Steele Gives Students the Skills to Care

LEE COUNTY - An ecosystem thrives on interdependence. Clay Steele, a naturalist at Lee County Conservation, plays an important role in Fort Madison’s ecosystem both through his work and beyond. Many kids in our community know him as “Mr. Clay.” Through his dedication to conservation, he creates an impact that extends far beyond the classroom or a field trip. 
Steele spent a lot of time on trails and in the woods as a kid.
“We lived on the last street in town. The next house we lived in was next to the creek. We spent all of our time playing there.”
Steele didn't realize until much later that the land he spent a lot of his teenage years exploring was not as native as he thought.
“I just love being outside,” he said. “I knew that I didn’t want to spend my whole career sitting inside.”
Steele has always had the desire to be a naturalist, even before he knew it was a job. Clay reflected on his dreams in his early twenties.
“I remember thinking, I wish I could teach people about how cool these wild areas are. Most people don't get to see the prairies and the forests and the stuff around them; they just see the cornfields and the cities.” During college, he attended an outdoor photography program and was introduced to the naturalist title by Brad Freidhof.
“I was just watching him talk to everyone in the room, and he was having the best time. I thought, that’s it, that’s the job,” said Steele.
Fortunately, his background in anthropology prepared him well for his career.
“I studied how people connect with the outdoor world. Whether within a town or across the globe, everyone sees the world differently.”
Freidhof reviewed Steele’s class list and told him he was all set, eventually offering him an assistant naturalist position to step into, through an Americorps internship. Steele said he wasted enough of his young adulthood not in school, and he was ready to “get going” in the workforce. “It was the perfect opportunity, and I never looked back.”
Before joining Lee County Conservation in 2014, Steele gained experience working in Johnson County and Pocahontas County, developed a school gardening and composting program through AmeriCorps in Oregon, and worked at a private nature center in Southwest Minnesota. “We had a modified bus that served as a mobile classroom that we used to bring school kids out to parks,” he said.
His official title now is Environmental & Outdoor Education Specialist II.
Steele and Environmental & Outdoor Education Specialist I, Lia Risser, work together to bring programs to students across six school districts in Lee County: Central Lee, Fort Madison, Holy Trinity, Keokuk, Keokuk Catholic, and Keokuk Christian. Together, they lead around 300 classroom programs and 75 field trips each year. Each fall, Steele meets with district teachers to plan the schedule: "We sit down with all the teachers, and in one week, I have every program scheduled for the year."
Recently, the duo led a seventh-grade field trip focused on collecting mussels and identifying their species. Before heading into the river, Mr. Clay asked the students if anyone knew what a mussel was. Steele joked, "I asked if anyone’s favorite animal was a mussel; nobody decorates their room with a mussel theme."
Risser and Steele may not see these seventh graders again until Earth Day in Fort Madison or at local science fairs. Most of their regular programming reaches preschool through fifth-grade students during the school year, with Steele also leading archery lessons and biology field trips at the high schools.
Steele enjoys working with upper-level students and makes it a priority to keep learners engaged at every grade.
"I always joke that high schoolers are just goofy, bigger kindergarteners," he said.
To hold students’ attention, he uses silly voices and an animated teaching style that makes learning fun.

"One day I might be doing a kindergarten puppet show, the next day making potato batteries with fifth graders, and then teaching second graders about Iowa habitats. I want to be Bill Nye the Science Guy."
With a hands-on learning approach, local students explore geology with Graham Crackers, track moon phases using Oreos, dissect owl pellets, practice worm composting, and examine animal furs from Iowa habitats. The team hopes these interactive experiences help students retain what they’ve learned. Steele often hears from former students who still remember him years later:
"By seeing them three times a year, from preschool through elementary, and then again in middle and high school, I’m hoping those lessons stick. Maybe when they look back, I’ll have put the exclamation point on their learning.”
Outside the classroom, Lee County Conservation also offers programs for adults and families. Risser recently led a monarch butterfly tagging activity at Wilson Lake, while Steele guided a hike for Hinterland Farm’s new cheese launch. They also host Owl Prowls, winter evening hikes designed to help people connect with nature. For Steele, these programs are especially meaningful: he loves hiking and finds that his personal passions align closely with his work.
Steele values surrounding himself with people who know more than he does.
"I go to different classes and learn about things where I can be the student. I only know a little bit because I teach kids and have to cover everything. But some people have really focused on one thing," he said.
He especially enjoys learning in-depth about plants, birds, prairies, and native landscaping. Recently, he attended a wild edibles workshop where he learned how to make ink from walnuts and elderberries. "We made homemade inks, used turkey feathers to make quills, and drew trees and flowers," Steele said.
Steele enjoys the artistic side of life, from drawing to live music. "I don't draw as much as I used to, but when I get back into it, it's always fun," he said. You might also catch him at local open mics, harmonica in hand, or wandering into venues to hear a band he’s curious about. A rock music fan, Steele appreciates the local talent. "We’ve got some good musicians floating around, older guys who’ve been playing in bands for forty years. Some are even in the Iowa Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame, and they’ll still show up at open mics."
For Steele, the joy is in discovery: he believes there’s an endless supply of old music waiting to be found.
Steele has noticed a lot of crossovers between people who spend time outdoors and those who attend jazz festivals and art events.
"They’re just interested in cool things to do," he said. He encourages people to get out and engage with their communities, whether it’s taking a walk, learning something new, observing a birch tree from your window, participating in cultural activities, art, music, history, or visiting a local farmers' market.
"You’re getting fresh air and sunlight, enjoying locally grown produce or art made by local artisans, and listening to local music. I think it’s all important because it’s all part of the same community. It’s all connected. There’s more to life than just watching it happen."
Sometimes you have to see more to care more. Steele believes all ecosystems are connected, whether you’re in a big city or deep in a prairie. "I don’t value a small city park any less than I value Rocky Mountain National Park," he said.
He hopes people become more observant of the world around them. When talking with students, he asks questions like, "Why don’t we have bison anymore? What happened to our prairies? Do we know how much food gets thrown away each year? How can we create habitats while leaving space for the foxes, bobcats, and songbirds we still have?"
While some students’ eyes might glaze over, Steele hopes they’ll at least be able to identify a songbird when they grow up." Our ecosystem is important, so how can I give them the skills, not necessarily the skills to do everything, but the skills to care."
How can I contribute more value to the ecosystem I live in?
Steele recognizes that everyone’s skills and abilities are different. Whether it’s using reusable bags, biking more often, composting, recycling, reducing waste, or simply spending time outside and paying attention to your surroundings, every step matters. Steele also believes in becoming a little desensitized to nature. "I have my own sensitivities, I don’t like mosquitoes or ticks, so I put on repellent and check myself afterward," he said.
While outside, he often encounters spiders, and half the students will scream and run away. "I pick up the spider and hold it in my hand. The spider thinks I’m a tree and starts crawling. Now the kids are back, observing it. I even bring snakes into classrooms. The students are proud to pet a snake. I’m raising a generation of Lee County kids who won’t be afraid of snakes. Knowledge takes away the fear." Steele believes that if people actively desensitize themselves to nature, it can ultimately benefit them and help them connect more deeply with the world around them.
Amid my bad habit of watching life happen and doomscrolling, I’ve recently found myself captivated by a Kansas wildlife park’s videos of a baby hippo named Mars. On its page, Tanganyika Wildlife Park shared a post stating, ‘what matters most is raising awareness for rare and endangered species like Mars, because the very first step in saving a species is simply learning about it.’ 
That message echoed within me, reminding me that curiosity about the environment and the people within our ecosystem or community is crucial for it to thrive. Do you have the skills to care?