Recent research has highlighted the need to foster emotional connection to nature, as that is one of the major predictors of positive behaviors towards the natural word (Hungerford & Volk, 1990) (Lieflander A. K., Frohlich, Bogner, & Schultz, 2013) (Pooley & O'Connor, 2000) (Nisbet, Zelenski, & Murphy, 2009) (Schultz, Phychology of Sustainable Development, 2002). However, there is very little research on the mechanisms for promoting emotional connection especially within the realm of environmental education programs (McKenzie-Mohr, 2014). This study investigates the ability of citizen science to foster feelings of emotional connection in a group of teenagers at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, Arizona. It further highlights the need for not only emotional connection tools but also means to promote empowerment as the combination of these two has been shown to be predictors of positive behavior towards the environment (Hungerford & Volk, 1990). The mission of the Desert Botanical Garden is to advance excellence in education, research, exhibition, and conservation of desert plants of the world. Their vision follows along these lines by stating their desire to be a premier center in the world for the display, study, and understanding of desert plants and their environments. Furthermore, the Garden strives to be a resource for helping people learn about the Sonoran Desert plants and desert plants of the world, so that they will conserve and protect the natural world for the benefit of future generations (www.dbg.org). From this we can read that the Garden’s Mission and Vision seem to fall along the lines of previous environmental educator’s incorrect assumptions that knowledge and information lead to behavioral change (i.e. people will learn about the desert and will then conserve and protect the natural world). We now know that this assumption should not be the basis for enhancing behavioral change; research like mine shows that it is in fact the formation and bolstering of an emotional connection to nature that will lead to positive behaviors towards the natural world. The Children’s Education Team at the Garden, however, is moving along the correct path, as their mission statement highlights their goal to help children make an emotional connection to nature through education programs at the Garden. The continued focus of many institutions, including the Desert Botanical Garden, highlights the need for more research into the importance of emotional connection as well as the mechanisms that we as environmental educators should be using to enhance those connections.