My name is Elham Nasr-Azadani; you can call me Ellie. I am a Ph.D. candidate (ABD) in the Geography Department and a member of the Riparia research center. Prior to coming to Penn State, I earned my bachelor's and master’s in environmental engineering in Iran. Then I worked as an Environmental Educator for five years and founded the Chaarbagh children’s nature school in Isfahan, where I call home. In 2017, I was selected as one of 30 under 30 EE game-changers by the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE).
My research mainly focuses on engaging Landscape Visualization in the form of Immersive Experiences for competency-based sustainability education. We have various ways to define competencies, but as for sustainability, it is a combination of knowledge with skill and attitude, which enables individuals to act and behave concerning the environment. My research will be conducted in the Spring Creek watershed as a smaller section of the Chesapeake Bay. Building competency among stakeholders of this watershed, I expect to achieve better implementation of practices on Earth, which eventually leads to pollution reduction in the Spring Creek watershed and the whole Bay.