138. Lena Skahill: "Nurturing Through Nature: Adoptee and Foster Care Experiences and the Healing Power of Nature”

<p>Lena&nbsp;Skahill&nbsp;received&nbsp;her&nbsp;Master’s&nbsp;degree&nbsp;in&nbsp;Sociology&nbsp;in&nbsp;2012&nbsp;from the University of Colorado,&nbsp;Colorado&nbsp;Springs. She is an adjunct&nbsp;professor of Sociology and Women’s and Ethic Studies at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs. She created her departments first courses in&nbsp;Adoption and Family Studies&nbsp;now&nbsp;available to all students regardless of their discipline. Lena&nbsp;&nbsp;has also given&nbsp;volunteered with adoption non-profits over the last&nbsp;decade and dedicated her academic career toward the pursuit of teaching and sharing the unique lived experiences of all members of the adoption&nbsp;constellation.&nbsp;Lena also teaches courses on the intersection of climate change and environmental justice. She&nbsp;holds&nbsp;a&nbsp;Master’s&nbsp;Certification&nbsp;in&nbsp;Environmental&nbsp;Education&nbsp;through&nbsp;the&nbsp;North&nbsp;American&nbsp;Association&nbsp;of&nbsp;Environmental&nbsp;Education.&nbsp;She&nbsp;has&nbsp;been&nbsp;a&nbsp;lifelong&nbsp;advocate&nbsp;for&nbsp;the&nbsp;natural&nbsp;world&nbsp;and&nbsp;its&nbsp;sentient&nbsp;beings.&nbsp;Lena&nbsp;is&nbsp;dedicated&nbsp;to&nbsp;the&nbsp;power&nbsp;of&nbsp;‘each&nbsp;one,&nbsp;reach&nbsp;one,&nbsp;teach&nbsp;one’&nbsp;and&nbsp;she&nbsp;strives&nbsp;to&nbsp;create&nbsp;communities&nbsp;of&nbsp;students,&nbsp;colleagues&nbsp;and&nbsp;friends&nbsp;who&nbsp;share&nbsp;the&nbsp;same&nbsp;mission.</p><p>Lena&nbsp;is also&nbsp;an&nbsp;adoptee&nbsp;of&nbsp;a&nbsp;closed&nbsp;adoption&nbsp;in&nbsp;1966&nbsp;and&nbsp;engaged&nbsp;in&nbsp;reunion&nbsp;with&nbsp;both&nbsp;of&nbsp;her&nbsp;first&nbsp;families.&nbsp;She&nbsp;is&nbsp;also&nbsp;a&nbsp;photographer&nbsp;with&nbsp;an&nbsp;emphasis&nbsp;social&nbsp;documentary&nbsp;story&nbsp;telling,&nbsp;wildlife,&nbsp;landscape&nbsp;and&nbsp;portrait&nbsp;photography.&nbsp;Some of her&nbsp;greatest joys are spending time in nature, rare and sweet moments with her two grown&nbsp;daughters&nbsp;and to be&nbsp;behind&nbsp;the