The Vermont Alliance for Half-Earth is a group of Vermont residents and conservationists, including NBNC staff, who have come together to advance biodiversity preservation in the state. The Alliance gets its inspiration from the legendary biologist E. O. Wilson, his Half-Earth Project, and its vision to conserve half the Earth’s oceans and land for nature.…
Read More
By Amy Butler The COVID-19 pandemic has presented numerous challenges for teachers, students, schools, and families. One response has been increased interest in outdoor learning as a safer alternative to traditional classrooms. Over the past year Inside-Outside: Nature-Based Educators has produced three position statements aimed at helping schools embrace outdoor learning year round. These statements…
Read More
Rain patters as the streetlights kick on in the fading grey of daylight. Within the hour, amphibians will be on the move. Volunteer Amphibian Crossing Guards will be on the move too. Throughout the spring, dedicated community scientists visit sites where frogs and salamanders make dangerous road crossings as they move from their winter…
Read More
By Laura Nikolaides (reposted from https://lauraniko.medium.com) “Maria Libby had always wanted to make outdoor education a fundamental part of the school district she runs near Camden, Maine. Libby, a former Outward Bound instructor, had a bounty of outdoor resources in her district, a river, a lake, an ocean, and mountains. Taking advantage of the natural…
Read More
The Christmas Bird Count is a global community science project organized by the National Audubon Society. At 121 years old, it is the longest-running project of its kind. In the weeks surrounding Christmas, groups fan out over established 15-mile-wide count circles with the mission of finding every feathered creature therein. While new circles are added…
Read More
By Sean Beckett NBNC Director of Natural History and Community Science Programs The Northern Saw-whet Owl migration season is over, and results are in! Our staff and apprentices banded 78 owls this year, bringing North Branch Nature Center’s grand total to 716. While not our largest year on record (181 in 2018), this season still…
Read More
Outdoor Learning in Cold Weather: a position statement for educators in a pandemic By Amy Butler, NBNC Director of Education, in collaboration with Inside-Outside: Nature-Based Educators of New England Since schools reopened for in-person teaching and learning, those communities where teachers and students have been outdoors in nature as much as possible have reported excellent…
Read More
By Zac Cota, NBNC Teacher-Naturalist The first and second graders at Moretown Elementary know they share their forest with many other animals. Chickadees sing while searching for food in the treetops. Worms and slugs live under moist logs. The antics of Red Squirrels provide daily entertainment. One special visitor, however, left only a trace…
Read More
We invite you to check out this great article in KidsVT by Heather Fitzgerald, interviewing several outdoor education organizations, including NBNC, about new opportunities for learning in nature this fall, given the restrictions and realities around COVID-19 and the classroom. Enjoy! — “A few weeks ago, as I was listening to a podcast about going…
Read More
In celebration of National Moth Week (July 18-26), we’re delighted to host this “e-opening” of Moths of Cloud Bridge, a multimedia collage and embroidery exhibit by Maya Akazawa, featuring moths encountered “at the sheet” at the Cloudbridge Nature Reserve in the rainforests of Costa Rica. Part of the NBNC family since she was 6 years…
Read MoreConnecting People to the Natural World
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
