The Association for Environmental & Outdoor Education has named Tallianna Richey-Miller of the Shasta County Office of Education (SCOE) as the 2025 Environmental Educator – Instructor of the Year for Northern California. She joins the Exchange to discuss her work and the recognition. Also joining the conversation is Nate Fairchild, Science Director at the Shasta County Office of Education.
ABOUT
Tallianna Richey-Miller is Lead Educator for Whiskeytown Environmental School (WES) and Schreder Planetarium at SCOE. She began her career at WES as a teenage volunteer, officially joining the teaching staff in 2021 and becoming Lead Educator in 2022. Today, she also serves on the California Regional Environmental Education Community (CREEC) North Leadership Team and serves on the Whiskeytown Environmental School Community Board. In addition to her classroom excellence, Richey-Miller has had a profound impact on organizational culture. She co-designed staff training and onboarding, and helped double staff retention at WES through mentorship and team leadership.
Her work extends beyond Shasta County. Through the state’s CREEC and the Partner Portal by the California Environmental Literacy Initiative, she helps connect schools and districts across California with high-quality environmental education providers. She has also facilitated regional professional learning cohorts, such as CREEC North Nature’s Narrative, where she trains educators in phenomena-based inquiry and the use of civic science tools, including iNaturalist.
Nate Fairchild began his career as an interpretive park ranger, then taught environmental education before becoming a classroom teacher in 1994. He has been the Director of Science at the Shasta County Office of Education since 2014, providing science support to teachers, directing Whiskeytown Environmental School and Schreder Planetarium, and leading environmental literacy in Northern California through the CREEC Network.
