“I was surprised and pleased to see a Biology instructor take us down emotional and intellectual paths that I hadn’t anticipated. Lee spent a great deal of time connecting our classroom exercises to this amazing cultural immersion, encouraging us to use all of our senses and intellect to explore and question what we thought we knew about this part of the world. Lee encouraged me to dive deep, exploring my own feelings about these topics and engaging with the people of the rainforest to understand how they maintain their traditions in a modernizing and ever-connected world. A great listener, he has a deep understanding of the human condition.”
-Judith Babcock, BID, Amazon Field School student

“Lee lead activities designed to deepen self-reflections through both individual work and group collaboration. Individual activities such as journaling and meditation helped me gain a better understanding of my feelings and wants. Group collaborations, such as nature hikes, community engagement, and group discussions, allowed me to gain perspective from fellow innovators while opening up and making connections. Through these activities and Lee’s support, he has helped me immensely during my process of discovering what I truly value in life and how to create purpose through that knowledge.”
-Amazon Field School student

“Lee gives the students a chance to speak in a non-judgmental, open minded space. He is a very dedicated, knowledgeable, open-minded individual who really helps change students’ lives.”
-Amazon Field School student

“I thoroughly enjoyed the challenges that this field school presented me with and I feel that I have grown an incredible amount from this experience. Thank you for your strong and supportive leadership through this adventure.”
-Katrina, Amazon Field School student

“Lee Beavington’s openness, and ability to connect with those around him, creates an atmosphere in which students can fully engage, and are open to sharing their experiences and emotions. His genuine spirit, background in biological sciences, and insightful planning make him the perfect leader for the Amazon Field School. He created opportunities that enabled our group to build relationships. I was amazed by the diversity of activities we did in such a short period of time, and our adventures were complemented by moments of rest and reflection. Lee is an incredibly gifted instructor and I hope that he continues to share his knowledge and passion with developing minds.”
-Morgan, Amazon Field School student

“Lee was always available, curious, and considerate. In our second trip, he became a personal mentor: I sought out his advice on how to, as an introvert, take on leadership responsibility, how to cultivate interpersonal relationships, how to fulfill on promises when you really don’t feel like it. These are the sorts of questions at the foundations of human endeavour. The trust and vulnerability to ask them can only be created by a sense of curious, compassionate listening. Lee possesses this ability. He also supported and mentored students in writing, fine art, photography, cultural immersion, technology work, and much more. In KPU classrooms and in the Amazon, he facilitated activities that engaged students on a mental, emotional, and philosophical level.”
-Connell Green, Amazon Field School Student Leader

“Lee is a fantastic presenter with great presence, great knowledge, and inviting.”
-Association of Experiential Education participant

“Excellent! One of the best workshops I’ve had here.”
-Association for Biology Laboratory Education participant

“Thank you for another awesome workshop! You somehow manage to pack so much meaningful goodness into such a short time, all at a calm, peaceful pace. I think every class at my school should be so lucky to experience this kind of hands-on, outdoor education!”
-Earl Marriott Secondary teacher

“My deepest thank you for a wonderful, informative, peaceful, grounding, magnificent, refreshing, reflecting, inspiring and impressive, ‘saunter through the beauty of nature.’ A real gift...I gained so much in so many ways. So informative. Loved the exercises too. Proud to be an intrepid explorer! My experience will forever linger on in me.”
-Gail Emanuels, field workshop participant

“Lee’s session on Creativity in Ecological Learning was a fantastic way to think through how we present material to students. What made this session stand out was rather than simply facilitate a discussion of ways to creatively explore ideas, he had us participate in sample lessons as students. By getting us moving around we were able to experience first-hand what it feels like to explore ideas away from the text book, along with see how he would handle different situations. Experiencing this approach in action made the idea of creativity in lesson planning more accessible and less daunting or uncertain.”
-Jennifer Williams

