About SEEK  Who we are and what we do

Introduction to SEEK

History  |  Site guidelines  |  For more information

Welcome to SEEK (Sharing Environmental Education Knowledge), the home of Minnesota’s environmental education (EE) resources. SEEK is a dynamic website that is constantly evolving.  It includes a comprehensive directory of over 1200 resources, press releases, employment opportunities,

Environmental education is the exploration of social and natural systems and their relationships.

research abstracts, web links, a calendar of events, and much more.

SEEK is truly a partnership of a wide variety of environmental educators in Minnesota, sharing resources and events with educators, citizens, students, and others interested in environmental education.  SEEK partners are organizations in Minnesota that engage in environmental education and provide EE resources and/or services and include zoos, aquariums, schools, colleges, government agencies, nature centers, businesses, and non-profit organizations.  Our partners continually add new resources to the Calendar and Browse Resources sections.

SEEK is dedicated to sharing the statewide cornerstone EE pieces in its Minnesota EE section:.

• A GreenPrint for Minnesota: State Plan for Environmental Education
• Environmental Literacy Scope and Sequence
• Minnesota Report Cards on Environmental Literacy
• Minnesota’s legislation regarding environmental education
• A collection of Minnesota’s Master's and Doctoral EE research
• Information about Minnesota’s Environmental Education Advisory Board

History

An online collection of environmental education resources from a variety of environmental organizations was determined as a statewide need in the first edition of A GreenPrint for Minnesota: State Plan for Environmental Education (1993). The primary goal of creating SEEK was to provide easy access to environmental education resources to all Minnesotans. The Environmental Education Advisory Board sought funding for this from the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR).

Initial funding for SEEK was approved by the Minnesota Legislature in 1995 (ML 1995, Chapter 220, Sec. 19, Subd. 6(c)), as recommended by the LCCMR from the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund. The grant appropriation was overseen by the Minnesota Office of Environmental Assistance in cooperation with the Environmental Education Advisory Board. SEEK officially went on-line in April 1996. Today, SEEK is housed in and funded by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency as part of its legislative charge and commitment to environmental education in Minnesota.

Site guidelines

SEEK is dedicated to providing quality resources for "environmental education."

"Environmental education" is the exploration of social and natural systems and their relationships.

As a common site for Minnesota's EE community, we strive to present information with a positive and constructive tone. Those posting information and resources on this site should avoid the following:

• Partisan activities, items of personal rather than community interest, organizing for political campaigns, and promoting specific legislative language and initiatives (although objective education about controversial topics may be appropriate).
  
• Language that is disparaging to others based on their race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, age, marital status, disability, public assistance status, veteran status, or sexual orientation.
  
• Language that may be considered as offensive, blaming, threatening, promoting violence or pornographic.
  
• Activities which are not of general interest to those interested in environmental education.
  
• Commercial or other activities not closely related to environmental education as described above.
  
• Submittals that discuss litigation that the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency is involved in.
  

The coordinator of the site reserves the right to reject or remove information that does not fit the guidelines or spirit of this website. The MPCA and the State of Minnesota make no representation as to the accuracy of all of the information on this site, but do promote the inclusion of accurate information. The MPCA also does not necessarily agree with or endorse all content on the SEEK site. Content of independent web sites accessible by link from this site is in no way endorsed as to content or accuracy by the MPCA, and MPCA bears no responsibility for the content of these sites.

For more information

If you would like to suggest a resource for inclusion on the SEEK website, please email this to the SEEK Coordinator at seek.pca@state.mn.us.  For more information or questions, comments, or reference to possible omissions or errors to, please contact: