SPP has delivered a lecture and workshop series continually since 2009. The program is currently hosted by three prisons: Stafford Creek Corrections Center in Aberdeen, Washington Corrections Center in Shelton, and Mission Creek Corrections Center for Women in Belfair, Washington. We facilitate many additional presentations and workshops at other Washington State prisons. In this time, we have offered more than 300 lectures and workshops to more than 4,000 students in prison. We have awarded roughly 1,000 program certificates to students for workshop attendance and participation.

SPP Workshop Coordinator and student pose during a certificate award at Washington Corrections Center. Photo by that workshop’s guest expert.

More than 250 guest scientists and practitioners from more than 140 organizations have shared their expertise in the program: see our Thank You page for recent guest experts. Scientists and community members active in science and sustainability are invited to share their passion and knowledge with incarcerated individuals at one or both facilities.

A group of students shows off their work during a climate resilience workshop at SCCC. Photo by Erica Benoit.

Typical workshops are about 90 minutes. Topics have included climate change, energy and biofuels, animal track identification, wetlands, environmental justice, green building, native plant identification, butterflies, composting, and scientific illustration, just to name a few. We advertise each topic ahead of time so that students can prioritize the sessions most interesting to them.

Students talk with guest expert Dr. Barb Toews during a workshop on the value of contact with nature. Photo by Erica Benoit.

The most successful and engaging workshops offer lots of time for discussion — our students ask great questions! Other welcome offerings include hands-on activities, specimens to examine, writing, diagramming, drawing, handouts, worksheets, audio or video clips, photographs, and demonstrations. Think about varied ways to share your own excitement for the topic, and be ready to challenge them and have a great time. If you’d like more guidance on developing a workshop, please see SPP’s guidelines for prison workshops.

If you are interested in sharing your time and talent with our students, take a look at the available workshop dates below, and sign up for a workshop here.

Mission Creek
Corrections Center for Women		Stafford Creek
Corrections Center		Washington
Corrections Center
1st Friday of the month 9:00-11:00 am, Belfair 3rd Thursday of the month 9:30-11:00 am, Aberdeen 4th Wednesday of the month 2:30-4:00 pm, Shelton
March 6, 2020March 19, 2020March 25, 2020
April 3, 2020April 16, 2020April 22, 2020
May 1, 2020May 21, 2020May 27, 2020
June 5, 2020June 18, 2020June 24, 2020
July 3, 2020July 16, 2020July 22, 2020
August 7, 2020August 20, 2020August 26, 2020
September 4, 2020September 17, 2020September 23, 2020
October 2, 2020October 15, 2020October 28, 2020
November 6, 2020November 19, 2020November 25, 2020
December 4, 2020December 17, 2020December 23, 2020

To learn more about the workshop series, please contact Erica Benoit, SPP’s Workshop Series Coordinator, at 360-867-6765 or benoite@evergreen.edu.

If the dates, times, and locations for our standard series do not work for you, we may be able to set up a special event; please contact the program coordinator Erica Benoit. 

SPP blogs on the Environmental Workshop Series

When Nature Meets Art (2019)

Origin Story of a Compost Program (2019)

Rethinking the Landscape of Incarceration (2019)

Wolves: More like Humans than You’d Think! (2018)

Cross Pollination: Violet Program Presents in the Workshop Series (2018)

Astrobiology for the Incarcerated – Washington (2018)

Workshop series expands to WCC! (take two) (2018)

Long Live the Kings! (2018)

Climate Change Symposium in Prison: Incarcerated people creating solutions (2017)

SPP, Allies, and Friends: Thank you and goodbye! (2017)

What do the students get from SPP lectures Part Three: Session at the Women’s Prison (2017)

What do the students get from SPP lectures? Part Two: Session at the Men’s Prison (2017)

What do the students get from SPP lectures? Part One: Surveys Say…! (2017)

Lecture Series Coordinators 1, 2, 3 (2017)

Creative Illustrations for Monarch Butterfly Conservation (2016)

Princess Remington and Pele: Royalty in a prison classroom (2016)

Nothing like an octopus in prison! (2016)

It was a Toad-ally Ribbiting Lecture with the Special Offenders Unit (2016)

Lecture Series Expands to Shelton (2016)

From Poop to Employment: Jonathan Jones-Thomas shares his experience returning to prison as a guest lecturer (2015)

Sustainability… in Prison? SPP Coordinator and MES Graduate Candidate, Tiffany Webb, shares her experience of working in prisons (2015)

WCCW Sustainability Workshop (2014)

WCCW’s Science & Sustainability Lecture Series: An Inmate’s Perspective (2013)

Beekeeping Behind Bars (2013)

Lecture Series Update (2012)

WCCW Winter Lecture Series a Success (2011)

Lectures Captivate Washington Corrections Center for Women (2010)