“The best talk I have ever heard at our presentation evenings.”
-multiple audience members at the White Rock and Surrey Naturalists

“Great pace! Very great energy throughout. I never thought of holding back!”
-Association for Biology Laboratory Education participant

“Great variety of cooperative and solo activities paired with meaningful reflection.”
-Association of Experiential Education participant

“Well prepared and deeply engaging presentation with amazing clarity.”
-3-minute thesis judge comments

“My students were uncertain what to expect from our “forest lesson” with Lee and I was uncertain as to how a group of thirty teenagers would respond to our attempts for them to “connect meaningfully with nature,” but Lee’s approach was incredible in easing them into this experience in a way that made sense to them and took them out of their comfort zones and into connectedness with the natural world. His activities, subtly integrating literature and ecology into forest mindfulness practice, first cultivated students’ sense of awe and respect for the natural world around them. Then, Lee tapped into students’ sense of curiosity for the natural world and gently invited them to explore this curiosity, focusing their attention on one small piece of forest life. With his ecological awareness, Lee made this meaningful for students by describing the significance of that small piece of life in the context of its bigger system, giving depth to students’ gratitude for what their explorations unearthed. Finally, Lee created a sense of intense connection for the natural world in a final forest mindfulness activity that students, even self conscious teenagers, felt safe to fully immerse themselves in after Lee had created an atmosphere of safety and trust.”
-Marla Coulas, Humanities Co-op 11 teacher

“Engaging and interactive workshop that maintained the attention of all ages of participants. Really inspiring!”
-Parksfest (Metro Vancouver) participant

“Great instructor. Ridiculously knowledgeable about everything and extremely approachable. You can tell that the instructor is passionate about his work and loves what he does. Extends himself to the students not just for help with work in the lab but for any help the student might need. Made the lab and the lab material fun. This instructor would make an excellent professor!”

“Lee is always patient, calm, and very helpful. He has a genuine passion for biology and is always very kind—a trait that is often undervalued. You make biology fun!”

“Lee does an excellent job in explaining confusing concepts in a way that is easily understandable and he is always willing to help.”

“Lee is always happy and very approachable. He makes sure the concept being questioned is understood and will stay and help you until you understand, often changing approaches. Whenever I walk into the lab I can usually hear Lee laughing which is comforting and makes the lab seem like a fun and safe place to be and not just a place to learn.”

“You have a positive attitude which makes you a very popular lab evaluator. Students tend to panic less around you. During your evaluations, you provide additional information about the topic clearly and in a manner which engages the student to listen carefully and pay attention. In other words, you make learning a better experience for students and you tend to change their views on learning in a positive way.”

“Lee does all the tasks as a lab instructor well—he answers questions concisely and clearly. He is also very fair in the pass/fail aspect of labs, giving students every opportunity to succeed.”

“You’re very helpful and one of my favourite lab instructors because you’re so enthusiastic. It seems like you really enjoy biology and teaching! Thanks for being so helpful and never laughing even when asked a stupid question.”

“You always present yourself with a positive and cheerful attitude which helps create a relaxed and encouraging environment. Your demos are informative without begin overwhelming. Your evaluations are consistent in level of difficulty and any questions that are asked of you are met with enthusiasm and helpful answers.”

“Lee makes each lab clear and concise on what to do and puts a lot of enthusiasm in his teaching. You have a great attitude towards teaching and you make it so that I want to come to class and actually do the labs. You’re such an awesome instructor that I leave the lab still thinking about what I have learned throughout the lab and how it connects to the class lectures. Your markings on each assignment is very helpful and indicate what I should have included which is great. Overall a great teacher and very enthusiastic!”

“You have a sincere and genuine care for your student’s success, and one thing I really admire about you is your respect for us. I, for one, feel very comfortable in my evaluations. Rather than making me feel like an unintelligent person when I get things wrong, you encourage me to dig deeper so that I can find the answer myself.”