About the Author

Dorna Schroeter retired in 2018 after 37 years as the coordinator of the Center for Environmental Education at Putnam Northern Westchester BOCES. Under her leadership, CEE provided programs for some 40,000 students annually to schools in 6 counties in southeast NYS. CEE's programs included student programs at their nature center and local schools; summer science camps; Voyage of the Mimi excursions to Cape Cod, the JASON Project, marine ecology trips to the Florida Keys for middle and high school students and professional development workshops for teachers. The two marine ecology trips were the favorite part of her job. These programs introduced middle school and high school students to the tropical marine ecosystem from the Everglades to the coral reefs. 

In the early 2000’s, after reading Janine Benyus’ book, Biomimicry and hearing her speak, Dorna integrated biomimicry into her environmental and sustainability programs. As biomimicry became more well known, she developed a biomimicry program for young people which became very popular. Dorna has also run many biomimicry workshops for teachers and served as a judge for the Biomimicry Youth Design Challenge (YDC). In 2019 the team she co-coached in her hometown of Rhinebeck, NY, won the middle school division of the YDC. Although she has retired, Dorna continues to inspire young and old alike with her biomimicry programs and trainings.