Program Overview
Take advantage of two of the nation’s most highly regarded environmental and science education programs by combining your studies at AUNE with a year immersed in teaching environmental education and learning natural history at Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center.
This partnership allows you to combine graduate credits earned at Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center and Antioch University New England to earn your MS in Environmental Studies, with a concentration in Environmental Education or Science Teacher Certification. You can also choose a Certificate in Environmental & Sustainability Education, taken entirely at Wolf Ridge.
Wolf Ridge’s Teacher and Naturalist Training Program
Wolf Ridge has a long and proud history of teacher and naturalist training, with over 1,000 alumni occupying positions in respected natural resource, sustainability, and educational organizations around the world. Take experiential graduate classes while teaching K-12 students on 2,000 beautiful acres, situated in northern Minnesota between the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and Lake Superior’s north shore.
You choose which comes first. Begin your graduate studies in either the graduate-naturalist program at Wolf Ridge or at Antioch University New England.
Earn your MS in Environmental Studies, with an Environmental Education concentration:
- Transfer 12 graduate credits from courses at Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center
- Earn 24 credits at Antioch University New England
- Intern anywhere in the world
- Teach in the Boundary Waters and Minnesota’s Lake Superior & the Adirondacks, Green and White Mountains, and along the eastern coast
- Coursework
Earn your MS in Environmental Studies, with a Science Teacher Certification concentration:
- Integrate the crafts of teaching field and classroom-based science inquiry.
- Transfer 6 credits from Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center’s graduate-naturalist courses
- Earn 30 credits from Antioch University New England
- Student Teach anywhere in the country
- Combine the best of field and classroom-based science teaching in the Boundary Waters Area, Minnesota’s Lake Superior & the Adirondacks, Green and White Mountains, and the eastern coast
- Open the doors to public and private school teaching throughout the country
- Coursework
Contact Wolf Ridge alumni & Antioch Admissions Counselor
Please don’t hesitate to contact Sarah Wilson. She welcomes your questions about her experience in our joint program.
”This is a specialized program that may not be able to be combined with other specialized programs.”
Meet our current Wolf Ridge alumni
Emma Rohleder grew up in Calgary, Canada and now considers Minnesota her home state. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Ecology from the University of Minnesota in 2015 and – after a year as an English teacher in France – has been working in environmental education since. She has worked at environmental education and nature connection schools in Minnesota, Tennessee, Washington, Oregon, and California. While living and working at Wolf Ridge in 2016-2018, she discovered the joy of tracking animals in the snow and picking heirloom tomatoes. At Antioch, she is an active Co-Coordinator for Community Garden Connections excited about exploring the smaller-scale wilderness of tomato jungles and kale forests. She declares herself a lover of snails and a story-based educator.
Kaylyn Borucki grew up exploring the rural landscape outside a small town in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. After graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in Zoology from Michigan State University in 2013, she spent three years working as a zookeeper in Detroit, Michigan. She left the zoo for the Northwoods of Minnesota as a 2018-2019 Wolf Ridge Graduate Naturalist to explore the possibilities of a career in environmental education. After an exciting year working with the education animals, exploring the woods with students, and getting a feel for graduate level work, transitioning to Antioch felt like a natural fit. Her passion is fostering connections between people, animals, and the natural world.
Where are they now? Previous Antioch University New England Graduates who joined us from Wolf Ridge:
- Dylan Kelly, University of Minnesota Extension Educator, 4-H Youth Development
- Marie Fargo, Public Programs Coordinator, Great Lakes Aquarium
- Luciana Ranelli, Teton Science School Field Education Faculty
Antioch University New England Environmental Education students and graduates have also completed internships at Wolf Ridge, including:
- Tori Dahl, who served as Wolf Ridge’s Farm Field Manager post-graduation. Learn more about Tori Dahl
- Allie Silverman completed one of her professional internships at Wolf Ridge and now works as an Outdoor Education Instructor with Cody Outdoor Classroom (Freedom, NH)