In recognition of her work at the Harris Center for Conservation Education in Hancock, Susie Spikol was named Conservation Educator of the Year at the recent meeting of statewide conservation districts. 

After three decades with the organization, Spikol received the award at the annual meeting of New Hampshire Association of Conservation Districts last month. The presentation was in partnership with the Cheshire County Conservation District, which named her their Educator of the Year in 2023. Reflecting on her work last week, Spikol suggested that it’s more important than ever. 

“Connecting people to the natural world is important especially now, since so much can come between people and nature,” said Spikol, adding that the biggest element here is “this thing in our hands,” meaning cellphones. She noted other changes in people’s relationships to the outdoors that she has observed. 

“Thirty years ago I’d ask students, ‘How many of you have hiked a mountain?’ and many hands would go up. Now, far fewer do,” she said. “And kids spend less time outside in general than they used to.”

Spikol’s roots don’t show hints that she would have taken this career path.

“I grew up in Brooklyn,” she said. “But I was the kid who’d rescue worms from the cracks in the concrete.” 

Along with majoring in English literature at Barnard College, she minored in environmental science, and spent time at the Central Park Conservancy and the Otter Lake Conservation Center in Greenfield. Graduate work at Keene’s Antioch University led her to education, and she did her student-teaching at Dublin Consolidated School. 

Spikol said that all education could employ the outdoors more than many teachers do.

“Math is all around us in nature. Schools used to use manipulatives to help students learn; now it’s smartboards,” she said.

Spikol also noted how Boston University is seeking to sell the Sargent Center in Hancock, which for years immersed students in a range of environmental learning. 

“If schools don’t bring students to centers like that, they close,” she said, adding that COVID seemed to at least expose students to nature a bit more. “Teachers were taking classes outside (during the pandemic) and there was more hands-on science.” 

Spikol said new teachers need to be trained on how to use the environment in education, and that parents need to play a role, as well.

“Parents need to be reminded what it’s like to stargaze. They need to get their kids outside, and share it with them,” she said. 

Spikol’s also reaching out with two books that are being published this year. “Forest Magic for Kids,” which shares how nature opens our imagination, will be out April 1. “Book of Fairies” is written to inspire people to get outside, and will appear in September. Both are published by Gibbs Smith Education. 

Spikol saluted her mentor at Antioch and the Harris Center, Meade Cadot, who she called “an invaluable resource.” Asked if she had advice for those interested in the natural world, she didn’t hesitate.

“Go outside. Don’t feel that you need to be an expert in it -- just be in it,” she said.