AEE Awards 

About The AEE Awards

The Association for Experiential Education honors members each year at the International Conference. We continue this tradition to celebrate the outstanding professional accomplishments of individuals and organizations whose passion for experiential education is exemplified through their efforts and their ability to inspire others. 

We hope that recipients of awards feel embraced by a community with shared values and a belief in the power of experiential education. May these awards launch recipients to new, higher levels of purposeful engagement with community organizations and inspire others to dream and to act.

How It Works

Submitting an Award Nomination: You can view the list of awards below. During the nomination period (2023: July 17 - August 14), each award will have a link that will bring you to a form in which we collect information about you, the nominator, as well as information about the nominee. Please fill in as much as you are able. If you would like to submit a nomination via video you can do that with the form also. If you would prefer a Zoom conversation or phone call please contact awards@aee.org to set up a time with a representative from the Awards Committee.

The form also asks for a Support File(s) demonstrating the criteria you indicated. This could be a letter, video, story or article from a different person or source other than yourself. 

Award Nomination Reviews: After submission of the form, the Awards Committee may reach out to you for further information. We hope to contact the nominee also, so they can provide additional information in support of the criteria. This could include a resume, CV, artifacts, sample of work, marketing materials, curriculum, etc. The nominee will not be told who nominated them for this award.

Once the Awards Committee has collected any supporting materials and confirmed eligibility, the nomination is reviewed by a group of impartial AEE member Reviewers. Reviewers are not part of the AEE staff or Board of Directors. Reviewers compare the information provided against the criteria for the award and complete a rubric for each nominee. The Reviewers will make their selections and send their selection back to the committee.

Award Recipients: When the selection is received by the Committee it will tally up the selections and identify the recipients. Recipients are notified by the Awards Committee. Awards are given out during the Annual International Conference. Recipients do not have to be in-person to receive an award. 

See Other Award FAQs

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Award Categories

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Betty van der Smissen Distinguished Researcher Award

Organizational Member of the Year Award

Servant Leader Award

Karl Rohnke Creativity Award

Michael Stratton Practitioner Award

The Dr. Nina S. Roberts Social Justice Award 

Research in experiential education holds a significant and growing level of importance in both the academic and applied contexts. This award provides a declaration of the value of that enterprise and recognizes the role that long-term and productive research efforts provide the multiple fields in which experiential education principles are utilized. Additionally, it recognizes the person or people producing this exemplary research and their efforts to make it visible to a wide audience.

The award was established in 2010 originating within AEE's volunteer committee, the Council on Research and Evaluation (CORE). 

In August of 2022, AEE's Board of Directors voted to add Betty van der Smissen's name to the Distinguished Researcher Award. For over 50 years Dr. van der Smissen conducted research in the outdoor fields of camping, adventure, environmental and conservation education, and recreation. She was one of the earliest and most prolific researchers in the professional outdoor fields. Additionally, AEE has reestablished the Betty van der Smissen Grant Fund. The purpose of this fund is to support new research or innovative projects that will advance the field of Adventure Education. 

Criteria:

• Has completed a minimum of ten years of research not including graduate work.

• Has shown exemplary research productivity and visibility in the fields that use experiential education.
• Has a diversity of publication and presentation outlets particularly those that are refereed.
• Has numerous research contributions of significant importance.
• Exhibited continuity of research involvement.
• Has citations and author impact factor (e.g., H index) commensurate with their field of research and at least comparable to other researchers with 10 years of research.
• Has had creative and innovative impacts to research within the experiential education community.
• Has received awards, keynotes, grants, etc. that speak to a research presence.
• Exemplifies high ethical standards.
• Is actively involved with and committed to the values and mission of AEE.
• Is a current member of AEE.

Award Winner Receives: One year individual membership in AEE, plaque/award  

Past Recipients:

This award is presented to an organization that maintains innovative and outstanding programming at continuously high standards and demonstrates consistent commitment to and support for the work of AEE.

The award was established in 1997 when many of AEE's awards first originated. 

Criteria:

• Maintained innovative and outstanding programming at continuously high standards for at least five years.

• Demonstrated consistent commitment to and support for the work of AEE.

• Exemplifies high ethical standards.

• Is actively involved with and committed to the values and mission of AEE.

• Is a current member of AEE.

Award Winner Receives: One year individual membership in AEE, plaque/award  

Past Recipients:

This award recognizes individuals for their active, excellent servant leadership to the Association for Experiential Education (AEE) and its members.

Servant leadership is a timeless concept and has been around for centuries. The phrase “servant leadership” was coined by Robert K. Greenleaf in The Servant as Leader, an essay published in 1970. In that essay, Greenleaf said: “The servant-leader is servant first… It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead." And “A servant-leader focuses primarily on the growth and well-being of people and the communities to which they belong. The servant-leader shares power, puts the needs of others first and helps people develop and perform as highly as possible."

