Vision

All of Explore Ecology’s innovative programs, School Gardens, Environmental Education, and Creative Reuse, encourage well-being, critical thinking and creative problem solving while reinforcing the efforts of teachers by engaging students in new and inclusive spaces with hands-on learning. The need for outdoor programs is supported by research, including that conducted by Amber Fyfe-Johnson, ND, PhD, whose work is centered at the intersection of social determinants of health, outdoor nature-based exposures, and pediatric health equity. Explore Ecology seeks to empower our community to protect and preserve the environment, through hands-on education programs. We work with over 40,000 community members, approximately 30,000 of them children, inspiring them to engage with the natural world, think critically and experience, first hand, the value of environmental stewardship.

Goals

1. 1.With new state TK mandates in place, we developed the Garden Explorers program for early childhood education centers and schools to develop gardens, teaching materials, and training that support TK teachers to give youngsters outdoor experiences shown to strengthen children’s development and learning in all areas of the Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework.
2. 2.We expand and add environmental education programming by bringing community and collaborators together for common goals. By partnering with other organizations and funders, we leverage our support. Our current nonprofit collaborations include Foodbank of Santa Barbara County, The Nature Conservancy, Ganna Walska's Lotusland, Fairview Gardens, UCSB - and we have MOUs with each of them.
3. 3.In 2023 we hired an outside consultant to survey our board, staff, supporters, and the community at large while developing a three year strategic plan resulting in the reorganization of our staff, new managerial positions, and a full-time development director. In 2025, we completed our first independent financial audit and contracted a capital campaign consultant to purchase our building.