Public Employee Press

Environmental educator

Local 371’s
Matthew H. Symons coordinates nature programs throughout the city’s 28,000 acres of parklands.

By GREGORY N. HEIRES

Matthew H. Symons talks as if he’s on a mission. And he is.

“We want the kids to care and love the parks,” said Symons, who is the deputy director of the Urban Park Rangers nature education program at the Dept. of Parks and Recreation. “I hope they learn about nature, and if they walk away saying ‘We love parks,’ then we have really succeeded,” he said.

Each year, thousands of children accompanied by their teachers and parents learn about plants, trees, geology, insects, birds, Native Americans, conservation and natural history in activities Symons oversees.

Thanks to the nature program, families can escape from their concrete neighborhoods to go hiking and canoeing and visit city nature centers, which double as summer camps.

The program was the inspiration for the book, “Big Apple Safari for Families:
The Urban Park Rangers’ Guide to New York City,” by Sharon Seitz. Symons lobbied his supervisor to serve as Seitz’s contact at Parks. As an educator with a gift for communication, he was well suited to help Seitz as she researched nature activities ranging from hiking, camping and fishing to observing such city wildlife as deer, bald eagles, ring-necked pheasants and flying squirrels. He has also helped out with cable TV shows about nature activities and the history of the city.

Now a Community Coordinator and SSEU Local 371 member, Symons has been at his desk job since 2000. He joined the city workforce 11 years ago as an Urban Park Ranger, a title represented by Local 983, after earning his master’s in environmental conservation education at New York University.

Symons was one of several DC 37 members honored late last year by the 100 Year Association of New York, which highlights the work of exemplary civil servants.

“This is what makes me happy,” Symons said about his work as an environmental educator. “I may not be a scientist. But I will always know enough to get you excited about a subject.”