A Safe Place Child Enrichment Center, Inc.
A Safe Place, located in eastern Raleigh, NC, enlarged their previously compact OLE by moving several fence lines, nearly doubling their play space, as a result of participating in the POD Wake Co program.
Beginning and Beyond Child Development Center
POD Wake County NLI Beginning and Beyond Child Development Center Beginning and Beyond Child Development Center, in downtown Raleigh, NC, has progressed towards their goal to create an active and productive outdoor learning environment as a participating POD-Wake...
Childcare Network #59
POD Wake County NLI Childcare Network #59, located in Raleigh, NC, has installed new raised beds in their toddler OLE where the children have enjoyed becoming involved with growing fresh fruits and vegetables. They were especially excited to grow broccoli and learn...
Childcare Network #61
Childcare Network #61, in Raleigh, NC, has expanded gardening opportunities through the POD Wake Co program by constructing U-shaped raised beds where the children help tend vegetables in all seasons.
Heather Park Child Development Center
POD Wake County NLI Heather Park Child Development Center, located in Garner, NC and a participating POD Wake demonstration center, has naturalized their OLE and created a productive garden by installing 408 square feet of vegetable beds, 100 square feet of fruiting...
Holly Springs Academy
POD Wake County NLI The POD Wake County project was a perfect fit for Holly Springs Academy, located in Holly Springs, NC. This childcare center has a healthy snack philosophy and only serves fresh fruits and vegetables to the children. Much of the produce is sourced...
Nilda Cosco, PhD
Nilda Cosco, PhD, is Director of Programs at NLI, Research Professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning, and former Director of the Center for Universal Design. She is responsible for the conceptualization and management of NLI comprehensive projects, design programming, research of outdoor environments for children with and without disabilities, and evaluation programs applied to outdoor play and learning environments for children, including those with special needs.
Robin C. Moore
Robin Moore, MCP, DipArch., Honorary ASLA, is a Research Professor in the College of Design and Professor Emeritus of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning, NC State University, USA. His area of research and teaching is environment & behavior design thinking applied to practice in built environment biophilic design, especially in relation to urban childhood and family spaces. Growing up in the South of England, Moore graduated from University College London (UCL) in architecture and practiced architecture in London with Llewelyn-Davies & Weeks.
Jordan Child and Family Enrichment Center
POD Wake County NLI The Jordan Child and Family Enrichment Center, located in the heart of Raleigh, NC, is a part of the Methodist Home for Children and supports the Methodist Home’s goal to provide safe, loving environments for children. The Jordan Child and Family...
Johnson Pond Learning Center
Johnson Pond Learning Center, a participating POD Wake demonstration center in Fuquay-Varina, NC, changed the way children used their large OLE by installing a six-foot wide concrete looped path in the preschool area and a five-foot wide pathway in the toddler area.
KinderCare Learning Center
POD Wake County NLI KinderCare Learning Center Cary Towne, located in Cary, NC has worked to increase children’s exposure to fresh fruits and vegetables by creating a new garden with raised beds in their preschool space. The garden also features an arbor where they...
Method Child Development Center
POD Wake County NLI Exciting developments have taken place at Method Child Development Center, located in Raleigh, NC, with the installation of concrete pathways in their preschool, two-year-old, and infant/toddler OLEs. The new pathways provide space for tricycles...
Primary Beginnings Child Development Center #1
POD Wake County NLI Primary Beginnings Child Development Center #1 Primary Beginnings Child Development Center, located in Raleigh, NC and a participating POD Wake demonstration center, has improved the quality of their outdoor learning environment by introducing five...
Pam’s School of Raleigh
POD Wake County NLI Pam’s School of Raleigh has taken the leap into gardening, installing a new fenced-off designated fruit and vegetable garden with raised beds. Fresh produce from the garden is used for the children’s snacks and extra produce is sent home with...
Raleigh Nursery School
POD Wake County NLI Raleigh Nursery School, established in 1949, is located in downtown Raleigh, NC and has progressed towards the naturalization of their outdoor learning environment as a participating POD Wake demonstration center, with the help of community...
Wanda’s Little Hands
POD Wake County NLI Wanda’s Little Hands, located in Raleigh, NC, held a workday where volunteers helped to install tire planters with flowering perennials to help naturalize their OLE. Children participate in gardening in raised beds, and future plans include...
Virtual Field Trip
Virtual field trip of childcare outdoor learning environments. POD considers the design of outdoor environments in early childhood as a preventative health intervention.
Planning and Planting
The Green Desk NLI Planning and Planting Guide to Developing a Planting Plan and Purchase List This article explains how to develop a detailed planting plan and plant purchase list from a schematic design. NLI provides schematic designs that do not indicate exact...
Edible Plants for Play and Learning
The Green Desk NLI Edible Plants for Play and Learning What are good edible plants for my landscape and garden? Edible plants offer the same benefits in an outdoor learning environment (OLE) as traditional landscape plants—creating shade, defining paths, providing...
Landscape Plant List
The Green Desk NLI Landscape Plant List What are good landscape plants for North Carolina?NLI provides a suggested plant list for each region of North Carolina, divided into the following categories: Mountains, Piedmont, and Coastal Plain. Click a link below to...
Landscape Plants for Play and Learning
The Green Desk NLI Landscape Plants for Play and Learning What are the best landscape plants for play and learning? “Plants add a critical dimension of change and diversity to children’s environments. They greatly extend the range of sensory stimulation...
