Natural History
The Nature of Loons: An Afternoon on the Pond
By Emily Sloan, Office Manager My paddle sweeps and swishes, a light breeze floats along the water surface, and I am happy to be out on the pond on this…
Read MoreThinking Like a Shrub Willow
By Ken Benton, Director of Education Often in the spring, when the waters of the North Branch have not fully thawed, massive ice chunks are driven up onto the riverbank,…
Read MoreThe Ecotourism Dilemma
By Sean Beckett, Program Director In a time of global biodiversity collapse fueled by climate change, how does a nature center justify global ecotourism? Is this sort of travel a…
Read MoreIn Search of Vermont’s Fungi
By Dave Muska, Teacher-Naturalist It’s warm late summer’s day and fields are abuzz with the gentle call of crickets and soft swaying of goldenrod. As I step from the sun…
Read MoreLessons from a Floodplain Forest
By Sean Beckett, Program Director On a winter night in January, Montpelier threw a film festival about living with rivers. The evening featured kayaking documentaries, student proposals for riverside parks,…
Read MoreFalling in Love with Nature Journaling
By Fiona Modrak, Teacher-Naturalist A little over a year ago, when I first started at the Nature Center, one of my colleagues suggested we check out a video by an…
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