Silvana Oderisi is the Nature Play Early Learning Program Specialist at the National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute, where she develops nature-based education programs such as “Little Critters: Nature Play” and the “Nature Play in Your School” Teacher PD.

Silvana draws from over 15 years of experience working in education to provide accessible and developmentally appropriate experiences for young children. Silvana started her career as a classroom teacher in Title I schools, which built a critical understanding of the needs of young children and has served to guide her as an advocate for under-resourced schools, teachers, and students in her work.

Silvana was honored to lead the “Nature Play in Your School” PD for teachers in Wards 7 and 8 of DC, where she once worked as a Kindergarten teacher and witnessed firsthand the need that nature-based learning can fill for early childhood educators.