Our world desperately needs young people who have the knowledge, skills, and willingness to become tomorrow’s leaders in seeking solutions to environmental problems. However, we know that today’s children and adolescents interact in nature far less frequently than did previous generations – and it has been postulated that declining experiences in nature can be equated with declining interest in nature and the environment as adults.  How can we increase the number of future problem-solvers of environmental issues? We can start by examining the kinds of experiences that college students identified as having been influential to them.  This research is based on survey results conducted in freshman-level environmental studies courses and in general education courses (that did not have an environmental studies emphasis) in a comprehensive liberal arts college in the suburbs of Chicago.   Students were asked to identify outdoor experiences they took part in at elementary, middle, high school, and college levels – and to explain how those experiences impacted their interactions with nature/the outdoor world at that age.  Additionally, students were asked to offer their opinions regarding the grade level where experiences are most critical in fostering life-long interests in the nature and the environment.  Lastly, they were asked to identify their preferred occupational field and type of employment ten years from now. The results of this study provide implications regarding the roles that nature centers, park districts, K-12 schools, and other community agencies and programs play in providing influential experiences that motivate young people to pursue experiences in the outdoor world and to pursue environmental studies as adults. Concerned communities might want to consider fostering partnerships between environmental educators at all age/grade levels to promote children’s and youths’ life-long interests in the environment.