Environmental Education Program - Cahaba River Society


Cahaba River Society's Shane Hulsey CLEAN Environmental Education Program

About the Shane Hulsey CLEAN Environmental Education Program

Cahaba River Society’s Shane Hulsey CLEAN Environmental Program provides students from third grade through college with hands-on environmental education activities while they safely participate in a canoe trip, stream walk, or volunteer service-learning restoration project.

The Cahaba River Society is pleased to announce that the nationally recognized CLEAN Field Trips are open again for scheduling both Streamwalk and Canoe Trip programs. Through the pandemic-caused quarantine we have offered only online programs, but now feel that we can safely run our educational field trips at the river, in person! 

These trips are open to schools, scout troops, youth groups, summer camps, civic groups, and more for students 3rd grade through college. 

The program is named in honor of the life and legacy of former Cahaba River Society Education Director Shane Harper Hulsey.

Safety is our first priority.

Since 1996, the CLEAN program has safely taken over 40,000 Alabama students to the Cahaba River, and our safety record is excellent.

While scrapes or bruises typical of childhood play occasionally occur, we have never experienced a serious accident. Our field trips are carefully organized to ensure the participant’s safety. Our staff hold current First Aid and CPR certifications. Numerous area schools, church youth groups, Scouts, and parents trust the CLEAN program with their children’s safety.

Would you like to book a CLEAN Environmental Science Field Trip for your school, scout troop, church group, club, or other group?

Cahaba River Society offers both virtual and in-person options for environmental education programs.

Download Our Menu of Services.

Click the image below to download a PDF that you can print or email.

 

 

CLEAN Environmental Science Field Trip Options:

  • Stream Walk (rising 3rd graders & up)

  • Canoe Trip (ages 12 & up)

  • Classroom CLEAN Program (all ages)


Get everything you need  to prepare for your CLEAN Environmental Science Field Trip.

Download our waiver and photo release.

For more information or to book a trip please contact Education Director La’Tanya Scott at 205-354-4184 or by emailing La’Tanya Scott.

 

 


Virtual CLEAN Environmental Education Programs

During the Covid-19 Pandemic, the CLEAN Staff developed a series of virtual environmental education programs for students learning remotely.

Do you have an idea for an activity you’d like to see or a trip you’d like us to take? Let us know!

Menu of Virtual Services

We now offer an array of Virtual Services:

  • Online Classroom CLEAN–a live presentation from our Environmental Education Department customized for your online classroom! Contact us to book your online learning experience.
  • Virtual CLEAN Field Trips–video versions of our most popular field trips complete with supplemental study materials, teachers guides, and more.
  • CRS Webinar Series–learn about Cahaba topics with these video versions of the most requested presentations from our Cahaba experts.
  • “Ask Cahaba River Society” Interactive Video Series–do you have a Cahaba question? Ask our experts! We’ll record our answer and share it online.

Check out our Virtual Learning Library to see our complete selection of video content to learn about a variety of Cahaba topics! Videos range from brief 1-2 minute overviews to more lengthy discussions.

Visit our CLEAN Virtual Learning Library.

 

Virtual CLEAN Field Trips

Our Environmental Education Department is developing video versions of our most popular field trips, complete with supplemental study materials, teacher guides, and more. Watch for these field trips to be introduced in Summer 2020!

Macroinvertebrate Survey Virtual Field Trip

Follow our environmental educators to a beautiful section of the Cahaba River to explore beneath the water’s surface and discover the creatures that live there. Learn about these special animals and what their presence means about the health of the River, and then our staff will show you everything that you need to conduct your own macroinvertebrate study in a water body near you!

 

Fish Survey Virtual Field Trip

Let’s go fishing! What fish will our environmental educators catch in their nets? Where do they live, what do they eat, and how do they reproduce? Learn about these special creatures and their unique adaptations, and find out what their presence indicates about the health of the river. Our Cahaba experts will show you a whole world of biological diversity that’s busy thriving beneath the surface of the Cahaba River. Take this new knowledge along on your next fishing trip to get a better understanding of your catch.

