An Online Learning Series

In an effort to continue to deliver mission and serve our community, our education and program team have started producing “Nearby Nature” videos. Find them on Facebook and our website

And why do we do what we do? We face environmental challenges on many fronts: climate change, changing weather patterns, loss of biodiversity, and land fragmentation are just a few that come to mind. As we continue to face these challenges, we are also faced with society having an increasingly greater disconnect to the natural world. Children in the United States now spend, on average, four to seven minutes in unstructured play outdoors, while spending over seven hours a day in front of a screen. With the urgent environmental challenges we face come the need for people who are invested and care for the environment -both for people and for all living things – plants and animals alike - that share this world. By providing programming that allows people, from our youngest participants to our oldest, have hands-on experiences through experiential learning, it is our hope that we instill a sense of curiosity, a feeling of love, and the commitment of responsibility for the natural world.

I’ve seen a child hold a frog with a smile on her face, who moments before was afraid to do so. I’ve seen a student who isolated himself from his peers at the beginning of his time here skip down Old Town Road in the midst of his classmates, laughing and smiling. I’ve read cards from students in which they explain that they didn’t like science before coming to our NGSS programs, but leave enjoying and loving science. I’ve seen the Visitor Center filled to overflowing capacity as they listen in rapt attention at an owl presentation or a vernal pool monitoring training.

This is why we do what we do. We help people connect with the land, no matter who they are. The earth and land may not depend on us, but we depend on the land and the earth.