15th Annual NLI Design Institute
October 5 – 6
9:00am – 4:30pm
Find out how outdoor activities are a powerful motivator for improving children’s science competence.
Matthew Babb
Matthew (Matt) Babb, MGD, is a UX/Communication Designer at the Natural Learning Initiative (NLI). There he leads the communication team’s design, production, and editing of a variety of graphics and media for print and online publications, course materials, outreach, social media, website, and photography/videography, working in a complex environment with a range of hardware, software, and systems…
James Barnes, PhD
James Barnes, PhD is an Assistant Research Professor in the College of Design, Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning, and the Natural Learning Initiative. A landscape ecologist and designer by training, his research explores the intersection of biodiversity, human well-being, and the design of environments. Barnes’s current work focuses on interdisciplinary approaches to integrating biodiversity into the built environment, particularly in public schools and other learning environments, leveraging these spaces as ecological hubs for community resilience and environmental education through emerging technologies.
Matthew Maharaj
Matthew (Matt) Maharaj is a UX/Communication Designer at NLI where he works on online, print, 3D modeling, and other digital resources to support various projects. Matt holds a bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design from the University of Tampa, Florida, and a Master of Graphic Design from NC State University. Matt has been designing since 2014 and has worked on a diverse palette of projects that include startups, publications, and radio stations. He has previously interned at McCann Erickson, a global advertising agency network.
Matt grew up in Trinidad and Tobago, located in the Caribbean. Trinidad is a beautiful place for a child to explore, filled with mountains, nature trails, waterfalls, rivers, and beaches. Matt would enjoy these lush landscapes on school trips and with family, marveling at the diverse natural resources his country has to offer.
Tamiko McCullough
Tamiko McCullough, BS in Family Relations and Child Development.
Instructional Support Specialist
Shweta Nanekar
Shweta Nanekar, PLA, LEED AP (BD+C) B.Arch., MLA (NC State University)
Lead Instructor, NLI Professional Development Program.
Adrienne Murrell
Adrienne Murrell is a Program Support Specialist at NLI, providing support for professional development and instructional management. Adrienne is an early childhood education leader with experience in policy consulting, program management, business development, and community engagement. She is passionate about supporting children’s health, development, and learning through purposefully designed learning environments.
Adam Noel
Adam Noel is a UX/Communication Designer at NLI where he works on online, print, 3D modeling, and other digital resources to support various projects.
Nazia Afrin Trina
Nazia Afrin Trina is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Natural Learning Initiative (NLI), within the College of Design at NC State University. She serves as a Design Lead and researcher on state- and national-level initiatives focused on advancing nature-based outdoor learning environments. Her work includes leading the design development of model natural play and learning spaces, managing large-scale, and multi-state projects to improve childcare outdoor environments including Preventing Obesity by Design (POD).
Early Childhood Design Institute 2017
NLI Blog Architecture and Landscape Architecture for Early Childhood Visioning/ concept design, design programming, community/ stakeholder/ client engagement, concept design, budget and development. From the vision to construction documents. Program This intensive,...
POD Wake Co. Gathering and Tour 2017
NLI Blog Natural Learning Initiative invites you to attend a tour of three POD Wake Co. Demonstration Sites to see progress in the creation of their naturalized outdoor learning environments. The day will also feature a panel discussion with POD Wake Co. directors and...
Heritage Park Natural Learning Environment
Project NLI Heritage Park Natural Learning Environment Heritage Park is a public housing community administered by the Raleigh Housing Authority. Communities in Schools North Carolina (CISNC), the leading dropout prevention organization in the country, established an...
My Place by The Bay: Prepared Environments for Early Science Learning
Research NLI My Place by The Bay: Prepared Environments for Early Science Learning The Bay Area Discovery Museum (BADM) is an indoor/outdoor children’s museum at the foot of the Golden Gate Bridge, serving over 300,000 visitors per year on a 7.5-acre site. It is...
Kids Together Playground Post Occupancy Evaluation (POE)
Research NLI Kids Together Playground Post Occupancy Evaluation (POE) Even though, a conservative estimate of the number of municipal parks and playgrounds in the US is almost 110 thousand, representing a continuing investment of hundreds of millions of taxpayer...
Blanchie Carter Discovery Park
Project NLI Blanchie Carter Discovery Park Blanchie Carter Discovery Park is a four acre outdoor play and learning environment (OPALE) located at Southern Pines Primary School in Southern Pines, North Carolina. In 1995, a group of parents decided that their children...
Teardrop Park (North)
Project NLI Teardrop Park (North) Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates (MVVA) viewed children as the most important users and appointed NLI as play consultants engaged in every stage of the 1.75 acre Teardrop Park (North) design process, including safety and...
Bright Horizons Child Development Center at Research Triangle Park
Project NLI Bright Horizons Child Development Center at Research Triangle Park The Bright Horizons Family Solutions (BHFS) Child Development Center at Research Triangle Park serves families working on the adjacent GlaxoSmithKline campus, Research Triangle Park,...
2017 Early Childhood Design Institute, Architecture and Landscape Architecture for Early Childhood
August 2nd – August 5th,
This intensive, three–day workshop provides practitioners with state-of–the–art, evidence-based design thinking for indoor/outdoor educational spaces for young children.
