Chris Widmaier is the Founder & Executive Director of Rochester Ecology Partners (REP), a nonprofit that “serves people in Greater Rochester through nature-based learning and community-building.”   

A former award-winning classroom teacher and instructional coach, Chris left a secure career, earned an MBA-equivalent at RIT, and launched REP on January 1, 2022. His work now centres on helping young people—and the adults who guide them—find nature where they live, work and play.

Enjoy the conversation, share it with a leader connected to community through nature and education and learn to think big, act with intention!

In this episode we discuss:

• Chris’s origin story - Tide-pool research in Maine sparks a lifelong commitment to connect people with the natural world  
• “Teaching is direct action.” - Chris explains how the classroom became his first arena for systems-level change
• Building REP - From boot-strapping to 501(c)(3) status, partnering with Milwaukee’s Urban Ecology Center, and designing an “ecosystem” of nearby-nature lessons, field studies and community events
• Measuring impact - Why outdoor learning reaches multilingual learners and neuro-divergent students—and how REP is quantifying those gains
• Leadership lessons - Courage, intentional structures and the power of thinking big while acting locally

“We hear it from kids all the time: ‘I feel free today.’” 

Links & resources

Rochester Ecology Partners – https://rochesterecologypartners.org (about page, programs, upcoming events)    

Urban Ecology Center (Milwaukee) – inspiration for REP’s model – https://urbanecologycenter.org

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Producer, editor and host: Ryan Maxwell

Theme music: Ryan Raddatz

Guitar music: Adeline’s Guitar

The views shared on this podcast are those of my guests and the host and do not necessarily reflect those of any employer past or present.