Ko wai au
My earliest memories of forming a connection to te taiao take place on my childhood farm in Glenbrook, between the ages of five and eight, in a section of native bush my sister and I would play in. We'd spend hours climbing huge moss-covered rocks, playing beside a trickling stream, pretending we lived there. I've always felt that I belong in spaces like this, and maybe these experiences are why.
I'm Char. I'm a wife, Māmā, and bus-living, travelling, ecological-loving teacher.
Background and qualifications
I studied a conjoint Bachelor of Teaching and Bachelor of Science at the University of Waikato, before teaching for two years to gain full registration. Naturally, I then headed overseas, WWOOFed across Canada, and spent years traveling and working on organic vegetable farms, adding a very different but important perspective to my understanding of people and land in relationship.
Back in Aotearoa, I taught for another four years before a friend's offhand comment rang a bell. "We just need more people doing what Halo are doing," he said, and so I emailed them (shoutout Halo Whakatāne!). That led to three and a half years of environmental education in the Eastern Bay of Plenty, in a role that I felt made complete sense of my decisions this far.
Why EcoEd Aotearoa
EcoEd Aotearoa was a practical solution to continue doing what I love after my husband and I decided to move into a house bus and travel Aotearoa. Now, it has snowballed into something I'm genuinely excited about; a growing belief that ecological education doesn't have to be a specialist subject tucked away in a few lucky schools. It can travel, meet tauira where they are, in their own rohe, beside their own wetlands and forests and coastlines. Hopefully one near you!
A note on mātauranga Māori
I come to this mahi as tangata Tiriti, with deep respect for mātauranga Māori and a commitment to learning and growing in my understanding of it. I don't claim expertise I don't have, but I do believe in the wisdom of te ao Māori and that any meaningful ecological education in Aotearoa must honour that wisdom. Where possible I seek to bring iwi and community voices to the table, because these tauira are their taonga.