Meet Nicole, new ILACSD educator

Today’s blog post comes from Nicole McAleer, our newest environmental educator.

I recently joined the I Love A Clean San Diego team as an Environmental Educator. I am really enthusiastic about environmental education and, through ILACSD, I am able to bring my passion and energy to schools all over San Diego County. I have a lovely mobile classroom equipped with high tech gear and cool props to help me present information about watersheds and storm drain pollution to school group of all ages. The students really enjoy taking part in hands-on learning activities like “Sum of Parts”, where they see how a piece of trash can travel through a watershed to the ocean. It gets the kids all riled up to see how misplaced trash can alter their beach experience. I also encourage each student to get involved in preserving the environment through incorporation of the “3 R’s” in their daily lives and participation in I Love A Clean San Diego’s cleanup events. Students have the opportunity to sign up to become more involved in cleanup events on the spot. The students are always directed to the cleanup site closest to their school. More than once students were unaware that there was a waterway or canyon so close that needed their help! I’m always impressed that kids want to get involved and are willing to make simple changes in their daily lives to protect and preserve the environment. Having such strong and dedicated a volunteer base is what has enable ILACSD to remove about 500,000 of trash from San Diego beaches and inland waterways annually.

Prior to working at I Love A Clean San Diego, I earned my Masters of Arts in Teaching and have worked as a Nature and Environmental Educator. I am an avid outdoor enthusiast with a passion for the environment and belief in service to her community.

In my free time I enjoy spending time being active outdoors. I love hiking, biking, kayaking swimming, running and walking my two dogs (I always remember to scoop the poop). I also love the beach! My love of the outdoors and appreciation of plants and wildlife is part of my inspiration to educate future generations about the importance of protecting the environment. I have learned a lot of new information while working at ILACSD. I was shocked to see that litter in the form of small cigarette butts has such a large impact on water quality in addition to the high quantities they are always found at each clean up event. I stay current on what is going on in the local community through participation in professional development and recently participated in water quality monitoring with Coastkeepers and attended workshops hosted by the Children in Nature Collaborative.  I plan to continue learning new techniques that will inspire kids to embrace their natural surroundings.

I am proud to be part of the I Love A Clean San Diego family and hope to see you at a cleanup or presentation soon!