Dr. Cheryl Charles
ABOUT CHERYL CHARLES
Cheryl Charles, Ph.D., is an innovator, author, organizational executive and educator. She is considered one of the leaders of the worldwide movement to connect children, families and people of all ages with nature.
Cheryl is International Co-Chair of the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s #NatureForAll and a member of the Steering Committee for IUCN’s Commission on Education and Communication as well as the Steering Committee for the international Greening School Grounds and Nature-based Education Project.
In 2015, Cheryl was named founding Executive Director of the Nature Based Leadership Institute at Antioch University New England (AUNE). The vision of the Institute is a world in which all humans live, learn, lead and serve in healthy balance with the natural world. AUNE’s Nature Based Leadership Institute applies nature’s lessons to achieve economic, environmental and social justice.
A student of natural systems, Cheryl has applied nature-based leadership principles to her work to facilitate social change for the past four decades. Cheryl is author, editor and designer of a wide variety of publications including books, articles, and educational materials. Cheryl has given hundreds of public presentations including scores of keynote addresses; and has facilitated a wide variety of civic, business and educational meetings on a range of topics from developing community leadership to leading the worldwide effort to reconnect children with nature.
She is also a Trustee of the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. In Vermont, she serves as a member of the Board of Directors for The Nature Museum in Grafton. She is in her tenth year as school board member, currently serving as Chair of the Westminster Town School District Board and as chair of the regional Windham Northeast Supervisory Union Board.
Cheryl is the Co-Founder, President and CEO Emerita of the Children & Nature Network. She serves with author Richard Louv as Co-Chair of C&NN’s Founders’ Council. They annually co-write “Trends and Emerging Ideas Influencing the Children & Nature Movement.”
Recipient of numerous awards for her leadership, she served as founding National Director of the pioneering K-12, interdisciplinary environment education programs, Project Learning Tree and Project WILD, both of which remain available and widely used. Author Mark Gerzon named Cheryl a “new patriot” for her pioneering work to bring ecological concepts into the mainstream of schooling.
She co-founded and served as the chief executive for the Center for the Study of Community and Windstar Land Conservancy and also served as CEO of John Denver’s Windstar Foundation and the Sol y Sombra Foundation. Cheryl is Co-Founder and Principal of Hawksong Associates, a consulting practice focused on innovation, community building, leadership and educational program development.
Speaking topics of special interest to Cheryl are the benefits to everyone’s health and well-being, and that of the Earth itself, from direct experiences in nature; children’s optimal cognitive, emotional and physical development; developing executive function skills in children through nature-based experiences; applying nature’s lessons to organizational and community development; inspiring a new generation, including millennials; creating nature-rich environments, including homes, schools, and cities; biophilic design; the importance of intergenerational learning; and trends in the worldwide movement to reconnect people with nature. Throughout Cheryl’s keynotes, workshops and presentations, she combines a comprehensive understanding of research with common sense approaches for making positive change.
Cheryl holds a B.A. from the University of Arizona, an M.A. from Arizona State University and a Ph.D. from the University of Washington. She was married to her now deceased husband, Bob Samples, for 40 years. They have one son, Stician Samples, married to Emily Kimball. Stician and Emily live in Vermont with Cheryl’s happy, healthy, nature-boy grandson, Alden Robert Samples and granddaughter, Avery Rowan Samples.
CONTACT INFO
FOR SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS
Please contact Jackie Green
Jacqueline Green Public Relations Inc.
Telephone: (323) 512-3050
Email: [email protected]