Capable
Confident
Connected
Empowered
We translate and interweave the languages of Mother Nature and Biological Nature into cost-effective, engaging programs for those who are eager to be at the forefront of educational innovation.
About Danielle Racke
Founder & Principal
Build Your Foundation: Grow Your Roots
A field ecologist, educator, and manager, Danielle has been working in and integrating science and education fields for nearly 20 years. She attributes many of her passions and professional successes to her mandated childhood instructions to “go outside and play.” Outdoor explorations in the backyard, leadership camps, and family hiking and camping trips encouraged her curiosity and drove her wonder for the complexity of nature and natural systems. She now sees the outdoors as a powerful way to inspire, develop, and empower others to define and take charge of their futures.
Explore Nature By Nurture is built on the principle that people learn best through active experience. Danielle brings her research perspective, love of ecology, hands-on approach, and mentoring & coaching mentality to advise, educate, and train others in ways that develop transferrable soft skills, self-agency, and an understanding of environmental systems.
“…I knew that her expertise and ability to engage students of all ages was exemplary….I have watched her handle difficult situations with poise, integrity and professionalism….”
— Gretch Boeren, Virginia Science Teacher and Environmental Educator for Roanoke City Dept. of Parks & Recreation
Mission & Vision
Connecting Life to Learning
In a tech-dominated and global environment, we humans are losing our key connections.
Our children grow up increasingly disconnected from natural systems, natural processes, and each other. As adults, they have little concept of these losses. They lose an understanding of the interconnectedness of living and nonliving things; they suffer unabated physical, mental, emotional and social strains; and they miss opportunities to define and seize their dreams in mindful ways.
Parents, teachers, and organizations all try to do their part to create a world where children grow up to be happy and healthy. But how much can one person do when the pressures of life keep them from being an expert in everything? And how much difference can one environmental initiative make when the realities of business overtake an organization’s capacity?
Explore Nature By Nurture is eager to help communities use outdoor education to promote the development of foundational skillsets and an understanding of environmental systems. We empower people and organizations to use outdoor education to foster learner connections to the Earth, Self, and Community.
Nature By Nurture is our Philosophy.
Our approach
Nature by Nurture refers to the scientific phenomenon that acknowledges that individuals are a product of their genetics and the environments in which they learn and live. At Explore Nature By Nurture, we believe that healthy, outdoor environments are some of the safest places for people to be, and that appreciation for the outdoors can foster a natural sense of community. We therefore welcome the diversity among our students, be they children or adults, and we strive to cultivate environments that support wholesome growth in outdoor spaces.
We reconnect natural human needs to be in nature by nurturing informed attitudes and behaviors towards nature. Our trainings and lessons are designed to help people appreciate, understand, and interact with their environments in ways that conserve and recreate healthy human-environment relationships.
Our values
Learn constantly. From every question, experience, failure, and success, absorb the lessons that will allow you to adapt and move forward.
Accept yourself and your journey. Ground yourself daily in your best self, and hold your head high.
Be mindful. Be aware of your impacts on your environment, including those generated by where you have been and where you might go.
Be a guide. Share your knowledge and path so that others may learn from you.
Empower others. Advocate for and support others in their growth and journey.