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Heather Kuhlken Awarded NRF’s 2025 Crawford Prize
For the past 10 years, I have been planning how we [Families in Nature] can meaningfully scale our work, how we can replicate it, and how there can be thousands of me instead of just me. The Crawford Prize will allow us to level up and start nature communities in new locations, and I cannot wait!
~ HEATHER KUHLKEN, 2025 Crawford Prize Recipient
Heather Kuhlken was awarded the 2025 Robert W. Crawford Prize at the Annual Meeting of the Board of Trustees of the National Recreation Foundation (NRF), which was held near Raton, New Mexico. The Prize was presented to Kuhlken by NRF Trustee and Crawford Prize Committee Chair Lee Storey.
Kuhlken is the founder of the Austin, Texas based nonprofit organization, Families in Nature (FIN). NRF specifically recognized Kuhlken for incorporating and celebrating families in her community-rooted programs that transform young people’s relationship with nature. “When we first learned about Heather's work with Families in Nature, we were so impressed by her creativity and focus on families,” said NRF President and CEO Sophie Twichell.
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Kuhlken founded FIN in 2008 to inspire grassroots ecologists through family and community programming that equips youth and families with scientific literacy, outdoor skills, and conservation leadership.
“What's unique about our family-centric approach is that the kids are learning, the adults are learning, and they're teaching each other,” said Kuhlken. “We’re reinforcing that sense of community that's crucial to having positive, joyful, and transformative experiences in nature.”
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FIN’s scalable model pairs hands-on, place-based learning with inclusive, nature-based leadership practices, helping young people translate curiosity into knowledge, and understanding into stewardship. Its Ecologist School curriculum, Nature Guide training, Junior Ecologist Certifications, Gear Library, and school and community partnerships deliver equitable, research-informed outdoor learning that builds scientific literacy, leadership, a deep love for nature, and a lifelong commitment to conservation.
Under Kuhlken's leadership, FIN has grown into an international environmental education and conservation organization that has served more than 32,000 people, delivered 370,000+ hours of outdoor programming, and certified more than 250 nature guides.
In addition to leading and growing FIN, Kuhlken, an educator and biologist, has presented on environmental education, equitable access, community resilience, and youth leadership at local, national, and international convenings, including most recently at the International Union for the Conservation of Nature World Conservation Congress. Kuhlken also authored a soon-to-be released book, Adventures in Ecology: A Guidebook to Inspire Environmental Literacy, Outdoor Exploration, and Nature Connection for All (Texas A&M University Press, 2026), that shares more than 1,100 hands-on science-based lessons for all ages that can be done anywhere with minimal materials.
Presented annually since 2002, the Robert W. Crawford Achievement Prize recognizes a person dedicated to enhancing recreation opportunities for youth, making it possible for more young people to live healthy, participatory lives, thus reinforcing the work of the Foundation. The Prize is awarded to a person, professional or volunteer, who has made an extraordinary contribution in advancing recreation programs for youth from disadvantaged circumstances. In addition to the recognition, the Prize consists of a $50,000 contribution supporting access to outdoor recreation.