Adrián Cerezo, St. Louis Zoo

 

 

For twenty years, Adrián Cerezo has explored environmental education and conservation from multiple perspectives: as student, researcher, teacher, trainer, evaluator of programs, designer of curricula, developer of education materials, writer of children’s books, participant in international forums, developer and designer of out-of-school programs, consultant for museum designs, and manager of education programs.

Adrián’s work is guided by one question: can humans learn to live more sustainably? His doctoral research at Yale’s School of Forestry and Environmental Studies focused on the fundamental importance of early childcare in the process of human development, specifically with regard to the complex interrelations between the environment in which children develop and the quality of early childhood.

Adrián holds a BA in Psychology, a Master of Environmental Science degree in Social Ecology and a PhD in Environmental Studies. He has been an Education Fellow at the Conservation Research Center of the Smithsonian Institution, and a consultant for governments as well as multiple environmental and educational organizations. Adrián is a member of the Communication and Education Committee of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature; serves on the boards of A World For My Baby (a non-profit focused on early childcare and development in San Juan, Puerto Rico) and the Puerto Rico Conservation Foundation; is a Fellow at Yale’s Edward Zigler Center in Child Development and Social Policy – Knowledge Center for the South-East Asia Region; and provides technical advice on early childcare and development to the Children and Nature Network.

Adrián is currently developing the Saint Louis Zoo’s new Department of Conservation Education Research, and has teaching and research collaborations with several universities, including Yale, Washington University in St. Louis and the St. Louis campus of the University of Missouri.