About me
Monica has pursued her love of nature-based education for over two decades. She is the founding director of the Association for Nature-Based Education, a nonprofit that offers professional development and community-based programs to cultivate equitable access to nature-based education. As founder/cofounder of three forest and nature preschools in Maryland, and a consultant to countless others, she is grateful to help people nurture relationships with the natural world as an essential aspect of how we approach education. As an author, she shares the benefits of nature-based learning through various publications including an award-winning book, Nature Play Workshop for Families: A Guide to 40+ Outdoor Learning Experiences in All Seasons, coauthored by Karen Madigan (Quarto Press, 2020). Monica is currently writing a book focused on nature-based early childhood education and the role of emergent curriculum, to be published by the National Association for the Education of Young Children. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Art Education and a master's degree in Early Childhood Education from Towson University.