Conference Keynote Speakers
.png)
David Manzanares Adⱥveï
"Rising Together: Art, Ecology, and Stories of Place as Pathways to Belonging"
Drawing from his experiences as an Indigenous immigrant artist and educator, David Manzanares Adⱥveï will share how community-based art can foster belonging, strengthen relationships to place, and amplify collective stories. Through murals, collaborative projects, and storytelling, his work illustrates how art can serve as a bridge between people, land, ecology, and shared responsibility. The keynote will conclude with a call to action inviting participants to contribute to a collective community mural later that evening.
David Manzanares Adⱥveï is an Indigenous Oaxacan artist, muralist, sculptor, and educator based in Omaha, Nebraska. His work centers on community-engaged art practices that explore belonging, migration, ecological relationships, and Indigenous ways of knowing. Through large-scale murals, sculpture, and collaborative projects, Manzanares works closely with communities to create spaces where stories of place, land, and collective memory can be seen and honored. His practice bridges art, education, and environmental storytelling as tools for connection, healing, and advocacy.
Michelle LaMere
"Natural Education Through Indigenous Culture"
When children establish a relationship with the land, environmental advocacy and action naturally result. Michelle LaMere utilizes her language and culture to help children develop such relationships in the HoChunk Dual Language Academy. The academy students have the best attendance records and have grown to especially love science, mathematics and the arts. Her students have also had major cultural and spiritual impacts in their tribe and community. Michelle will share with us how and why she developed the academy in this way.
Michelle LaMere is currently an educator in the Winnebago Public School. She is an enrolled member of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska, as well as a descendant of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe. She draws on her cultural knowledge and experiences from both woodland tribes to teach here students.
Michelle developed and founded the HoChunk Dual Language Academy located in the Winnebago Public School. The Academy utilizes HoChunk teachings in the areas of culture, history, science, spirituality, the arts and community connections.
Michelled graduate Summa Cum Laude from Little Priest Tribal College with an associates degree in early elementary education in 2011. In 2019, she earned a bachelor of science degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in Elementary Education with an emphasis in Linguistics. She graduated with distinction from there as well. Prior to, and during those endeavors, Michelle often taught Native American Ethnobotany classes throughout the region.
Michelle is the single mother of a daughter, Tyler LaMere. She homeschooled her daughter from 5th grade through high school. Much of the pedagogical work that is used in the Academy was developed during Tyler's homeschool program. Tyler is currently a student at the University of South Dakota.
Conference Workshops
Where: Iain Nicolson Audubon Center at Rowe Sanctuary |
44450 Elm Island Road, Gibbon, NE
When: Friday, February 6, 2026
Time: 2:30 - 4:30 p.m.
Grounded in Community: Strengthening Environmental Education through the NAAEE Guidelines for Excellence
Hannah Rennard-Ganley, Keep Omaha Beautiful
Strengthen your environmental education programs by grounding them in community, connection, and long-term impact. This interactive workshop introduces the NAAEE Guidelines for Excellence: Community Engagement, a practical framework to help educators design programs that are inclusive, community centered, and rooted in sound environmental education principles. Hands-on activities, small-group reflection, and discussion will help you explore how to utilize the Guidelines of Excellence to align environmental goals with community interests.
Storybook Studio: Connecting Children to Nature Through Process Art and Picture Books
Megan McDonough, The Wildflower Alchemy
Step into The Storybook Studio, a hands-on, process art experience where story and nature meet. In this interactive workshop, participants will explore how picture books can inspire open-ended art invitations that nurture curiosity, creativity, and environmental awareness in young learners. Designed for early childhood and K-4 educators, this session models a nature-centered approach that connects literacy, art, and science through child-led exploration.
Inspiring Environmental Action Through Creativity
Brady Karg, Audubon Great Plains & Grace Gaard, Nebraska Game and Parks
Art has the power to transform how we understand, value, and act toward the natural world. This interactive workshop explores the essential role of arts in deepening environmental learning and inspiring conservation and climate action. Participants will engage in hands-on activities in drawing, nature journaling, and other art forms, each designed to cultivate observation skills, emotional connection, and creative expression. We'll also highlight examples of "climate action art", where creative works amplify awareness, foster dialogue, and mobilize communities for environmental change. Together, we will examine how artistic practices can bridge science and empathy, helping learners of all ages connect more personally to ecological concepts and the urgency of conservation. Educators will leave with practical tools and adaptable lesson ideas to integrate the arts into their own programs to make environmental education not just informative, but transformative.
Nature, Mindfulness, and Emotional Wellness
Theresa Ritta-Olson, Educational Service Unit 10
This hands-on session brings together mindfulness, emotional wellness, and experiences in nature to help educators strengthen belonging—for themselves and for the students and communities they support. Participants will move through grounding exercises that use breath, movement, and sensory awareness to reconnect the mind and body with the natural world. The session includes opportunities for quiet reflection and simple creative activities that help participants notice what calms them, what restores them, and what helps them feel more present.
Through partner reflection and small-group collaboration, attendees will experience how shared mindfulness practices can build trust and deepen connection in any learning environment. Educators will leave with practical strategies they can use immediately, including outdoor mindfulness routines, nature-inspired journaling prompts, and ways to guide class conversations that help students feel seen, supported, and more connected to where they live and learn. This workshop is designed to refresh the mind, re-center the body, and strengthen emotional wellness through meaningful experiences in nature.