by Stephanie R. Lewis
When your parents meet in the Peace Corps, have a baby, and move to Africa, the beginning of your life sounds like an adventure movie. Eric De Vries, Arkansas Outdoor School extension coordinator at C.A. Vines Arkansas 4-H Center, had an enviable, if not inspiring childhood. His earliest memory is exploring the Serengeti, game parks and other wild areas around his family’s home in Tanzania. Eric recalls this as being when he fell in love with the outdoors.
At thirteen, Eric found himself on another adventure. His father, an agricultural engineer, moved to Arkansas to work for Heifer International. Young Eric joined an area Boy Scout troop and continued his outdoor exploration.
He says, as a child, he hadn’t realized that he could make a living being outside. He thought he would go to college and become a lawyer or a classroom teacher. It was after college that he joined AmeriCorps and was exposed to careers in outdoor recreation and environmental education through helping build a ropes course at Heifer International.
Eric’s career has taken him from working with at-risk youth through his AmeriCorps service to many years with Arkansas Game and Fish in the Education Division and currently as the Arkansas Outdoor School extension coordinator at C.A. Vines Arkansas 4-H Center. His dedication to environmental education resulted in being recognized as the 2024 Arkansas Environmental Education Association’s Robert McAfee Lifetime Service Award recipient. He enthusiastically shares his perspective on environmental education and nature.
Teaching Outdoors
Sometimes it is difficult to find a fresh approach to something you do everyday. Everyone deals with monotony. Experiential education helps break that cycle and being present for your students is key. Eric says, “Each student deserves your best and passion even if you have taught the lesson several times that week.”
Power of Discovery
Eric has noticed that for Arkansas being a rural state, it’s astonishing to find out that approximately forty percent of his students have never been fishing. He loves being part of their first-time experience. He feels that it can be a life altering experience in many ways for everyone.
“The power of discovery – them (students) totally learning something new. Then having brand new confidence. Educators feed off of that excitement and it translates into renewal of the educator’s desire to teach,” he said.
Advice for Exploring
If there is a question about how to begin an outdoor experience, Eric has a simple solution: “You don’t have to be an expert on day one. Just find something you want to explore and learn more about. Find a friend that will do it with you and just get started.”
Inclusive Education
Find others that know more than you about how to make your programs more inclusive. Eric’s team purchased a UTV and had it modified so that a person with a powered wheelchair can be transported to any program that is done around the campus. When Eric started talking to a recreation therapist, he didn’t know such vehicles were a thing.
From adding a wrist strap release aid for archery, pontoons to a canoe to help with balance, adding a bosun’s chair to a ropes course, or a pulley system to a climbing activity, the team has used their ingenuity and their students’ experiences to adapt activities over the years. Eric says, “It starts with you valuing being inclusive.”
Career Advice
In the environmental education community, people invest in each other. Eric says that he loves seeing new interpreters learn and develop. Eric’s advice:
- Keep learning. Your curiosity and passion for the outdoors will be contagious. Make sure you spend time yourself in nature. Try new things.
- Network with other professionals in the field. It can help you in your current job and open the door to new opportunities.
- Don’t be afraid to make mistakes but be accountable and coachable when you do. Saying your sorry goes a long way.
- Be dependable. Do the little things to help your coworkers. People notice.
- Watch your ego. As you learn more it is easy to start thinking you are the star. Nature and their experience is the star. You are the supporting cast.
Lesson from Nature
When asked about achievements and accolades, Eric is humble. He says his faith is his foundation and he is not done yet.
He said, “There is always something new to learn. One thing I have learned is to appreciate the quiet of nature amongst the chaos of a busy life.”
