Ever wonder how our lives are linked to the common salamander or a very busy newt? This week on The Dragon Tree Podcast, we sat down with Kimberly Curren, a dedicated naturalist and educator who's helped her students participate in everything from tracking horseshoe crabs by the Chesapeake Bay, to closely monitoring the very mysterious world of dragonflies.

Her story proves that the best hands on learning often happens outside the classroom, where we can all benefit from studying our ever evolving connections to the natural world. Kim shared how her career first began, teaching children about animals in an indoor aquarium setting to eventually finding her passion for the outdoors through nature-based education in Calvert County, Maryland. Her mission has always been straightforward: create a safe space for all learners and find the hook that could spark a lifelong interest.

Kim’s core communication philosophy is to meet students where they are. She often teaches school-aged children on nature walks, to encounter wildlife in their very own territory. She also emphasizes the need for a teaching style that authentically validates everyone's experience, from the enthusiastic volunteer to the kid who's not really a "nature person" (well, not yet, anyway).

Nature's Tiny Barometers

Kim's work is often supported by the work of citizen scientists, which sbows how anyone can contribute to scientific research. She's involved in several such incredible projects: The Dragonfly Mercury Project: Since dragonflies spend their early lives as aquatic larvae, this study has shown how it makes them excellent indicators for monitoring mercury pollution in the environment. Amphibian Bio-Indicators: Programs like Frog Watch monitor the calls of frogs and toads.

Specifically, their permeable skin makes them highly sensitive to environmental changes and their calls can signal shifts in seasons or pollution before humans even notice them. The Red Knot Effect: Kimberly discusses her effort to start a horseshoe crab monitoring program along the Chesapeake Bay. This project matters because horseshoe crab eggs are a critical food source for migratory shorebirds, like the Red Knot, showing how interdependent the ecosystem truly is.

You May Already Be a Citizen Scientist

People are the most powerful tool in the efforts for nature conservation. But being a citizen scientist doesn't require a lab coat. It often just requires a smartphone. Robust, easy-to-use apps like iNaturalist and eBird allow anyone to regularly log local plant and animal sightings. Naturalists like Kimberly use this crowd-sourced data daily to not only track seasonal changes but also to predict animal appearances.

Drawing her inspiration from dynamic global scientists and presenters such as Jane Goodall and David Attenborough, Kim reminds us that science education is not just reciting facts but truly sharing what subjects you care about and then bringing them to life.

This passion she believes is the key to inspiring future generations to address major issues such as habitat loss and climate change. Engaging children early in science, Kim states, will challenge and empower them to be the much needed innovators who can eventually shape a better, more resilient world.

This week on The Dragon Tree Podcast, we sat down with Teresa Yasutis, a seasoned entrepreneur who has been successfully navigating the field of communications for over 25 years.

Her journey is a case study in career evolution, with experiences ranging from high-stakes advertising campaigns for Discovery Networks to eventually founding her own boutique PR firm. What tied it all together? A fundamental love of storytelling, rooted in her childhood and reinforced by a career built on messaging that drives real change.

We talked about her early work on public awareness campaigns and about her belief in the power of community in business, comms, and beyond.

The Right Client

In 2006, Teresa took a calculated risk to launch her own communications firm. She quickly found success working with clients like ZocDoc and local DC powerhouse Sandy Spring Bank. The secret to her success? Choosing her clients wisely. For a relationship to be successful, she says, you must genuinely connect with the client's message and mission. As she puts it, if the story doesn't resonate, you most likely won't be the best match to drive that project forward.

Building Community from the Ground Up

Teresa also channeled her entrepreneurial spirit into fitness, founding PopCycle, a community-focused indoor cycling studio. This pivot allowed her to blend her business and communication skills with her passion for biking and music! During the height of COVID, she and her husband moved the studio's 30 bikes outside each day to maintain a needed sense of community for their riders. It’s a powerful example of what it takes to protect a brand and a business through unprecedented times, while keeping lines of communication open between owner and client.

