environmental and health sciences at Spelman College in Atlanta, GA and Co-Founder of the West Atlanta Watershed Alliance, a community-based, environmental justice organization. Jelks investigates urban environmental health disparities; the impact of climate change on marginalized communities; the role that place, race, and social factors play in influencing health; and urban greening and resilience practices and their impact on health. She also develops, implements, and evaluates community-based initiatives that set conditions to enable low-income and communities of color to empower themselves to reduce exposure to environmental health hazards. Jelks' scholarship centers participatory approaches that engage environmentally overburdened communities in monitoring local environmental conditions, generating actionable data for community change, and developing effective community-based interventions that revitalize toxic, degraded spaces into healthy places. She is currently leading UrbanHeatATL, a research initiative in which local students and community members are mapping urban heat islands in Atlanta with community science. Her research has been supported by public and private entities such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the Rockefeller, Robert Wood Johnson, JPB, and National Science Foundations.Music CreditsIntro: Givin Me Eyes by Grace MesaOutro: Never Ending Soul Groove by Mattijs MullerSupport the showThanks for listening! A new episode drops every Friday. Like, share, subscribe, and/or sponsor to help support the continuation of the show. You can find us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and all your favorite podcast players.

Share your Field Stories!Welcome back to Environmental Professionals Radio, Connecting the Environmental Professionals Community Through Conversation, with your hosts Laura Thorne and Nic Frederick! On today's episode, we talk with Josh Hirten, Environmental Discipline Leader at CDM Smith about The Silver Tsunami, Mentorship, and Global Collaboration.   Read his full bio below.Help us continue to create great content! If you'd like to sponsor a future episode hit the support podcast button or visit www.environmentalprofessionalsradio.com/sponsor-form Showtimes: 1:39 - Diving Adventures with Nic & Laura8:30 - Interview with Josh Hirten Starts13:34- Sampling through cavern diving 22:04 - Impact of professional organization 29:05 - Field Notes with Josh!Please be sure to ✔️subscribe, ⭐rate and ✍review. This podcast is produced by the National Association of Environmental Professions (NAEP). Check out all the NAEP has to offer at NAEP.org.Connect with Joshua Hirten at https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshua-hirten-pg-22940/Guest  Bio:Joshua Hirten, PG is an Environmental Discipline Leader at CDM Smith with over 28 years of experience. He holds an MS in Geology from the University of Florida, BA in Geology from the State University of New York, Buffalo, and is registered Professional Geologist in Florida.Josh is part of the Sky Wave at CDM Smith Team that combines data acquisition and machine learning to obtain detailed results to drive data to decisions. Josh is the Program Manager for the Waste Cleanup Program at the FDEP. In addition to environmental projects, Josh developed and conducted Project Management training at over 20 locations globally.Josh is actively involved in professional activities, serving as Board Member for National Association of Environmental Professionals and Vice President for Florida Association of Environmental Professionals.Music CreditsIntro: Givin Me Eyes by Grace MesaOutro: Never Ending Soul Groove by Mattijs MullerSupport the showThanks for listening! A new episode drops every Friday. Like, share, subscribe, and/or sponsor to help support the continuation of the show. You can find us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and all your favorite podcast players.

Share your Field Stories!Welcome back to Environmental Professionals Radio, Connecting the Environmental Professionals Community Through Conversation, with your hosts Laura Thorne and Nic Frederick! On today's episode, we talk with Michael Carter, Climate and Workforce Manager at King County's Executive Climate Office about Local Workforce Empowerment, Climate, and Good Trouble.   Read his full bio below.Help us continue to create great content! If you'd like to sponsor a future episode hit the support podcast button or visit www.environmentalprofessionalsradio.com/sponsor-form Showtimes: 1:43 - The Art of Hustling 8:11 - Interview with Michael Carter Starts15:30- Challenges talking about Climate29:14 - Being a good trouble maker43:24 - On being a poetPlease be sure to ✔️subscribe, ⭐rate and ✍review. This podcast is produced by the National Association of Environmental Professions (NAEP). Check out all the NAEP has to offer at NAEP.org.Connect with Michael Carter at https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelpaucarter/Guest  Bio:Michael Carter is a changemaker and good trouble seeker, serving as the Climate and Workforce Manager at King County's Executive Climate Office (ECO). His work centers on connecting communities affected by climate change with living wage employment opportunities linked to clean energy deployment. He leads initiatives like King County JumpStart, a workforce development program to connect youth to clean energy careers, and local businesses to clean energy contracts at King County. In addition, he serves as the co-chair of the Coalition for Climate Careers, a public-private partnership focused on increasing access to the green economy for underrepresented groups. Michael is committed to bridging the gap between skilled trades and clean energy deployment while ensuring equitable access to living-wage jobs for frontline communities impacted by climate change. He holds a Master's in Public Administration from the University of Southern California (USC), where his research focused on integrating workforce development into local government climate action plans.Music CreditsIntro: Givin Me Eyes by Grace MesaOutro: Never Ending Soul Groove by Mattijs MullerSupport the showThanks for listening! A new episode drops every Friday. Like, share, subscribe, and/or sponsor to help support the continuation of the show. You can find us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and all your favorite podcast players.

