UW-River Falls Becomes Educational Partner with Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics

Sept. 1, 2011—As a result of collaboration between the St. Croix Institute for Sustainable Community Development (SCISCD) and the Outdoor Education minor program in the Health and Human Performance Department, the University of Wisconsin-River Falls has become an educational partner of the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics.

As stated in their mission statement, Leave No Trace is "an educational, nonprofit organization dedicated to the responsible enjoyment and active stewardship of the outdoors by all people, worldwide." Becoming an educational partner of Leave No Trace provides UWRF access to a variety of resources, training, and educational information, while also providing support to a leading organizational advocate for sustainability education around the world.

As one initial benefit of this partnership, UWRF outdoor education students enrolled in PED 301- Foundations of Outdoor Leadership, taught by Assistant Professor Paul Shirilla, will become Certified Leave No Trace trainers by participating in a two-day training in November.

"The idea for this partnership grew out of my participation in a Sustainability Across the Curriculum Workshop this past spring, which was coordinated by Kelly Cain from the SCISCD. A more intentional focus on sustainability within the outdoor education program curriculum is important since I feel strongly that, as future outdoor educators, my students should be knowledgeable about how to teach others to respect the environment," says Shirilla. "This partnership and training through Leave No Trace will be valuable learning for them as well as an excellent qualification for their professional resume."

More information about Leave No Trace can be found at http://lnt.org/. For more information about this partnership, contact Shirilla at paul.shirilla@uwrf.edu.