The award originated in 1997.

Criteria:

• Has demonstrated active, excellent servant leadership to AEE at a regional or international level for at least five years.

• Focuses primarily on the growth and well-being of people and the AEE communities to which they belong.

• Demonstrates a passionate commitment to furthering experiential education principles.

• Exemplifies high ethical standards.

• Is actively involved with and committed to the values and mission of AEE.

• Is a current member of AEE.

Award Winner Receives: One year individual membership in AEE, plaque/award  

Past Recipients:

This award is presented to an individual whose outstanding commitment to experiential education principles are evidenced through the design, creation and/or production of experiential education resources.

The award originated in 1997 and was named after Karl Rohnke. Karl was an innovative teacher and program developer. His creative and experiential facilitation style laid the foundations for adventure program development for individual and team growth in schools, colleges, corporations, camps, therapy, and elder education. Play, challenge, fun, and laughter were tools he used to enhance learning experiences whether in indoor and in outdoor settings.

Criteria:

• Has designed, created, and/or produced one or more of the following experiential education resources and/or events: video, book, workshop/seminar, newsletter, artwork, article, play, electronic-media resource, program, product or educational materials.

• Utilizes play, challenge, fun, and laughter in their work.
• Demonstrates an outstanding commitment to experiential education principles.
• Lives and works with a passion for experiential education.
• Exemplifies high ethical standards.
• Is actively involved with and committed to the values and mission of AEE.
• Is a current member of AEE.

Award Winner Receives: One year individual membership in AEE, plaque/award  

Past Recipients:

This award honors an experiential practitioner who has exhibited consistently high levels of performance in working directly with students, participants, clients, etc. This person's work demonstrates that a practitioner can bring about significant change and impact in the lives of people in their program.

The award was established in 1986. In 1989, the name of the award was changed to the Michael Stratton Practitioner Award in honor of the first recipient. Mike Stratton was involved with Outward Bound since its initial course in the mid-sixties in Colorado. He later worked at the Carroll School in Massachusetts where he created a special program for children with dyslexia. Mike’s accomplishments, high energy and perseverance are a great model for practitioners everywhere.

Criteria:

• Demonstrates that a practitioner can bring about significant change and impact in the lives of people in their program.

• Exemplifies consistently high levels of performance as a practitioner of experiential education.

• Possesses a solid knowledge of quality standards and exhibits this knowledge throughout their practicing career.
• Works on program directly with clients, students, participants, etc. on a frequent basis.
• Is ideally a full-time experiential educator.
• Lives and works with a passion for experiential education.
• Is a practitioner more than a theorist.
• Exemplifies high ethical standards.
• Is actively involved with and committed to the values and mission of AEE.
• Is a current member of AEE.

Award Winner Receives: $250 from the Michael Stratton Practitioner Award Permanently Restricted Fund, one year individual membership in AEE, plaque/award  

Past Recipients: 

The Dr. Nina S. Roberts Social Justice Award recognizes people who have actively engaged in social justice and advocacy aimed at making the lives of others and/or communities better through empowerment, environmental justice, research, community organizing, civic engagement, social and/or systems change related to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging initiatives. 

This award was created in honor of Dr. Nina S. Roberts, who was a bold visionary, social justice leader, researcher, trainer and practitioner. Dr. Roberts was internationally recognized for her work on urban youth, women, and girls in outdoor environments, highlighting the vital connection between nature and the development of healthy lifestyles. Dr. Roberts spent over twenty years working in the field with the National Park Service. She was a Fullbright scholar, a prolific writer and always wove advocacy, social justice, inclusion, empowerment, anti-oppression, anti-racism, power dynamics, and critical analysis into her published works and training. She was a force of nature and a brilliant activist, always willing to take the lead and challenge the status quo. You can learn more about Dr. Roberts and her work at her website.

Criteria:

The award recognizes a person (or persons) engaged in social justice and advocacy, with a minimum of at least 3 of the following components related to diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging work:

• Actively engaged in demonstrated social justice action aimed at making the lives of others and /or communities better.
• Engaged in empowerment of marginalized individuals and/or communities.
• Engaged in community organizing and systems change that promote human rights and social justice action.
• Youth advocacy in communities.
• Advocacy for BIPOC and marginalized communities across the life span.
• Demonstrated evidence of ongoing inclusive change within their community/communities, programs, organizations or groups. 

• Exemplifies high ethical standards.

• Is actively involved with and committed to the values and mission of AEE.

• Is a current member of AEE.

Award Winner Receives: One year individual membership in AEE, plaque/award