Audubon Center of the North Woods
Sandstone, MN

Registration is now CLOSED for this training. Thank you for your interest. You may want to check out the Summer Institute on Minnesota's Changing Climate, Aug 6-7.

Turn on your teaching with the 2013 Summer Institute for Energy Education. Made possible by generous support from MN Center for Energy and the Environment, this teacher-training includes:

• NEW Energy Curriculum: effective, useful activities and information on energy sources, uses and impacts for grades 3-8.
• Hands-on workshops: The Audobon Center is a leader in renewable energy education and showcases a suite unique energy solutions.
• A location second to none: gather with peers and inspired educators from around the country in peaceful, semi-rustic oak and maple forest in between lake and prairie.

As climate change impacts become a daily reality it is even more important to develop energy literate students with a new vision of what our energy future needs to look like.

Whether you teach STEM, art or anything in between, energy efficiency, conservation and renewables are present and future solutions that can be integrated into your school and teaching. 

Every participant has the opportunity to earn CEU and 1 graduate credit from Hamline University (graduate credits include an additional fee of $150 dollars).

Cost: $70

Includes: lodging and meals for the duration of the event.

Keynote Bios

Will Steger keynote speaker, June 16th. Accompanied by J. Drake Hamilton, of Fresh Energy 

Will Steger is a recognized authority for the Polar Regions, including their environmental issues, and is an eyewitness to the effects of global warming. He has spent more than 45 years traveling through the Arctic regions, advocating for the Earth’s preservation and advising about permanent solutions to our climate crisis. Steger is a witness to the diverse and harmful effects of global warming to indigenous cultures, wildlife habitat and Arctic topography.

Institute Highlights

Featuring: School Energy Audit Training with Sarah Hayden
Institute participants will perform an energy audit on a building, and make a report of recommendations for ways to reduce energy use. Ways to bring this knowledge into the classroom will be a key component of this experience - turning your students into energy assessors! Diagnostic tools will be available for use, including: a blower door test, infrared camera, and electrical energy use meters.

Sarah Hayden has worked as a high school teacher and most recently as a Residential and Commercial Energy Auditor. She has assessed well over 1000 homes, helping each of those residents improve the energy efficiency of their home and lifestyle.

Schedule of events

Though this schedule is subject to change, this is what we have in store:

June 16, Sunday

• 3:00 PM Arrive and Move-in to Lowry & Schwyzer Lodges
• 5:30 PM Welcome and Introductions for SI participants
• 6:00 PM Appetizers & Drinks, followed by Dinner
• 7:00 PM Will Steger/J. Drake Hamilton Keynote & Social (open to the public)

June 17, Monday

• 7:45 AM Breakfast
• 9:00 AM Sessions (two tracks):

• 2:30 PM Kind Wind workshop (Session 4)
• 4:30 PM Break
• 5:45 PM Dinner
• 7:30 PM Evening Program: Climate 101
• 8:30 PM Bonfire and S’mores

June 18, Tuesday

• 7:45 AM Breakfast
• 9:00 AM Final Curriculum Session
• 10:30 AM Center for Energy and Environment presentation
• 11:00 AM Closing/Evaluation
• 12:00 PM Lunch
• 1:30 PM Departure

**Registration is now CLOSED.

View Summer Institute 2013: Energy and Climate Change in a larger map

The changes in the Arctic are relevant right here in the "North Star" state, where there's a rich tradition of polar exploration, as well as Arctic scientific and educational work. Canada and the United States have long collaborated in the Arctic as neighbours and friends. In the harsh environment of the Arctic, the two nations break ice for each other, fight forest fires, perform search and rescue, build transportation and technologi- cal infrastructure, and maintain a sophisticated system of early warning to reinforce continental security.