My approach is experiential, holistic, and sensory-based; I utilize Mother Nature as both a teaching tool and classroom, and infuse my pedagogy with deep listening, cognitive neuroscience, and mindfulness modalities of healing that draw upon Ayurveda, Reiki, Chakral Energy support, and Incremental Education Theory.

a bit about me.

Oftentimes when choosing a career we are forced to choose between a few of our most endeared passions, however, I have been lucky enough to combine mine: working with children and environmental activism.  After graduating from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, with a BA in Environmental International Relations and Sustainable Development, I apprenticed with the Poughkeepsie Farm Project in the Hudson Valley, New York where I created and facilitated farm-based educational programs for early learners, teens, and adult community members.  There I became acutely aware of the resiliency that strong foodways can provide a community while managing the Poughkeepsie Farmers Market and have been an advocate of food justice ever since.  
Before moving to Washington DC in 2013, I grew food and designed farm-based education programs for The Trustees of Reservations on the North and South Shores of Eastern MA, Land’s Sake Farm and Norwell Farms in suburban MA, and contributed to food activism curricula for theMOVE and Groundwork Somerville.  From there I continued my career in DC conducting major donor research for American Farmland Trust and client and apprentice management for Love & Carrots, a premier edible landscape design firm in the District.
After taking a sabbatical in 2015/16 to asses my combined eight years of food system, urban garden, non-profit sector and community education work, I enrolled into the Shepherd University Masters in Curriculum and Instruction (with a focus on early childhood development) and the Appalachian Studies Program.  I am a certified Reiki Practitioner and aspire to train in children’s yoga to compliment my experiential and sensorimotor approach to constructing the learning environment.  When not reading, you can find me walking, cooking or traveling home to Boston/New England for time with friends and family.

MY LIBRARY

Books, Texts, + Research Publications that Inspire + Inform my Practice
Venhoeven L., Steg L., Bolderdijk J.W. (2017) Can Engagement in Environmentally-Friendly Behavior Increase Well-Being?. In: Fleury-Bahi G., Pol E., Navarro O. (eds) Handbook of Environmental Psychology and Quality of Life Research. International Handbooks of Quality-of-Life. Springer, Cham
Haviland-Jones, J., Rosario, H. H., Wilson, P., & McGuire, T. R. (2005). An Environmental Approach to Positive Emotion: Flowers. Evolutionary Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1177/147470490500300109
Williams, D. R., & Scott Dixon, P. (2013). Impact of Garden-Based Learning on Academic Outcomes in Schools: Synthesis of Research Between 1990 and 2010. Review of Educational Research, 83(2), 211–235. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654313475824
Gray, D. S., & Colucci-Gray, L. (Accepted/In press). Laying Down a Path in Walking: Student Teachers’ Emerging Ecological Identities. Environmental Education Research.