Partnerships between natural resources agencies and Extension have existed for years and Extension has served in many roles. These roles include writing grants, facilitating meetings, training, and designing collaborative programming. Herein, we highlight a partnership between Purdue Extension and the Indiana Division of State Parks (IDSP) where Purdue Extension used an existing partnership to create programming about eastern hellbenders in a format presentable by interpretive naturalists, Extension educators, and K-12 teachers. The program increased pre/post knowledge gain scores for attendees by 129.27%. This model has successfully expanded Purdue Extension’s outreach efforts while satisfying a need expressed by IDSP. Forming reciprocal partnerships with nontraditional partners can have a tremendous positive impact on the success of outreach and education efforts.

Youth are spending less time outdoors compared to previous generations. Because youth spend much of their time in school, teachers can provide the critical linkages that introduce students to nature. Unfortunately, teachers often lack access to standards-based STEAM curricula focused on natural resources, do not feel comfortable taking their students outside, and may not be knowledgeable about how to incorporate nature into the classroom. Addressing the nature deficit disorder facing today’s youth and the lack of professional development for teachers requires involvement from Extension (agriculture and natural resources specialists, health and human science educators) and natural resources professionals.