KINGSTON, R.I. – May 6, 2026 – For nature lover David LeClair, home is where his heart is.

A lifelong Rhode Islander living in Westerly, LeClair has grown to appreciate with awe the state’s natural beauty, particularly in Washington County from the shoreline to its dense forests—hence his decision to remain home and attend the University of Rhode Island. He even found peaceful retreat at the University’s arboretum, green houses and North Woods in between the daily stresses of student life on the Kingston Campus.

“Knowing that refuge is there, where it offers a chance to do something pleasant with friends is really nice,” said LeClair, who will graduate from URI later this month with bachelor’s degrees in art and environmental education. “That’s one of the things they teach us in environmental education is that one of the best ways to make environmental stewards out of people is to help them fall in love with the place that they’re from or the place that they are.”

LeClair subsequently sought to illustrate his deep passion for nature at URI—literally. Building off an idea he’s had since high school, LeClair used his time at the University to create graphic novels and illustrative booklets offering insight on the surrounding natural world, and how to help preserve and appreciate it.

One novel he penned and illustrated is “Moon! Moon!,” when LeClair was a College of Arts and Sciences fellow in 2025. The program is a summer research opportunity that allows undergraduates to participate in research, scholarly, and creative projects under the supervision of a university faculty mentor.

“Moon! Moon!” is set in the seaside town of Huckleberry telling the story of the novel’s main character—Cauliflour—journeying through the wild to find himself. LeClair’s novel is also described as a love letter to all the stranger and incomprehensible wonders of New England, and a reminder to appreciate nature.

LeClair also created educational artistic storytelling when he worked for the College of the Environment and Life Sciences’ Cooperative Extension, which provides science-based learning opportunities and information across Rhode Island and beyond. As a Rhode Island Agriculture and Food System fellow, LeClair wrote a series titled “Gardening For All!,” explaining therapeutic horticulture and the benefits of gardening to improve one’s mental wellness.

Studying both environmental education and art helped LeClair shape both his artistry and philosophies on nature, he said. His approach to educating the community about nature is more about stewardship and getting people to become active in their communities, LeClair said. He says he tries to infuse into his artwork the idea of transcendentalism—a social movement to connect people with nature—something that hits home for him.

“I think that trying to view the environment as something much, much bigger and more powerful than yourself can be really humbling,” LeClair said. “To me, that’s the starting point of a lifetime of stewardship—to be humbled in the face of nature.”

Much of that inspiration he gained was from Sara Sweetman, an associate elementary and environmental education professor in the URI Feinstein College of Education, who works in children’s media development and productions and mentored LeClair throughout the creative process.

“What I learned wasn’t necessarily what I was being taught in the classroom,” he said. “It was what I was seeing on screen, what I was reading in books, what I was seeing in illustrations that really influenced my environmentalist tendencies.”

URI’s W. Alton Jones Campus also inspired LeClair’s work. He regularly visited for his environmental education coursework and also advocated as a student for the campus’ reopening. URI is partnering with the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management to restore public access to the campus. Seeing a positive future ahead for the Alton Jones Campus is something LeClair is most proud of, he said, with an eye of possibly applying for work there after graduating.

LeClair’s education efforts extend beyond the Kingston Campus, as well. He interns for the Audubon Society of Rhode Island helping design a climate change exhibit in the organization’s nature center in Bristol, combining his passions for illustration work with the biofacts the society has on hand.

Ultimately, LeClair would like to write novels as a career, he said. But his collaboration with students in other fields on campus and learning new skills, has helped LeClair become a new person over the last four years and painted a clearer picture of who and what he wants to be.

“It’s been a great and long experience here at URI. I really didn’t know what I wanted to do at first,” he said. “And then finding environmental education set me on the path that I realized I wanted to be on.”