Explore Ecology

🌊 We had an incredible time at the Coastal Cleanup Day Coordinators Conference at the beautiful Asilomar Conference Grounds in Pacific Grove this week! 🌊

The gathering brought together coordinators from across California to strategize, share ideas, learn from one another, and get inspired for the year ahead.

From peaceful beach walks to deep-dive breakout sessions on volunteer recruitment, plastic pollution education, and expanding our outreach, we came away with renewed excitement for Coastal Cleanup Day 2026. The opportunity to learn from experts at the California Coastal Commission, California State Parks, NOAA's Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, and fellow environmental organizations working to protect our coastlines and waterways was priceless!

We even wrapped up our trip with a visit to the magical Monterey Bay Aquarium. 🐟💙

We came home with notebooks full of new ideas and a ton of energy to bring to our Santa Barbara County community. Get ready, everyone... Coastal Cleanup Day 2026 is going to be our best yet! ⭐️

👉 Swipe through to see some of the amazing folks we got to collaborate with!

Calling all UCSB students! Love the ocean? Ready to make an impact?📢

Explore Ecology is hiring a Coastal Cleanup Day Intern to help protect our beaches and engage the community in protecting our local coastline. Coastal Cleanup Day is California’s largest annual volunteer event, organized by , where people across the state come together to prevent pollution from entering the ocean 🌊

If you’re passionate about conservation, sustainability, and hands-on environmental work, we’d love to hear from you! Apply today using the link in our bio.

POV: you’re in the camera roll of one of our Environmental Educators! We feel so honored to get to help connect kids with nature through outdoor learning experiences like these.

Pictured….
1. Whale watching on the Condor Express with fourth graders! 🐋
2. Our environmental education team on the boat 🌊
3. Exploring compost in the garden at Vieja Valley Elementary 🪱
4. Beach cleanup teamwork at Hendry’s Beach during one of our Watershed Resource Center field trips 🌎
5-7. Our education team at Dangermond Preserve, prepping for upcoming field trips with the Lompoc YMCA 🐚
8. The MRF at the Tajiguas Landfill 🚮
9. Observing ____’s education program! 🦀
10. Making friends with the snails during a garden sub lesson 🐌
11-12. Sweet notes from students 💌

Meet the team, baby edition 👶!

Before we were environmental educators, garden educators, program coordinators, and advocates, we were curious kids.

Looking back reminds us why we do this work, and helps us connect with the children we serve every day.

The best part of working with kids? Never forgetting what it felt like to be one. ♥️

☀️ SUMMER CREATIVE FUN FOR KIDS! ☀️

Looking for engaging, hands-on activities to keep your kids creating and learning this summer? Join Explore Ecology for two incredible workshop series inside the EE Makerspace!

🌿 Preschool Nature Explorers (Ages 3–5 + Caregivers)🌿

When: Tuesdays, June 9 – June 30 | 10:00 am – 11:00 am

The Vibe: Cozy storytime followed by interactive, nature-inspired activities led by Garden Explorers Coordinator Stephanie Soicher. Themes include Nature Art, Building & Engineering, Sensory Play, and Nature’s Rhythm!

Cost: $100 for the 4-week series.

Sign Up: https://exploreecology.org/event/preschool-nature-explorers/

🚀 Summer STEAM Workshops (Ages 6–12)🚀

When: Tuesdays, June 16 – July 21 | 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm

The Vibe: Imagination meets engineering! Co-led by credentialed elementary teacher and Creative Reuse Program Coordinator Melissa Dodos and EE Makerspace Coordinator Andrew Baker. Weekly themes include Animal Kingdoms, Airborne Adventures, Groovy Gravity, and Toys on the Move!

Cost: $150 for the entire 6-week series.

Sign up: https://exploreecology.org/event/summer-steam-in-the-ee-makerspace/

From the library to the garden! 📚➡️🌱 Look at this incredible rainbow of seeds!

We are incredibly grateful to the Santa Barbara Public Library for this amazing donation and to Vlada’s Seeds of Life for donating the seeds to the library! We’ve had a wonderful time organizing them, and we look forward to sharing this abundance with thousands of students at school gardens throughout Santa Barbara County.

💚 Partnerships like this are what keep our 38 school gardens thriving.

Get ready, pollinators, some beautiful new habitats are on the way! 🐝

Get ready for Saturday morning art adventures bursting with color and crafty fun! Join us tomorrow, May 30th, from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm in the EE Makerspace above Art From Scrap for Crafternoons.

Cost: $8 per person.

Crafternoons offer fun creative projects every week for kids ages 5 and up.

Grown ups stay and play- adults must remain with their child during the workshop. (We use hot glue guns and the Makerspace is upstairs.)

We can’t wait to see you in the EE Makerspace!

https://exploreecology.org/event/crafternoons-for-kids-32/

🖼️ Creative Framing Workshop⁠
📅 June 5 | 6:00–8:00 pm⁠
📍 EE Makerspace above Art From Scrap⁠
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Transform an ordinary frame into a work of art! Learn how to enhance a frame or mat by painting it, adding artistic effects, or decorating with fabric, shells, and other creative materials. Bring in an item you’d like to frame and get personalized tips and inspiration.⁠
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Pricing:⁠
✨ General: $40⁠
✨ Student/Educator: $35⁠
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Ages 13+⁠
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Give your treasured pieces a frame as unique as they are on Friday, June 5th, in the EE Makerspace.
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https://exploreecology.org/event/creative-framing/