CORVALLIS, Ore. — In the early 2000s, Alison Heimowitz became a facilitator for a train-the-trainer program designed to help Oregon teachers understand and teach about the state’s forests.
More than 20 years later, Heimowitz is still facilitating — even as the program has grown into the Oregon Natural Resources Education Program, known as ONREP. There are now nearly 50 ONREP facilitators across the state.
“In terms of natural resource professional development, I can’t think of another program out there that has the breadth of experience, the passion, the dedication of staff and the resources to coordinate a statewide program,” Heimowitz said. “It’s hard to say what’s not to like about it.”
ONREP is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, marking five decades of helping Oregonians engage with nature through education.
The program marked the anniversary with an event in the OSU College of Forestry’s Peavy Forest Science Center, where facilitators and others involved with the program gathered to reconnect and reflect on their shared work.
Heimowitz, secondary youth education lead for Metro — the regional government for the Portland metropolitan area — welcomed the chance to celebrate longtime colleagues.
“There’s not many of us who’ve been around as long as I have,” she said with a laugh.
When asked how many teachers have attended her workshops, she paused for a few seconds before responding.
“It’s been hundreds of teachers. Hundreds.”
Rooted in environmental literacy
Part of the Oregon State University Extension Service’s Forestry and Natural Resources Program, ONREP provides professional development and resources for PreK–12 classroom teachers and non-formal educators across Oregon.
The program offers curricula that integrate natural resources and environmental learning into classrooms, after-school programs, museums, nature centers and outdoor education settings.
ONREP’s mission is to support educators so that all students in Oregon can become environmentally literate. Its vision — All Oregonians are environmentally literate — reflects a long-term commitment to stewardship and inquiry-based learning.
Director LeeAnn Mikkelson, who has been with ONREP for 20 years and has served as its director since 2018, said that supporting educators has always been at the heart of ONREP’s mission.
“From the very beginning, ONREP has always been about supporting Oregon educators,” Mikkelson said said. “Over the years, ONREP has helped shift teaching practices so that Oregon’s forests, watersheds and other natural resources become part of the learning experience — whether though outdoor activities or by bringing nature into the classroom. This approach fosters curiosity, deepens engagement and gives learning a stronger sense of purpose.“
As Oregon’s state hosts for Project Learning Tree, Project WET and Project WILD, ONREP brings nationally recognized curricula aligned with Oregon and national learning standards, including the Common Core State Standards, the Next Generation Science Standards and the North American Association for Environmental Education’s Guidelines for Excellence.
Facilitators — often experienced teachers or natural resource professionals — lead hands-on, interactive workshops in virtual, in-person and hybrid formats. Sessions are offered at no cost to Oregon educators and organized by grade level, topic or region. Participants can earn Professional Development Units, and substitute reimbursement is available for classroom teachers.
“I love the reach that we have,” said Yasmeen Hossain, ONREP’s associate director. “We work directly with educators who work directly with hundreds of students. Our reach is multiplied.”
In addition to its in-service offerings, ONREP has partnered with Oregon universities — including Western Oregon University, Eastern Oregon University, Portland State University, the University of Oregon, and Southern Oregon University — to introduce environmental education curricula to future teachers.
Pre-service educators use ONREP materials in coursework, lesson planning and practicums so they graduate ready to bring natural resources learning into their classrooms.
How the program evolved over 50 years
ONREP’s origins date to the late 1970s, when College of Forestry faculty launched the Forestry Education Project to help teachers better understand Oregon’s forests. In the mid-1980s, the effort became the Oregon Forestry Education Program, Oregon’s state sponsor of Project Learning Tree.
Funding from the Oregon Forest Resources Institute in 1993 strengthened the program further, enabling free workshops and new curriculum development.
In 2005, the program broadened its scope and became the Oregon Natural Resources Education Program, adding topics such as watersheds, salmon and wildlife. It later became Oregon’s state sponsor of Project WILD and Project WET.
Research-based benefits of outdoor learning
ONREP’s programs draw on decades of research showing that outdoor learning benefits students and educators.
“Nature education supports mental, emotional and physical well-being,” said Hossain, whose background is in mental health. “It improves focus, reduces stress, boosts motivation and lessens disruptive behavior.”
The benefits extend to teachers.
“Outdoor learning benefits educators too,” she said. “I always felt more grounded and less exhausted after days outside.”
Mikkelson added that tools such as science notebooks and nature journals help students connect learning to the environment.
“Nature journaling and science notebooks engage the whole brain and ground students in the natural world,” she said.
A deepening commitment to equity and inclusion
Over the past decade, ONREP has strengthened its commitment to equity. In 2024, workshops titled Black Oregonians’ Connection with Nature and Diverse Brains Outside helped more than 100 educators explore barriers that limit access to outdoor learning for historically marginalized communities.
“We’ve been working intentionally with equity, diversity and inclusion since 2016,” Mikkelson said. “We take what we’ve learned about those hard truths and apply that lens to how we design, develop and implement workshops and how we partner with educators, schools and community organizations.”
Accessibility is embedded in ONREP’s design.
“We prioritize making our workshops as equitable and inclusive as possible,” Hossain said. “Using principles of universal design, we are working towards setting up our workshops so that they are accessible without waiting for someone to ask for an accessibility accommodation.
“One avenue we are trying out is to offer the same workshop in three different accessibility formats, for example one format includes a nature hike, the second format is in a location that is wheelchair accessible, and the third format is the same workshop offered through a virtual platform,” she said.
Preparing Oregon’s future stewards
For Mikkelson, ONREP’s work is about shaping Oregon’s future.
“If Oregon students grow up connected to nature, we’ll have an environmentally literate population that shares resources equitably,” she said. “When people see themselves as part of the natural system, it changes how they engage.”
That connection, Mikkelson said, leads naturally to stewardship — whether through hiking, advocacy, conservation, career choices or informed decision-making.
“In a state defined by natural abundance,” she said, “environmental literacy isn’t optional — it’s essential to Oregon’s future.”
As ONREP celebrates its milestone year, its mission remains clear: Equip educators with the tools, confidence and community they need to bring meaningful environmental learning to students across Oregon.
“In the end, ONREP is a train-the-trainer program,” Heimowitz said. “We are training teachers how to teach activities for kids. It is the kids who are the most important piece of ONREP.”
