Center Staff

Cindi Smith-Walters , Ph.D.
Professor of Biology & CEE Co-Director
E-mail: csmithwa@mtsu.edu
Phone: (615) 898-5449
Office Location:
Fairview 202B
MTSU Box 60
Murfreesboro,TN 37132

EDUCATION:
B.S. (Biology/Secondary Educ.), East Central State University
M.S. (Curriculum and Instruction), Oklahoma State University
Ph.D. (Environmental Science), Oklahoma State University

Dr. Smith-Walters has served on the faculty of Middle Tennessee State
University since 1993. Since 1993, under her leadership, the Center has garnered over $6,500,000 in grants and contracts.

With over 30 years experience in environmental education and teacher training, Dr. Smith-Walters currently serves on a variety of University committees and is a representative on a number of state boards and committees. She has been an officer and continues to serve as a board member of numerous professional organizations, including TEEA (Tennessee Environmental Education Association) and NAAEE (North American Association for Environmental Education), and currently serves as Chair for the Editorial Board of the Journal of College Science Teaching and has presented at numerous local, regional, national and international conferences and meetings.

In 2000, the MTSU Foundation acknowledged her as an Outstanding Teacher and the year prior she received an Outstanding Public Service award from this same group. In 1998 she was recognized by the TN Science Teachers Association as 'Science Educator of the Year: Higher Education', the first time this award was ever given. Dr. Smith-Walters has also garnered awards from a number of natural resource organizations including The Tennessee Forestry Association, the Soil Conservation Society of America, and the Tennessee Environmental Education Association and received the Oklahoma State of Excellence Award from former Oklahoma Governor, Henry Bellmon.

Projects:

• Cooperating with the CENTS (Conservation Education Now for Tennessee Students) program of the TN State Department of Education to deliver quality EE across the state through workshops and training.

• Correlating CENTS materials to the state science, language arts, mathematics, social studies & other standards.

• Working with the CENTS program of the TN State Department of Education to develop a certification program for outdoor classrooms on school sites and nature centers across the state.

• Delivering a joint program with Carson-Newman College and UT Knoxville on Special Habitats of Tennessee providing teacher training and student research on the use of special habitats to teach geography and science concepts.

• Oversite of WaterWorks! program through the Center for EE.

• Working to develop the Center for Cedar Glades Studies at MTSU.
  
  
  
  
  

J. Padgett Kelly, Ph.D.
Professor of Biology & CEE Co-Director

E-mail: jpkelly@mtsu.edu
Phone: (615) 898-5615
Office Location:
Fairview 202B
MTSU Box X054
Murfreesboro, TN 37132

EDUCATION:
B.S. in Biology, Middle Tennessee State University
M.S. in Biology, Middle Tennessee State University
Ph.D. in Zoology, Mississippi State University

Padgett Kelly is a Professor in the Biology Department at Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU). Padgett became involved in classroom teaching and environmental education in the early 1970's, and has focused his whole career around helping others understand the importance of and their role in the environment. His talent and hard work earned him the Tennessee Science Teacher of the Year Award in 1972 and the Tennessee Educator of the Year Award in 1982.

Dr. Kelly initiated Tennessee's first statewide environmental education program, Project CENTS (Conservation Education Now for Tennessee Students)in 1983. Through this program, which Padgett directed until 1991, over 22,000 teachers were trained in Project WILD, Project Learning Tree, and Aquatic WILD. Although Padgett has had a life-long love of the ocean, his ideas for Marine Education in Tennessee were formulated while attending the National Marine Educators Association (NMEA) 1997 Conference in Chicago. Since that time Padgett has focused his efforts on Marine Education. This was no easy task in a land-locked state! He has brought life-size whale programs to over 150,000 students and has conducted weeklong on-site learning experiences in the Florida Keys for over 120 teachers.

Padgett is a founding member of the Tennessee Educators of Aquatic and Marine Science (TEAMS). Dr. Kelly continues to be active in TEAMS and is a leader in Marine Education in Tennessee. His teaching effectiveness and leadership earned him NMEA's Teacher of the Year Award presented at the (2001) conference in Victoria, B. C. and the Distinguished Service Award from the Tennessee Environmental Educators Association (TEEA) in 2005.

Kim Cleary Sadler, Ed. D.
Associate Professor of Biology & Ctr for Cedar Glades Studies Co-Director

Email: ksadler@mtsu.edu
Phone: 615.904.8283
Fax: 615/217.7870
Office Location:
Fairview, 202D
MTSU Box 60
Murfreesboro, TN 37132

EDUCATION:
B.S. (Biology) Middle Tennessee State University
M.S. (Botany/Ecology) Middle Tennessee State University
Ed.S. (Curriculum & Instruction) Middle Tennessee State University
Ed.D. (Curriculum & Instruction) Tennessee State University

Kim Cleary Sadler is an Associate Professor of biology at Middle Tennessee State University and co-Director of the Center for Cedar Glade Studies.Dr. Sadler also serves as assistant to the co-directors for the Center for Environmental Education at MTSU. Since 1995 Dr. Sadler has been director of the Scopes for Schools equipment loan program with the CEE. Each year, hundreds of students have access to microscope technology and related materials such as magnifiers, prepared slides, and specimens. As the program continues to expand, over 150 reclaimed microscopes are recycled for use in Middle Tennessee schools annually. She also visits numerous schools and has hosted over 25 workshops to work directly with K-12 students on microscope skills. An avid supporter of environmental stewardship, Dr. Sadler has co-developed curriculum and public information materials about invasive pest plants and green shopping strategies that preserve and conserve resources. Nominated for the MTSU Foundation Public Service Award 2005 and 2006, and awarded the College of Basic & Applied Science Public Service Award 2004, she is actively involved with the school and informal science learning community. She teaches primarily nonmajors biology courses and serves as laboratory coordinator for the nonmajor's biology course. Dr. Sadler's research interests are questions related to active learning in elementary through college classes and field ecology experiences of elementary and preservice students in the cedar glades. If you can't find her on campus, there's a good chance you can find her hiking in one of our nearby cedar glades or walking the Murfreesboro Greenway!

Bob English
Consultant & State Coordinator for TAMP

Email: renglish@mtsu.edu
Office Location:
Fairview, 106
MTSU Box 60
Murfreesboro, TN 37132

EDUCATION:
B.S. (Mechanical Engineering) University of Tennessee


Bob English serves as State Coordinator for the Tennessee Amphibian Monitoring Program (TAMP) and is the webmaster for the WaterWorks! program. In addition to consulting with the Center for Environmental Education, he and his wife Pandy work on a variety of natural history inventory projects in several states. He has over 20 years of experience in birding and his nature photography has been published in a number of books, magazines and CD-ROMS, including the National Audubon Society books, The Bird Garden and The Audubon Backyard Birdwatcher. His frog and toad photographs and recordings are featured on the website for his environmental consulting service, Leaps . Other passions are flying (he received his diamond badge in sailplanes in 1985 and currently flies a 1949 Piper Clipper) and amateur astronomy.