New Nature Center and Programs

Environmental education for all ages is a key aspect of the Conservancy’s work — including programs brought right to the community through the Learning Adventures Bus (LAB), as well as the newly renovated and expanded Nature Center.

and baby alligators, and the Dalton Discovery Center offers a touch tank where visitors can interact with and learn about sea urchins, starfish, hermit crabs, sea cucumbers, sea hares, conchs, and more.

Opening in December 2021, the renovated Dalton Discovery Center includes the new John & Carol Walter Discovery Wing, which features an Invasive Species Gallery where visitors can learn about how invasive species are impacting Southwest Florida. The exhibits educate and showcase how the Conservancy’s science team is working to better understand these plants and animals. On display is an array of facts and figures about Burmese pythons, the apex predator in the Florida Everglades, with Stitch, a 10-foot-long Burmese python as a live ambassador for teaching.

The education team provides guided nature center tours with a full host of history and displays of conservation efforts. The Nature Center also offers self-guided tours for guests to experience the Dalton Discovery Center, nature trails with native plant species, kayak rentals, and electric boat rides down the Gordon River.

The Nature Center also has plenty of live “ambassador” animals to observe or meet, including snakes, lionfish, jellyfish, cane toads,

An Augmented Reality Wildlife Encounter allows visitors to interact digitally with a native animal—a Florida panther, Florida black bear, or American alligator. The exhibit captures and shares a photo of the animal encounter and has been a fun addition to the immersive learning experience.

Also inside the John & Carol Walter Discovery Wing is a Climate Change Theater featuring Science on a Sphere, which was built through a partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). More than six feet in diameter, this suspended screen in the shape of a sphere features 360-degree satellite imagery that introduces visitors to the impacts of climate change locally and around the world.

Through an interactive kiosk, visitors can see live weather, historic hurricane seasons, ocean currents, animal migrations, and even other planets and moons in our solar system—a different experience each time you visit.

The Conservancy will continue to build on public programs and enhanced exhibits at the Nature Center while launching new educational programs and opportunities for visitors to learn about the nature of our region.

Conservancy and Rookery Bay Education Staff Team Up

The Conservancy of Southwest Florida education team had a busy field trip season out on the water for the SURVIVORS field trip offered in partnership with the Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. The science-based field trip includes boating time on our Good Fortune II within the pristine waters of Rookery Bay. Students are able to conduct water quality tests and identify common marine invertebrates found in the estuary.