 

Creative Writing Virtual Workshops

Craft your own poem inspired by nature with Tina Mozelle Braziel, poet, director of the UAB Ada Long Creative Writing Workshop, and Magic City Poetry Festival 2019 Eco Poet. Choose from lessons on the Greater Romantic Lyric or on Ode and Anti-Ode writing. Explore the connections between art and nature as Tina takes you to beautiful sections of the Cahaba River that are sure to bring you inspiration.

 

 


Do you have questions or need more information?

Give us a call at (205) 322-5326 or   send us an email!


Benefits of the CLEAN Environmental Education Program

The CLEAN Environmental Education Program offers a diverse and adaptable curriculum designed to educate, motivate and inspire youth to take active roles in the environmental health of our community.

Young people have a natural curiosity about science and the environment, and CLEAN’s interdisciplinary field and classroom curriculum encourages critical thinking by students and prepares them to make informed decisions about water resources. The CLEAN Environmental Education Program teaches the science that underpins stewardship while engaging young people in fun, healthy outdoor play, helping to foster a new generation of informed citizens and leaders.

Age-appropriate field activities include watershed orientation, collecting and learning about fish and macro invertebrates, learning how to canoe, and water quality testing.

Key Benefits to Participants:

  • CLEAN provides educational, interactive activities such as canoeing, stream-wading, collecting fish and other aquatic organisms; river basin map study, and more. These hands-on program components teach about where our drinking water comes from and how to keep it healthy and abundant.
  • Students learn that the Cahaba River is one of the most biologically diverse in the world, and that it is recognized internationally as a critical river ecosystem.
  • Participants are empowered with knowledge to help make informed decisions—both now and in the future—to safeguard this water resource.
  • CLEAN helps to create a personal connection between a healthy Cahaba, high-quality drinking water and our rich heritage of freshwater life. Through these healthy and informative activities students develop an understanding of, and appreciation for, nature.

 

 

 Watch this short video to see scenes from some of our field trips!

The vision of CLEAN is that our young people become knowledgeable and healthy adult leaders and act as good stewards to ensure their drinking water remains healthy & abundant and their rivers are clean & life-filled. We are expanding CLEAN to serve more urban and rural disadvantaged youth, especially those of color and low income, to give them a positive outdoor experience that enhances learning and connects them with water resources.


LEAD CLEAN PROGRAM STAFF:

La’Tanya Scott, Education Director

La’Tanya Scott is Cahaba River Society’s Education Director

La’Tanya Scott became Education Director in 2022. She previously served as Cahaba River Society Environmental Science Educator since April 2014, delivering hands-on environmental education programs to students in the classroom and in the field through the Shane Hulsey CLEAN Environmental Education Program.

La’Tanya is a skilled outdoor educator and role model who strengthens Cahaba River Society’s outreach and service to urban schools and youth of color. Her intense interest in the Cahaba River, her skills and knowledge, and especially her boundless enthusiasm have led hundreds of students to understand the importance, and the wonders, of the Cahaba River.

As 2020-21 Co-Chair of the CRS Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee, La’Tanya steered monthly conversations to develop our EDI Statement of Intent and learn about the water equity issues of our peopleshed from diverse voices.

She holds a degree in Environmental Science from Miles College. Even before her graduation, La’Tanya knew that she wanted to work in nature and to inspire people to love the outdoors as much as she does. She has held a lifelong passion for being outdoors and helping people, which she credits her family with nurturing and strengthening throughout her upbringing.

La’Tanya serves on the Junior Board of the Alabama Rivers Alliance and has helped to form the active and dynamic junior board of the Cahaba River Society, for which she serves as staff liaison. She has been the keynote speaker at a variety of events including the Color the Crag Climbing Festival and the Alabama Department of Environmental Management’s Nonpoint Source Pollution Conference.

 


 (205) 322-5326 x413 |  [email protected]