EarthWorks: Primitive Tools & Crafts

Lindsay Cray

After completing a graduate fellowship with the National Science Foundation’s GK12 program, Lindsay earned a Master’s degree in Environmental Management and Risk Assessment from the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY ESF). With her education and a decade of teaching experience both nationally and internationally, Lindsay has built a unique skill set for effectively working with under-served youth and families in the outdoors. Having spent nearly 14 years traveling throughout the US, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Panama, and Colombia, she has taught children from every walk of life, helping to build resiliency and advocating for equity and sustainability. Lindsay is a wilderness survival instructor at Rochester Institute of Technology, a licensed NYS Hiking and Camping Guide, and holds a certified in wilderness first aid. She has incorporated her cross-cultural experiences and environmental knowledge into designing programs at venues such as Golden State YMCA in California and the Gandhi Institute for Non Violence in Rochester. Her teaching expertise also includes an adjunct position with SUNY ESF teaching Global Environment and the Evolution of Human Culture, and a diversity of inquiry-based programs in earth science, environmental science, teambuilding and wilderness skills for various organizations throughout her career. Lindsay’s own environmental research, has received funding from sources such as the National Science Foundation, Research Foundation, and the Melinda Gray Ardia Environmental Foundation. She has co-authored two publications on integrating science into high-school classrooms. Prior to working as a Team and Leadership Facilitator at Cornell University, Lindsay most recently held the position of Education Director for a non-profit land trust in central California where she was tasked with bridging the education gap for the non-English-speaking youth of migrant farm worker families. In this capacity, she created education programs for over 2,000 underprivileged youth and developed Mentored to Mastered, a youth alternative education program for juveniles with criminal backgrounds, connecting them with professionals who provided mentoring. Lindsay does spend time teaching in the classroom, however, she would much rather see herself and her students outdoors, immersed in a world of sensory and experiential education. Her goal in developing the Earthworks is to make simple but long-lasting, positive impacts on those with whom she works.