FARMINGTON, Maine (May 14, 2024)—Patti Bailey, associate professor of early childhood education at the University of Maine at Farmington, recently received a lifetime achievement award from the Maine Environmental Education Association. The honor was awarded at MEEA's annual Environmental Education Conference held May 10 at the Maine Academy of Natural Sciences in Hinckley.
MEEA is a statewide professional association promoting the fields of environmental and outdoor learning and is the state affiliate of the North American Environmental Education Association.
UMF Professor Patti Bailey (left) receives the Maine Environmental Education Association Lifetime Achievement Award from MEEA Co-Director Olivia Grissett (right).
“We are thrilled to announce that Dr. Patti Bailey has been selected by our organization for a Lifetime Achievement Award to recognize her significant career contributions to the advancement of the field of environmental education and outdoor learning. Widely recognized as not only a critical thought leader in Maine, but also a national leader in the field of nature-based early childhood education, we believe that she lives and works in Maine. We're so lucky that we don't have that,” Olivia Grissett said. She is co-director of MEEA.
Bailey has worked in the field of early childhood environmental education for 30 years. She is dedicated to nature-based education, its value to children's educational development, and its incorporation into schools and early childhood programs.
“I am very honored to receive this award. MEEA is an amazing organization that supports nature-based education for children in Maine. It means so much to be recognized for my contributions to this field. For the past 10 years, since moving to Maine, I have enjoyed working with in-service teachers at UMF who are incorporating outdoor learning into their public school classrooms. We look forward to MEEA’s continued success in supporting outdoor learning in the future,” said Mr. Bailey.
Bailey joined UMF in 2014 and has helped pioneer nature-based learning programs and natural outdoor learning environments at the new UMF Sweat Winter Child Care and Early Learning Center. The center will provide high-quality child care to the region and train critical early childhood educators in a state-of-the-art lab school.
Patti Bailey
Before working in Farmington, Bailey worked at three different nature centers in the Midwest. Additionally, she served as Assistant Director of the Nature-Based Early Childhood Certificate Program at Antioch College in New England. She is the founding director of Schlitz Audubon Nature Preschool in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She is co-director of the Early Childhood Outdoor Research Institute in Omaha, Nebraska.
Her consulting work includes working closely with Sesame Street on nature-based programs for young children. She originally provided nature-based programming ideas to writers for 40 years.th The anniversary season, and most recently a new venture called “Nature Explorers,” aired on HBO and will be aired on PBS this summer.
She is co-author of Partnerships with Nature in Early Childhood: A Guide to Outdoor Experiences and Assessing Naturalness: Measuring the Quality of Nature-Based Classrooms from Preschool to Age 3.rd School year. She also contributed her two chapters to David Sobel's book, Nature Preschools and Forest Kindergartens: The Handbook for Outdoor Learning, and was part of the writing team for the Nature-Based Preschool Professional Practice Guidebook.
Dr. Bailey has lectured widely on the topic of nature-based education and serves on the advisory board of the Natural Start Alliance.
Learn more about University of Maine at Farmington
As a nationally recognized public liberal arts college, known for its commitment to the creative arts, teacher training, health arts and sciences, environment, business, and public service, UMF prepares students for both careers and further study. We provide a challenging yet supportive environment that fosters the development of. Located in the heart of Maine's four-season outdoor recreation region, UMF is a welcoming, close-knit school that prepares students for rich professional careers, active citizenship, and a lasting passion for learning. It's an academic community.
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Editor's note:
Image: https://www.umf.maine.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/1/2024/05/RP234-062A.jpg
Photo Caption: UMF Professor Patti Bailey (left) receives the Maine Environmental Education Association Lifetime Achievement Award from MEEA Co-Director Olivia Grissett (right).
Photo credit: UMF Images
Image: https://www.umf.maine.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/1/2024/05/RP234-062B.jpg
Photo caption: Patti Bailey
Photo credit: UMF Images