Share your Field Stories!Welcome back to Environmental Professionals Radio, Connecting the Environmental Professionals Community Through Conversation, with your hosts Laura Thorne and Nic Frederick! On today's episode, we talk with Matt Scott, Director of Storytelling and Engagement at Project Drawdown and founding director of Drawdown Stories about Storytelling, Opportunities through Connections, and Everyday Changemakers.   Read his full bio below.Help us continue to create great content! If you'd like to sponsor a future episode hit the support podcast button or visit www.environmentalprofessionalsradio.com/sponsor-form Showtimes: 1:32 - Power of Stories7:56 - Interview with Matt Scott Begins15:08 - What is Project Drawdown24:26 - Bringing everyday people into the convo35:50 - Draw to Reality TVPlease be sure to ✔️subscribe, ⭐rate and ✍review. This podcast is produced by the National Association of Environmental Professions (NAEP). Check out all the NAEP has to offer at NAEP.org.Connect with Matt Scott at https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-scott-6ba55a28/Guest  Bio:Matt Scott (He/Him) is the Director of Storytelling and Engagement at Project Drawdown and founding director of Drawdown Stories, where he helps everyday people connect with climate solutions. He hosts Drawdown's Neighborhood, a climate solutions docuseries, highlighting local climate heroes across the U.S. with a focus on passing the mic to voices who often go unheard. Previously, Matt led global community engagement for NASA's Space Apps Challenge, the world's largest problem-solving hackathon, earning two NASA awards and collaborating with organizations including the UN, USAID, Nike, and the Obama White House. He's also the creator of Let's Care and the film 20s & Change: San Francisco, which has been recognized at three film festivals. Matt's work has been featured by The Weather Channel, National Geographic, Grist, PBS, FEMA, NOAA, the Society of Environmental Journalists, the Hollywood Climate Summit, and more. Music CreditsIntro: Givin Me Eyes by Grace MesaOutro: Never Ending Soul Groove by Mattijs MullerSupport the showThanks for listening! A new episode drops every Friday. Like, share, subscribe, and/or sponsor to help support the continuation of the show. You can find us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and all your favorite podcast players.

Recently, First Lady Melania Trump convened the second White House Task Force on Artificial Intelligence in Education. There is simultaneously an incredible amount of excitement around AI in schools and just beneath it, a sort of terror about its potential impacts and all we do not know. We wanted to take a macro approach and examine the current state of AI in education, its promise, the fears, and what the near future may look like.The Questions:Is AI in the classroom a force for good?Can we still produce critical thinkers in an AI-driven classroom?Will AI just be another ed tech flash in the pan?To have this conversation, we brought together two leading eduction experts with nuanced, divergent views on the roles technology, and AI specifically, should play for teachers and students.Eric Westendorf is a former principal who founded the ed tech company LearnZillion, and now is the co-CEO of Coursemojo, which is using AI to enhance in-class learning by supporting teachers in providing the right support for every student.Justin Reich is an Associate Professor in Comparative Media Studies and Director at MIT Teaching Systems Lab, and is the author of a new book, Failure to Disrupt: Why Technology Alone Can't Transform Education.Two notes on terms. Our guests mention NAEP: the National Assessment of Education Progress. There's also discussion of the Alpha School: a network of US private schools that combines AI-driven adaptive software for core academics with in-person adult “Guides” who act as mentors. It operates in Texas, Florida, Arizona, and California. According to Alpha School, their combination of technology and mastery based learning allows children learn core subjects in just two hours daily. Questions or comments about this episode? Email us at podcast@thedisagreement.com or find us on X and Instagram @thedisagreementhq. Subscribe to our newsletter: https://thedisagreement.substack.com/

Earlier this month, 2024 NAEP scores came out for 8th grade science and 12th grade reading and math, and the results were not good, with students losing ground in each subject. But these declines are not new and they are not only the result of the pandemic: Across a number of tests and subjects, scores […]

The latest Nation's Report Card scores are truly terrible: 12th-grade scores reached historic lows and achievement gaps widened. An alarming number of students are leaving high school without basic math and reading skills. Dr. Martin West, vice-chair of the National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB) and academic dean at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, joins […]

It's a way back play back! We're re-releasing this episode with Dr. Sarah Cohen of Equity Performance Equine, based in Wellington FL, in anticipation of the NAEP's Saratoga Conference coming up next week. In this episode Dr. Sarah and I discuss her path to becoming a Vet, her concierge style practice in Wellington Florida, the NAEP and why she became a part of its board, as well as many other topics. Sarah shares a lot of great information in this episode. It's worth a re-listen for long time followers and it's a great first time listen too! I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did. Sign up for the conference today thenaep.com