“Connecting Kids and Nature: No Child Left Inside” is the focus of a free public lecture by Fran Mainella, the first woman to lead the National Park Service, at ETSU on Thursday, March 27, at 7 p.m. in the Brown Hall auditorium.
“Linking our children back to nature is one of the most challenging environmental issues we have,” Mainella wrote in the April 16, 2007, issue of Newsweek.
She cited security issues and growth in technological entertainment as reasons why today’s children spend less time outdoors than those of previous generations, and pointed to “a direct link between a lack of exposure to nature and higher rates of attention-deficit disorder, obesity and depression.
“The best way to protect our resources for the future is by helping children develop an appreciation for the outdoors,” she continued.
“It’s part of a movement under way right now, with people across the nation working on how to get children linked back to nature . . . The best way to protect our parks and our environment is to foster an appreciation for the outdoors. We can call the movement ‘no child left inside.'”
Mainella was appointed by President George W. Bush and confirmed by the Senate as the 16th director of the National Park Service (NPS).
She has more than 40 years of experience in park and recreation management, and has worked alongside 20,000 employees and more than 125,000 volunteers.
During Mainella’s nearly six-year tenure, she strengthened programs that preserve natural and cultural resources both inside and outside national parks.
Under her leadership, the NPS reduced a massive maintenance backlog that affected all 390 national parks and worked to improve scientific research through the Natural Resource Challenge initiative.
Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne praised Mainella for her accomplishments, which included the creation of the Great Sand Dunes and Lewis and Clark national parks.
“Perhaps your most important contribution, one that will endure long past your tenure as director, is your effort to foster a culture of partnership within the National Park Service,” he wrote.
“Thanks to your leadership, today virtually every national park works in partnership with state and local officials, local residents and friends groups.”
Before being appointed to head the NPS, Mainella directed Florida’s Division of Recreation and Parks, leading the Florida State Parks to become a model for volunteer and partnership programs.
The National Sporting Goods Association and National Recreation and Park Association honored the Florida State Parks with their Gold Medal Award, which recognized Florida as the best state park system in the country.
Among Mainella’s numerous honors and awards are Clemson (S.C.) University’s Walter T. Cox Award, which recognizes leadership in public service, public land administration, and natural and cultural resource policy, and the 2007 Pugsley Award for outstanding national leadership, the highest honor given by the American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration.
In 2006, Mainella joined Clemson’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management as a visiting scholar.
She is currently a member of Newsweek’s Environmental Advisory Board, a board member of the National Society for Park Resources, a fellow of the American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration, a member of the Advisory Board for the Children and Nature Network and a speaker on parks, natural and cultural resources, health and children and nature.
She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Connecticut and a master’s degree from then-Central Connecticut State College. Central Connecticut State University conferred upon her an honorary Doctor of Public Service degree.
Held in conjunction with Women’s History Month, this lecture is co-sponsored by the Department of Kinesiology, Leisure and Sport Sciences in the Claudius G. Clemmer College of Education along with the Women’s Studies Program and Women’s Resource Center.
For more information or for special assistance for those with disabilities, call the Department of Kinesiology, Leisure and Sport Sciences at (423) 439-5358 or the Women’s Resource Center at 439-7847.

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