College of Agriculture & Natural Resources Department of Community Sustainability

Program: CSUS

Academic Focus Area: Early Childhood Environmental Education

Hometown: Midland, MI

Advisor: Gail Vander Stoep

Rachel Larimore is originally from central Illinois where she grew up on a vegetable farm and spent hours playing in the woods. Her love for the outdoors and a desire to share the wonders of the natural world with others led to a career in interpretation and environmental education. Rachel earned a B.S. in Natural Resource Recreation and Tourism, with an emphasis in interpretation, from Colorado State University in 2000 and a M.A. in Park and Recreation Administration from Central Michigan University in 2008.

Since beginning her career she has led adventure trips, taught outdoor education, managed a ropes course, and coordinated nature-based after-school programs. For the last 13 years she has worked at the Chippewa Nature Center (CNC) in Midland, Michigan as the Director of Education. In this role she coordinates all youth programs, including school programs, summer day camp, Scout programs, etc. In 2007 she created the Nature Preschool at CNC, which is a licensed program for 3- and 4-year-olds that provides 88 children annually with daily outdoor experiences to connect them with the natural world and prepare them for kindergarten. Interest from other nature centers in starting similar programs led her to write a how-to book called "Establishing a Nature-based Preschool," published in 2011 by the National Association for Interpretation. The success of Nature Preschool and parent pressure for the “next level” were the drivers for the creation of Nature Kindergarten, a partnership between CNC and Bullock Creek Public Schools through which nature is used as a tool to achieve state-mandated curriculum goals.

Her academic interests center around the intersection of formal and non-formal education—particularly using nature-based approaches at the early childhood level. A few questions of interest: What are the characteristics of a high-quality nature-based program? How do those characteristics change when viewed through a formal or non-formal education lens? How does a nature-based program impact a child’s long-term connection to the natural world and environmental literacy? Do children demonstrate different rates of growth in nature-based programs versus traditional programs related to their physical, cognitive, and social-emotional development?