— Tom Slayton
“In a world that more and more needs nature’s healing and restoration, North Branch Nature Center is a treasure for all Vermonters.”
Welcome to NBNC
F or 22 years North Branch Nature Center has put people in touch with the sights, sounds and sensations of the wild within our capital. North Branch Nature Center has become an integral part of outdoor recreation and learning in central Vermont, serving 10,000 visitors annually. Our 28-acre preserve of forest and fields is nestled in a gentle bend of the North Branch of the Winooski River, just two miles from downtown Montpelier. North Branch is firefly light sparkling in a child’s eye. It is a lecture hall where we learn the secrets of warblers and willows and weather. And it is a quiet place to walk or ski, swim or sit, or simply to do nothing beside the river.
Our Staff
Chip Darmstadt
Executive Director
Sean Beckett
Director of Natural History Programming
Ken Benton
Teacher Naturalist
Amy Butler
Director of Education
Zac Cota
Teacher Naturalist
Arianna Dayharsh
Teacher Naturalist
Lauren Esserman
Finance & Administration Manager
Leslie Hill
Forest Preschool Teacher
Dave Muska
Teacher Naturalist
Jenna Plouffe
Forest Preschool Teacher
Carrie Riker
Teacher Naturalist
Emily A. Seiffert
Development & Communications Director
Emily Sloan
Office Manager
Mary Zentara
Co-Teacher & Director of Forest Preschool
"Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts.”
—Rachel Carson
713 Elm Street
Montpelier, Vermont 05602
(802) 229-6206
[email protected]
Office Open Monday-Friday from 9 am to 4 pm
Trails Open 24/7
