Education Program Staff
Environmental Educator & Naturalist
Dr. Valerie F. Wright
From its inception, the Konza Environmental Education Program (KEEP) was developed by Dr. Valerie Wright by working with researchers, educators, administrators and volunteers to bring it to what it is today. She administers the program, coordinates with co-operators, develops new activities and materials, and trains docents. She is the primary educator for the annual Teachers' Workshops and student science research program funded through the National Science Foundation's Schoolyard Long-Term Ecological Research program. Wright is responsible for the program's web site and student research databases. She is also committed to educating the community about Konza Prairie, and its biological importance.
Dr. Wright was hired in 1996 as the Konza Prairie's first environmental educator and naturalist. More than 4,000 visitors -- half of which are school-aged children -- experience the Konza Prairie through hands-on ecological science each year. The mission of the K-12 and public/adult offerings of the program is to enhance the understanding of the ecology of the tallgrass prairie ecosystem, increase the understanding of the process and value of science and increase public appreciation for the importance of scientific research as a foundation for sound grassland conservation and management.
KEEP offers educational programming at Konza Prairie Biological Station, a field research station dedicated to long-term ecological research. The station is owned by The Nature Conservancy and K-State, and managed by the Division of Biology.
Dr. Wright initially came to K-State in 1979, and has held positions in the Department of Entomology and Biology. She also spent several years as an educator in Honduras at a learning by-doing agricultural college called Zamorano.
Wright's professional memberships include the National Association of Interpretation, the Kansas Association for Conservation and Environmental Education, the Kansas Entomological Society, the Kansas Academy of Science and the Kansas Native Plant Society. She was president of the Kansas Native Plant Society for two years and has served on its board for several years.
She received her bachelor's degree in biology from Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter, Minnesota, and her master's and doctorate in entomology and plant pathology from the University of Minnesota.
Read Dr. Wright's regular Bison and Bluestem column, Patches of Prairie.
Assistant to Environmental Educator
Annie Baker
Annie Baker joined KEEP in June 2003 after earning a BS in Park Management and Conservation from Kansas State University. She manages the reservation system and program statistics, coordinates volunteers, assists in training community volunteers and teachers, leads guided tours and student research activities, as well as creates displays and maintains the website.
Before accepting the position at Konza Prairie, Annie worked as a Seasonal Interpreter for Colorado State Parks and an Environmental Education Instructor at Rock Springs 4-H Center. She completed the National Association for Interpretation's Western Regional Interpretive Skills Training and is a Certified Interpretive Guide. Annie enjoys volunteering for the Kansas Eco-Meet, Clay County 6th grade Environmental Education Day and Northern Flint Hills Audubon Society.
As a K-State College of Education graduate student, her Master's research focuses on evaluating KEEP's professional development workshops for teachers and how workshop alumni incorporate KEEP's student research program into their classroom curriculum.