Emily Ford

Emily is always excited to find red backed salamanders.

Emily M. Ford 
Lead Environmental Educator
Email Emily        
540-837-1758 ext. 290

As Blandy’s Lead Environmental Educator, Emily coordinates preK-12 field investigations with teachers to fulfill their learning goals, steers daily field investigations, and facilitates educator professional development at Blandy and mid-Atlantic regional conferences. She utilizes student-centered, constructivist, inquiry questioning teaching strategies to connect with learners. The hands-on, integrated-content, outdoor-based programs she develops with fellow educators provide opportunities for students to establish their own meaningful relationships with the world around them. Emily brings a drive for excellence in Blandy’s education programs and possesses the ability to provide whole class and individualized student’s attention simultaneously.

Emily is steadfast in the notion that we preserve and conserve what we love and understand, and is passionate about expanding people’s considerations about our relationships with the natural world. She seeks to open the unfamiliar world of diminutive or overlooked organisms (mosses, fungi, and microscopic creatures) to all learners.  

Emily earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology from George Mason University where she explored diverse natural sciences courses, the most influential of which were field ecology and conservation biology in Andros, Bahamas. Her passion for education outreach ignited during her last semester when she developed outreach opportunities for Bahamian youth. She subsequently earned a Master’s of Science in Science Education at Montana State University where her thesis project focused on the effects of questioning and prediction strategies on students’ attitudes towards science in outdoor science learning settings.

A lifelong learner and outdoor enthusiast, Emily spends some of her free time hiking, running, and kayaking.She is also an avid fan of all things locavore and vintage travel trailers.

“In teaching, I live for those lightbulb moments when you see someone connecting one wire of thought to another wire, lighting up their synapses in a new way. Experiencing new possibilities and critical thinking with a learner is invigorating!”