The Natural Resources Conservation Academy (NRCA) is now accepting applications for Difference Maker Mentors (DMMs)—UConn undergraduates who serve as leaders for the Conservation Ambassador Program (CAP) and as near-peer mentors to high school teens as they complete a community environmental action project.   We are seeking students from all majors and backgrounds who are passionate […]

Across Connecticut, the Natural Resources Conservation Academy’s (NRCA) Eco-Digital Storyteller (EDS; https://nrca.uconn.edu/eds/) program is reshaping how teachers approach learning—helping schools integrate environmental science, geospatial technology, digital media arts and youth-centered storytelling into everyday instruction. Despite the cancellation of federal funding, this work is continuing thanks to essential support from UConn’s EMERGE program, which has enabled […]

Hey everyone! My name is Megan Ng and I’m so excited to be a Difference Maker Mentor for the NRCA Conservation Ambassadors Program cohort of 2025-2026. I’m a sophomore majoring in Natural Resources with minors in Psychology and Urban and Community Studies.   I have a great love for learning and I’ve been interested in […]

Hi! My name’s Ben and I’m serving as a Difference Maker Mentor for the 2025-2026 NRCA CAP program. I’m currently in my senior year as a Physiology & Neurobiology student. I love the outdoors and it’s very important to me that we keep our environment healthy as human influence on nature continues to grow. I […]

      Hi! My name is Haley Jordan (she/her) and I’m a Difference Maker Mentor for the 2025-2026 CAP Program! I’m going into my junior year as a natural resources major concentrating in fisheries and wildlife, with a minor in ecology and evolutionary biology!               In high school, […]

    Hello! My name is Rachel Palmer, and I’m super excited to be working as a Difference Maker Mentor for the 2025-2026 NRCA Conservation Ambassador Program (CAP). I was born and raised in central Maine. I am entering my junior year this fall, majoring in Natural Resources with a minor in Environmental Health and Safety.    […]

Hi everyone!   My name is Shanelle Thevarajah and I am a second year Ph.D. student at the University of Connecticut, and the Graduate Mentor for the NRCA Conservation Ambassador Program.   I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts and Science from the University of Guelph in 2019 with a focus on Zoology and Family/Child […]

Hello! My name is Violet Andrews, and I am thrilled to be joining the Natural Resource Conservation Academy for the summer of 2025. I am a Senior pursuing a dual degree in Earth Science Education and Earth Science. I am motivated through my love for nature, the outdoors, and providing everyone with an education focused […]

Hello! My name is Amber Hwang, and I joined the Natural Resources Conservation Academy as an Eco-Digital Storytellers Mentor. As a sophomore pursuing a dual degree in Environmental Studies and English with a minor in Geographic Information Science, I am guided by the narratives of place and justice that thread through our environment.   My […]

  Hey y’all!       My name is Tamara Parks, and I am currently serving as a Difference Maker Mentor for the 2024-2025 NRCA Conservation Ambassador Program. I am a first-generation undergraduate student from New Haven, CT, completing my second year at UConn and exploring my course of study through the ACES program (so, I […]