SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Jordan Poe hopes his love of the outdoors and his interest in working with teachers and students will result in showing how conservation can provide innovative teaching ideas.
On Feb. 1, Poe began his duties as a Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) Conservation Educator in MDC’s Southwest Region. He will work with elementary, middle school, and high school educators in Christian, Stone, Taney, and Webster counties.
“As a conservation educator, I am excited to continue to share my passion for the outdoors and conservation with students and educators,” said Poe, a Springfield native and a graduate of Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar. “Southwest Missouri is a wonderful place to live and it has abundant opportunities to enjoy nature and the outdoors.”
Poe may be new to his current duties, but he’s not new to MDC. Prior to accepting his current position, Poe was a range safety and maintenance technician at MDC’s Andy Dalton Shooting Range and Outdoor Education Center and, since September of 2019, he has been an outdoor education center specialist at MDC’s August A Busch Memorial Conservation Area Shooting Range.
Poe will provide opportunities for teachers to work with MDC’s Discover Nature Schools (DNS) program. DNS is a state-wide conservation-based education program that incorporates outdoors learning into a variety of school subjects. DNS emphasizes hands-on learning, teaches problem-solving and provides teachers with innovative outdoors-based options to add variety to their curriculums. Information about the DNS program can be found at:
https://nature.mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/teacher-portal/discover-nature-schools
Besides working with teachers on DNS curriculums, Poe will also coordinate hunter education classes and certification for his four counties. He will also promote the Missouri National Archery in the Schools Program (MoNASP) to schools in his counties.
“I hope I can do my part to help others understand, appreciate, utilize, and enjoy the natural resources that we have available to us,” Poe said.
He will work out of MDC’s Shepherd of the Hills Conservation Center in Branson. He can be reached at 417-334-4865, ext. 4513 or at [email protected]. More information about MDC’s educational programs at be found at mdc.mo.gov.
