The Nature Conservancy Offers Exciting Opportunity for Nature-based Learning

The Nature Conservancy (TNC) in Idaho is excited to welcome Emma Drucker as our first Conservation Education Coordinator. She will help organize and offer inspiring, experiential learning at our Silver Creek Preserve. While TNC has hosted educational opportunities in the past, Drucker is the first staffer to coordinate these efforts full-time. She is especially interested in partnering with local educators, offering resources that enable them to enhance their current coursework, including hands-on learning activities at our Silver Creek Preserve. This new position will allow us to welcome learners of all types—students, teachers, families and volunteers.

Drucker joined TNC in 2021 following nearly a decade of classroom teaching, most recently at The Sage School as lead teacher of human ecology and writing for 10th and 11th grades. Drucker is passionate about youth education, particularly experiential learning. She plans to work with the extensive network of educators at schools and local organizations across Southern Idaho to grow collaborative learning opportunities at Silver Creek Preserve.

“I’m excited to partner with our excellent local educators to help more people experience the joy, peace and awe Silver Creek Preserve has offered visitors for almost 50 years. This type of nature-based learning builds future conservation leaders and people who will act with care for our world,” says Drucker.

Silver Creek Preserve provides the ideal outdoor classroom. It’s a truly magical place. The 881-acre preserve is centered on a sparkling, high desert spring creek—a globally unique aquatic ecosystem. More than 150 species of birds have been spotted at the preserve. This oasis between desert and mountains thrives with wildlife ranging from a host of aquatic insects to animals such as coyotes, bobcats, moose—and, of course, the world-renowned trout of Silver Creek. Students can learn about a broad range of natural processes, how to deal with the impacts of a changing climate and the importance of varied and healthy plant and animal communities. They can also help care for the preserve through habitat restoration work and citizen science projects.

“Most importantly and perhaps most simply," says Drucker, “I hope that Silver Creek Preserve can help people discover, or remember, their love of nature.”