Prairie Rivers Staffer Shellie Orngard Named to Change for Climate Cohort

Prairie Rivers Staffer Shellie Orngard Named to Change for Climate Cohort

The Iowa Conservation Education Coalition has created a select group of community environmental leaders to be part of a Change for Climate Cohort who will “receive training, professional mentoring and support, and funding to define and implement community projects that address real problems faced by Iowans due to climate change”.

Environmental leaders from across Iowa have recently been named to the cohort including Prairie Rivers of Iowa Lincoln Highway Heritage Byway Coordinator Shellie Orngard.

Shellie Orngard
Dr. Jean Eells leading a PRI visioning retreat in 2019.

Dr. Jean Eells is seen here leading a visioning session for Prairie Rivers staff and board of directors back in 2019.

Thanks to Resource Enhancement and Protection Conservation Education Program (REAP-CEP) funding along with coaching support from the E Resources Group’s Dr. Jean Eells, a frequent Prairie Rivers of Iowa collaborator, the cohort will create partnership and spearhead project that will address climate change issues based on what is best for their local communities. Additional training sessions will Community-Based Social Marketing and Resiliency and Adaptation to Climate Change workshops. The cohort is slated to begin sharing their projects with their communities in early 2023.

In addition to Prairie Rivers’ Orngard, other new members to the cohort include Northeast Iowa Peace & Justice Center’s Sharlene Bohr, Erica Carns of the Blank Park Zoo, City of Dubuque Sustainability Office/Green Iowa Americorps’ Sam Harris, and Story County Conservation Naturalist Beth Waage.