Coaching the Authors of Tomorrow

Today, Teresa is focused on helping authors in ways that might at first seem counterintuitive. Working as a literary representative, she sees her clients not only as artists, but as entrepreneurs who are selling a valuable product. Viewed in that light, it becomes part of her job to help authors differentiate themselves in a crowded marketplace.

This work recently led her to client Ann Butler, who casually mentioned that she was writing a memoir about her 27 years as a covert CIA officer while juggling the responsibilities of being a mother to five children.

Recognizing a powerful story, Teresa helped Ann package and prepare her book for publication, which led to high-profile media coverage on platforms like NBC Nightly News and C-SPAN. Teresa emphasizes that preparation and coaching are integral to transmitting one's message, especially for those new to the public spotlight. Whether it’s anticipating tough questions or staying on script, a strong communicator should ensure that their client’s genuine story always shines through.

This week on the Dragon Tree Podcast we were treated to a delightful talk with actor Julane Havens, founder of the National Children's Theatre in Washington, D.C. Julane is a lifelong performer and educator who's making it her mission to prove that theater is more than an activity—it's a research-backed tool for building essential life skills. The conversation left us very inspired by her commitment to foster the next generation of creative and empathetic communicators.

Julane's passion for acting started at a young age, during her very first play as a child. Despite her fears and some wardrobe mishaps when she hit the stage, something clicked. "Nothing's wrong," she recounted. "I deliver my lines perfectly...there was something even there, about the show must go on." This early experience taught her the power of letting go to serve the greater good of storytelling.

That same philosophy now fuels her work at the National Children's Theatre, where she takes a unique, research-based approach to teaching. Her curriculum is built on the "eight acting habits of mind" which involve skills like body awareness, considering others, and being flexible. As she explained, "We let the students and the families know right at the get-go that that's the goal of the class." This approach ensures that students are learning skills they can apply to all facets of life, not just when reciting a page from Hamlet.

And although Shakespeare can be intimidating (even to adults), Julane's approach of focusing on characterization over memorizing lines makes the material less daunting for her students. When it comes to the Bard, she doesn't just read the lines; she makes it visceral. She teaches her students that Western literature's greatest playwright wrote in "the rhythm of a human heart." If you notice a line's rhythm is "a little off," she says, it's telling you something important about the character.

Her conviction is clear on introducing this material early: "We start Shakespeare too late in our schools. If you give it to (children) when they're younger, they don't know it's hard." She's determined to create a new generation of arts advocates, quoting the staggering statistic that "less than 4% of elementary schools in the country have a theater program." In a world full of screens and increasingly shorter attention spans, Julane believes theater is more vital than ever. She passionately argues that "artists are essential" because they bring joy and empathy to our lives. And despite the current climate of budget cuts, she still has a powerful message: "Everyone's saying now is not the time to have arts programs...I say, no, no, no. Now is the time."

Julane's entrepreneurial journey is an answer to that problem and is all about identifying a need and taking a "leap of faith." She has been building her company from the ground up to fill a gap in the D.C. community for childrens' theater, and to fill it with young, inspired performers. As she says, exceptional acting is about "truth-telling," and it involves your "whole self... your voice; it's your body, it's your heart, it's your imagination. It's all of it." Her work reminds us that the stage is a safe space to perform, fine tune and grow, and that these learned skills can help us all become vastly more confident and connected.

Want to learn more about Julane Havens and the Children's National Theater?

👉 Visit the National Children's Theatre website:https://www.nationalchildrenstheatre.org/

ICYMI: Our last episode featured Greg Lassiter of Champions Health and Fitness, who shared his incredible journey from being a struggling student to a successful small business owner to a community champion. You can listen to that episode here:https://youtu.be/JftoMsGutdE?feature=shared

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And remember: Any story that's told with heart will always captivate an audience! ✨🧚‍♀️