Your sense of place is as unique as you are. Exploring your connection to places, no matter where you are, can bring a sense of belonging that is deeply needed in the world today.

Discovering sense of place stories and memories can awaken creative thinking, increase well being, inspire lasting, meaningful connections with the places and the people we care for, and provide a powerful tool for helping people, places and organizations thrive.

Erica Wheeler is a visitor experience specialist, speaker, educator and songwriter who uses The Soulful Stewardship Method tools and techniques to help organizations and individuals discover and enrich their sense of place. Learn more →

Nourish your sense of place.
Uncover powerful stories.
Use your passion to make a difference.

Click below to learn more about ERICA's OFFERINGS:

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Training

Empower your Staff

Proven tools and techniques that help new and long-term staff experience a fresh approach to interpretation, program design, audience engagement and team-building.
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Keynote

Inspire your attendees

An unforgettable journey across the American landscape and the lives lived there through story, song, reflection, humor and conversation that stirs personal stories and inspires ideas.
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Youth + Community

Engage your community

Customized sense of place programs for youth, adults and families to explore and uncover their authentic connection to stewardship and place.

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Client Projects Include:

Interpretive Training

National Park Service

  • Acadia NP
  • Adams NHP
  • Assateague Island NS
  • Big Thicket NP
  • Cape Cod NS
  • Everglades NP
  • Fredrick Law Olmsted NHS
  • Ft. Stanwix NHS
  • Gateway NRA
  • Governors Island NM
  • Grant-Khors NHS
  • Great Smokies NP
  • Hopewell Furnace NHS
  • Independence NHP
  • John Fitzgerald Kennedy NHS
  • Marsh Billings Rockefeller NHS
  • National Mall and Memorial Parks
  • Niagara Falls National Heritage Corridor
  • Salem Maritime NHS
  • Saint Gaudens NHS
  • Sagamore Hill NHS
  • Saugus Iron Mill NHS
  • Springfield Armory NHS
  • Yosemite NP

Other Parks and Historic Sites

  • Arkansas State Parks Spring Training
  • Castle in the Clouds, NH
  • Historic Deerfield, MA
  • Idaho State Parks and Recreation Conference
  • Maryland Parks and Recreation Association Conference
  • Montana State Parks Spring Training

Community Events,Workshops and Performances

Too countless to list!

Keynotes

    • American Horticultural Society Youth and Garden Symposium
    • Big Sur Land Trust 30th Anniversary Celebration
    • BioBlitz, National Mall and Memorial Parks
    • National Park Service Founders Day, National Mall and Memorial Parks
    • Maryland Land Trust Alliance
    • National Association for Interpretation Annual Workshop
    • National Association of State Park Directors Conference
    • National Association of State Park Volunteer Coordinators
    • National Religious Partnership for the Environment
    • Partners in the Parks, Howard County Parks and Recreation
    • Wisconsin Governor's Conference on Tourism

    Academic Seminars & Residencies

    Undergraduate & Graduate

    • Antioch New England Graduate School, NH
    • Mount Holyoke College Center for the Environment, MA
    • Paul Smiths College, Paul Smiths, NY
    • Sterling College, Craftsbury, VT
    • Teton Science School, Graduate Program, Kelly, WY
    • Washington University, Saint Louis, MO

    K- 12

    • Four Rivers Charter School, MA
    • Journeys School, Jackson, WY
    • Sterling Community School, Sterling, CT
    • All Saints' Episcopal Day School Carmel, CA

    YOUTH LEADERSHIP EVENTS

    • AmeriCorps, Vermont State Parks
    • World Wide Walden Youth Summit, The Walden Woods Project
    • Wyoming Youth Congress on Children and Nature
    • Youth Conservation Corps, Trustees of the Reservation,
    • Young Writers and Artists Festival, Hathaway Brown School
    • Youth Leadership Academy, New Bedford Whaling National Historic Park

       

      GET IN TOUCH

       

      Share your questions, inspirations, or request more information about Sense of Place consulting.

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      • “ If anyone can rally the preservation troops to get ‘a sense-of-place’ off the endangered species list, it’s Erica Wheeler. ”
        — Giulietta "Julie" Nardone, Workshop Participant, Upton Forest State Park, MA
      • “ With its emphasis on integrating writing, music, and a sense of place, Erica's workshop was incredibly inspiring... [She] gave us all an invaluable opportunity to reflect on our connections to the land, our personal history, and our best selves. ”
        — Walter Poleman, Faculty Director, University of Vermont, VT
      • “ Erica’s work writing and singing about how people connect to places encourages us to move beyond technical solutions and perspectives, and to re-connect with the natural world in a way that acknowledges nature as a source of something more than a set resources for human use, but as a pathway for understanding and comprehending our life and life experiences. ”
        — Torrey McMillan, Director, Center for Sustainability at Hathaway Brown School, Shaker Heights, OH
      • “ Erica has an impressive versatility. Her warm personality and knowledge of her subject matter gave our students a gift: she empowered them to express themselves and connect to the land in a way many of them had never experienced before. ”
        — Margot Martin, Journeys School, (K-12) Jackson, WY
      • “ Erica has an amazing knack for bringing out the creativity in people. ”
        — Montana Historical Society, Helena, MT
      • “ We brought Erica in to help us master the art of storytelling and to learn how to share the meaning of these places even more effectively. When we worked with Erica before, it was one of the most meaningful experiences of my career. I was thrilled by seeing the growth in rangers and the inspiration they gleaned. ”
        — Chief of Interpretation, National Mall and Memorial Parks, Washington, D.C.
      • “ Erica creates a kind of alchemy in the room where even the most timid of us is inspired to find the writer within. She gave us new tools and reminded me of tools I once knew and had long forgotten. She inspired me to get back to an interpretive project I had put aside which I am now working on with renewed enthusiasm and focus. ”
        — Julia Clebsch, Interpretive Naturalist, Brooklyn, NY
      • “ We’ll continue using what we learned. Erica's techniques were especially effective for creating the baseline of connection that leads to meaningful dialogue. ”
        — Cape Cod National Seashore
      • “ You are missing out if you aren’t trying to book Erica for your upcoming workshop or training event. Her work with the ‘sense of place’ concept through her Soulful Landscape workshop provides excellent hands-on exercises in an area that is so often perceived as intangible, while her keynote was just the dose of inspiration we needed. ”
        — Kelly Farrell, Assistant Chief of Interpretation, Arkansas State Parks
      • “ I have experienced Erica and her music at several conferences, workshops and meetings and the results are always the same. The energy in the room changes and an opening is created. There is a sense of playfulness and grounding. Emotional connections to land and place are strengthened and our energy for conservation work is renewed. ”
        — Vermont Land Trust